WIJ AAN ZEE, (The Netherlands) Jan 20: Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa defeated compatriot P Harikrishna, while Arjun Erigaisi settled for a draw in the second round of 87th Tata Steel Chess Tournament here.
This was after world champion D Gukesh played out a draw with Russian-turned-Slovenian Vladimir Fedoseev while Leon Luke Mendonca lost another game, this time to Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan. The 19-year-0ld Praggnanandhaa’s win over Harikrishna was a master-class on defence and counter-attack. Playing white for the second time in as many days, Harikrishna could not find his magical touch even though he performed slightly better in the middle game.The younger Indian took him to the ropes and eventually the endgame, which should have been drawn.
Harikrishna faltered when it was necessary to put up resistance and Praggnanandhaa made the most of it to emerge victorious.Erigaisi pressed hard against local hero Anish Giri, who was almost winning against Gukesh in the
opening round.
TATA STEEL CHESS
The battle took a steep turn with both players fighting for advantage in the rook and knight endgame but as it turned out, the draw was a result that most experts expected.
Fabiano Caruana was the player of the day as he gradually crushed second best Dutchman Jorden van Foreest right from the early middle game.
It was an innocuous London system that Caruana started with and then capitalised on an unforced error to win a pawn which proved decisive.
Earlier, after a tension filled game against Giri, Gukesh relaxed with his black pieces and was never in any problem against Fedoseev, who is perceived as a strong opponent at all levels.
With black, Gukesh was looking only optically worse but the Indian equalised without much trouble leading to an endgame with rook and four pawns apiece where the draw was a just result.
In the challengers’ section, R Vaishali was forced to split the point with 14-year-old Chinese sensation Miaoyi Lu after an intense battle with white pieces.Divya Deshmukh also opened her account in this section drawing with top seed Nguyen Thai van Dam of Czech Republic. After her first-round loss, this was an easy comeback for Divya, who is having her second stint here.
RESULTS ROUND 2
Masters: Fedoseev (Slo, 1) drew with D Gukesh (Ind, 1.5); Erigaise Arjun (Ind, 0.5) drew with Anish Giri (Ned, 0.5); P Harikrishna (Ind, 1) lost to R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 1.5); Abdusattorov (Uzb, 1.5) beat Mendonca (Ind, 0); Keymer (Ger, 1.5) drew with Warmerdam (Ned, 1); Caruana (Usa, 1.5) beat Van Foreest (Ned, 0.5); Sarana (Srb, 1) drew with Wei Yi (Chn, 1).
Challengers: Deshmukh (Ind, 0.5) drew with Nguyen Thai van Dam (Cze, 1.5); R Vaishali (Ind, 1.5) drew with Miaoyi Lu (Chn, 1.5); Yakubboev (Uzb, 1.5) drew with Kazybek (Kaz, 0.5); Bok (Ned, 1.5) beat Ediz Gurel (Tur, 1); Pijpers (Ned, 0.5) drew with A Sulemanli (Aze, 1); Frederik (Ger, 1.5) beat Faustino (Arg, 0); Bulmaga (Rom, 0) lost to L’Ami (Ned, 1.5). (PTI)