Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa failed to register a win from an advantageous position against compatriot D Gukesh as their seventh round match ended in a draw in the Prague Masters Chess tournament in Prague on Wednesday. (More Sports News)
Praggnandhaa came very close to beating✤ Gukesh who played black but in the end they split points.
It was an Italian opening yet again and Praggnanandhaa🌠 showed his ability in pushing for more from a level middle game that🅠 arose. Gukesh fell under pressure on the queen side and lost a couple of pawns in the ensuing queen and rook endgame.
Not losing heart, Gukesh fought on relentlessly and Praggnanandhaa faltered as he missed a winning manoeuvre on the 37th move. Gukesh still had a herculean task on hand but he managed to split the point𒉰s after 91 moves.
On what turned out to be another interesting day, Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattarov stayed ahead of the field after defeating Vincent Keymer of Germany. It was a quick recovery for the Uzbek after a rather painful loss in the previous round against Praggnanandhaa.
With just two rounds remaining in the 10-player round-robin ཧtournament, Vidit Gujrathi’s chances of a recovery suffered another setback as he l❀ost to Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran.
With Abdusattarov on 5 points, Maghsoodloo follows him closely a half point behind. Praggnanandhaa shares the third spot on 4 points and giving him company is the surprise packet Nguyen Thai 🉐Dai Van of Czech Republic.
Richard Rapport of Romania and local star David Navara share the๊ next spot on 3.5 points e♍ach. Another half point adrift is Gukesh and Keymer.
Mateusz Bartel of Poland stands ninth oღn 2.5 while Vidit Gujrathi is now at the bottom with two points in h🅘is kitty.
Gujrathi’s luck did not change. F𒊎acing a reverse Benoni against Maghsoodloo, the Indian felt the heat in the middle game with his stranded queen. Maghsoodloo was quick to spot a fine tactic that helped him trapped the queen in a mere two moves. The game lasted just𒉰 32 moves.
Abdusattarov had peacef🐻ul intentions as he employed the Queen’s gambit accepted against Keymer b๊ut the latter was in an aggressive mood and went for unwarranted complications in the middle game.
As it happened, Keymer’s king was danc🥀ing to the tunes of black forces and as the Uzbek picked up a couple of pawns, it was beyond redemption.
Meanwhile in Shenzen, China, Arjun Erigaise maintained his world number 10 spot and is now sharing the lead with Yangyi Yu and Xiangzhi Bu on 4 points o♑ut of a possible six.
In the last remaining round, Arjun has black pieces against Russian Dan♕iil Dubov.
Results Round 7 (Indians unless stated): Vincent Keymer (Ger, 3) lost to Nodirbek Abdusattarov (Uzb, 5) R Praggnanand♔haa (4) drew with D Gukesh (3); Parham Maghsoodloo (Iri, 4.5) beat Vidit Gujrathi (2); Richard Rapport (Rou, 3.5) lost to Nguyen Thai Dai Van (Cze, 4); Mateusz♐ Bartel (Pol, 2.5) drew with David Navara (Cze, 3.5).
