Grandmaster and former World Junior Champion P Harikrishna slipped to the second spot after settling for a draw in the seventh and penultimate round of the 15th Ciudad de Pamplona International Chess tournament in Spain.
The Indian split the point with Dutch GM Sergei Tiviakov, his fourth draw of the event.
He now has four points out of a possible six and is assured of an increase in his present ELO rating from this tournament.
However, the drawn result did not help the Indian as far as the tournament standings were concerned as he lost his joint lead position to former World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov of Ukraine who defeated tail ender GM Oscar De La Riva Aguado of Andorra.
With just one round remaining in the category-16 round robin event, Ponomariov took his tally to 4.5 points and now just needs a draw against Harikrishna in the final round game to emerge clear champion.
That the Ukrainian will play with white pieces in this encounter, makes his task all the more easier.
The third place is shared by Bulgarian GM Ivan Cheparinov along with Tiviakov both of whom have 3.5 points each. Georgian GM Izoria Zviad stands tied fifth with Laurent Fressinet of France while Timman is on 1.5 points. Aguado is at the rock bottom on just one point.
Ponomariov was the lone winner on the penultimate day as the rest of the games ended in draws.
