Prague Masters: Gukesh escapes with a draw against Praggnanandhaa

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 here on Wednesday.

Praggnanandhaa 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 to push for more from a level middle game that arose. Gukesh fell under pressure on the queenside 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 points 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 tournament, Vidit Gujrathi’s chances of a recovery suffered another setback as he lost to Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran.

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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 the next spot on 3.5 points each. Another half-point adrift is Gukesh and Keymer.

Mateusz Bartel of Poland stands ninth on 2.5 while Vidit Gujrathi is now at the bottom with two points in his kitty.

Gujrathi’s luck did not change. Facing 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 trap the queen in a mere two moves. The game lasted just 32 moves.

Abdusattarov had peaceful intentions as he employed the Queen’s gambit accepted against Keymer but the latter was in an aggressive mood and went for unwarranted complications in the middle game.

As it happened, Keymer’s king was dancing 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 out of a possible six.

In the last remaining round, Arjun has black pieces against Russian Daniil Dubov.