R Praggnanandhaa Draws With D Gukesh at Tata Steel Masters

Photo: Instagram/@grandchesstourofficial

Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa continued his strong performance in the Tata Steel Masters by drawing with world champion D Gukesh in the eighth round held at Wijk Aan Zee. Playing with the white pieces in a Berlin defense, Praggnanandhaa seemed to have a slightly better position at first, but Gukesh remained alert throughout. Early in the game, Gukesh sacrificed a pawn to create counterplay. Even though Praggnanandhaa tried to use this advantage, the game was heading towards a draw.

As the queens were exchanged, both players reached a rook-and-minor-piece endgame. Gukesh managed to find the best moves and even created an outside passed pawn. With Praggnanandhaa's rook focused on stopping the pawn, the game’s outcome was clear. The game ended in a draw after 33 moves.
After this draw, both Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh have 5.5 points, sharing the lead with Nodirbek Abdusattorov from Uzbekistan, who won his match against Vladimir Fedoseev from Slovenia.

Other Indian players were also in action. Grandmaster P Harikrishna played a draw with the highest-ranked Dutch player, Anish Giri. In their game, Giri, playing black, used the Arkhangelsk variation of the Ruy Lopez to quickly reach equality. The game eventually reached a level rook-and-pawn endgame, and a draw was agreed upon. Harikrishna now has four points from eight rounds, while Giri has 3.5 points after his seventh straight draw.

Arjun Erigaisi also played a draw, this time against Alexey Sarana from Serbia. Leon Luke Mendonca ended his game in a draw against Jorden van Foreest from the Netherlands. Erigaisi has two points, just half a point behind Mendonca.

In the Challengers section, Nguyen Thai Van Dam from the Czech Republic took the lead with six points after defeating 14-year-old Chinese player Miaoyi Lu. Indian player R Vaishali was held to a draw by Arthur Pijpers from the Netherlands, while Divya Deshmukh lost her game against Kazybek Nogerbek from Kazakhstan.
With five rounds left, the tournament took a break for a rest day, and the matches will resume on Tuesday. This rest day is the second of the tournament, which has been a traditional event for nearly 90 years.

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