Calcutta: World junior champion, GM Lu Shanglei of China, joined overnight leaders Nigel Short and Surya Sekhar Ganguly to lead the fray with six points apiece after Round VII of the LIC International Grandmasters Chess tournament - organised by the Dibyendu Barua Chess Academy and Allsport Foundation - here, at the ICCR, on Sunday.

Close on their heels are Grandmasters Sandipan Chanda and Kirill Stupak of Belarus on 5.5 points each.

Sandipan, who bounced back in contention for the top honours after missing the first two rounds, outplayed GM Vladislav Kovalev of Belarus in a sharp tactical struggle.

Known to strive for original positions and ideas, Sandipan allowed his opponent to break open his kingside in return for two bishops and play in the centre. He won two pawns on the queenside, which was sufficient enough to ensure a win.

Nigel was held to a draw by Stupak in a French defence. The Englishman had a slightly superior position for most parts of the game and despite all his efforts, Stupak defended well to split the point.

Surya, playing with black against IM Wang Chen, tied to infuse life into a sterile exchange variation that the latter adopted, but overlooked the loss of his central d-pawn, after which he had to struggle to find the correct moves to force a draw.

Lu, playing against 18-year-old Shardul Gagare, won a pawn in the middle game, which arose from a Caro-Kann defence. Lu then transposed to a minor piece ending where his extra pawn decided the fate of the game.