Grandmaster R Pragggnanandhaa played a draw with Maxima Vachier-Lagrave to stay in a joint lead with a Frenchman after five rounds Superbet Classic, part of the Grand Chess Tour.
World Champion D Gukesh recovered a little with Duda Jan-Krzysztof in Poland in what turned out to be a somewhat boring day with on-board on all five albums in an event with a round Robin 10 players.
Levon Aronian from the United States fought until the end against France Firouzja Alireza to get half a point. It was a similar story for Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan, who had to divide the point with the Romanian Deac Bogdan-Daniel.
In addition to Vachiera-Lagrave and Pragggnanandhaa, Fabiano Caruana remained after a long-term battle against the American Wesley So.
Pragggnanandhaa, who played white, faced the expected Sicilian Najdorf against Vachier-Lagrave and chose a lesser-known variant as his answer. However, Vachier-Lagrave, however, did not encounter any obstacles in maintaining parity, even though Pragggnanandhaa sacrificed a pawn in the middle game to put some pressure on the king.
Vachier-Lagrave came up with a timely victim, said goodbye to his Rook for the knight, and the activity of his remaining pieces ensured that there were no problems. Pragggnanandhaa eventually allowed repetition and the game was drawn after 45 movements.
Gukesh went to huge complications against the bagpipe and could lose another game. The royal gambit refused power for the Indian and decided to sacrifice a piece. The game could be drawn, but Gukesh was a bit ambitious, and it took another mistake of the bagpipe at the 43.
Results (5th round): D Gukesh (Indian 2) drew with Duda Jan-Krzysztof (Pol, 2); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 2) Drew with Deac Bogdan-Daniel (Rou, 2,5); Wesley So (USA, 2.5) Drew with Fabiano Caruana (USA, 3); Levon Aronian (2.5) was drawn by Firouzja Alireza (FRA, 2,5).
Published:
Sabyasachi Chowdhury
Published on:
12 May 2025
