IMAGE: After the seventh round, Praggnanandhaa has four points out of a possible seven to be in joint lead with three others. Photograph: R Praggnanandhaa/X
Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa kept his joint lead intact drawing with fellow co-leader Alireza Firouzja of France in the seventh round of the Superbet Classic, a part of the Grand Chess Tour, in Bucharest, on Thursday.
With four points out of a possible seven in his bag, Praggnanandhaa shares the lead with Fabiano Caruana of the United States, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France and Firouzja.
World champion D Gukesh’s hunt for an elusive victory in the event will have to wait another day as he drew with Wesley So without causing any real trouble to the American.
With two more rounds to come, it seems like any of the four leaders could win the trophy and the top prize purse of $100,000.
With just 2.5 points in seven games, Gukesh is clearly struggling to make a mark in the event.
Praggnanandhaa did not have to stretch himself much against Firouzja in an English opening game. The Iranian-turned-French chess exponent did try some tricks but was kept away from employing any serious counterplay and the players arrived at a theoretically-drawn rook-and-pawn endgame pretty soon.
Results (Round 7): R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 4) drew with Alireza Firouzja (4); Levon Aronian (USA, 3.5) drew with Fabiano Caruana (USA, 4); Deac Bogdan Daniel (Rou, 3.5) drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (4); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 3.5) beat Duda Jan Krzysztof (Pol, 2.5); Wesley So (USA, 3.5) drew with D Gukesh (Ind, 2.5).
Nihal trails behind Daneshvar
At the Asian Individual Open Chess Championship in Al Ain, UAE, Indian Grandmaster Nihal Sarin registered his third win on the trot but still remained a full point behind leader Bardiya Daneshvar of Iran after the end of the eight and penultimate round.
Top seed Sarin, a pre-event favourite, beat compatriot S P Sethuraman but Daneshvar went a step ahead as he accounted for Indian Grandmaster Abhimanyu Puranik to take his tally to an unassailable seven points out of a possible eight.
With Sarin likely his opponent in the next round, the odds are in favour of the Iranian to clinch the gold medal here.
In the women’s section, Mungunzul Bat-Erdene of Mongolia made a decisive stride forward for the crown after defeating overnight joint leader Srija Sheshadri.
The Mongolian took her tally to seven points, enjoying a full point lead over her nearest rivals.
