R Praggnanandhaa continued his steady start to the FIDE Candidates tournament as he held a comfortable black draw against Wei Yi in the second round on Monday to remain in the joint lead by 1.5 points.
After a strong opening round win over Anish Giri, Praggnanandhaa again looked in control and applied some pressure from the French defense despite playing with the black pieces. However, Wei Yi took the safe route and directed the game to simplify as pieces were replaced at regular intervals.
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The game eventually went to an opposite-colored bishop’s endgame, where Praggnanandhaa held an extra pawn but could not advance further. Due to white’s strong position, the players agreed on a draw after 46 moves.
While the opening round produced three decisive results, the second round brought a more cautious approach. Giri settled for a draw with Fabian Caruana, while Javokhir Sindarov shared a point with Matthias Bluebaum.
In another game, Hikaru Nakamura held a theoretically drawn end rook and pawn against Andrey Esipenko.
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE CANDIDATES OF THE WOMEN’S SECTION?
In the women’s competition, Divya Deshmukh squandered a golden opportunity to take the lead after letting a winning position slip against compatriot R Vaishali.
Divya found a strong tactical idea in time trouble but faltered in execution, allowing Vaishali to escape with an inventive counter that included a queen sacrifice to force a draw.
Jiner Zhu also failed to convert a near-winning position against Kateryna Lagno, who salvaged a draw with a timely rook sacrifice under pressure.
Elsewhere, Bibisara Assaubayeva drew with Aleksandra Goryachkina, while Zhongyi Tan shared points with Anna Muzychuk.
It is noteworthy that the women’s part has not yet seen a decisive result after two rounds.
The Candidates Tournament, held every two years, determines the challengers for the world title. The winner of the open section will face D Gukesh later this year, while the women’s winner will face Ju Wenjun.
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Issued by:
Akshay Ramesh
Published on:
31 March 2026 07:49 IST
