Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa played out a draw with Poland's Duda Jan-Krzysztof to maintain joint lead with 3.5 points after the sixth round of Superbet Chess Classics, a part of the Grand Chess Tour.
Playing the black side of an English opening, Praggnanandhaa was subjected to some initial tactics by Duda but the Indian was up to task in not giving any free-way to the Polish opponent.
Duda showed his intent with a queen sacrifice for a rook and minor piece in the middle game and Praggnanandhaa was quick to realise that his chances were slim. The draw was the best result possible as neither player could make much progress.
Meanwhile, USA's Fabiano Caruana was seen trying hard to break through with a piece sacrifice against local hero Deac Bogdan-Daniel but it looked though he would have to settle for a draw as well.
The other overnight leader Maxime Vachier-Lagrave could do little with his white pieces and drew very quickly with Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan.
Results (round 6): Duda jan-Krzysztof (Pol, 2.5) drew with R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 3.5); Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 3.5) drew with Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 2); Levon Aronian (Usa, 3) drew with Wesley So (Usa, 3); Firouzja Alireza (Fra, 2.5) playing D Gukesh (Ind, 2); Fabiano Caruana (Usa, 3) playing Deac Bogdan-Daniel (Rou, 2.5). PTI COR
Asian chess: Srija Seshadri in joint lead
Overnight sole leader Woman Grandmaster Srija Seshadri made sure she did not slip too much as she earned a hard-fought draw against the highest-ranked Indian woman player Vantika Agrawal to remain in joint lead after the seventh round of the Asian continental women's chess championship in Al Ain, UAE, on Tuesday.
With her second draw in seven games, Srija took her tally to six points and is now sharing the lead with Mongolian Mungunzul Bat-Erdene, who put it across P V Nandhidhaa.
In the 'Open' section, things did not change much as the leader, Bardiya Daneshvar was held to a draw by Ivan Zemlyanskii of Russia, while the second-placed Indian Murali Karthikeyan also drew with another Russian Sergei Lobanov.
It is strange why the Russians are playing in the Asian event for the first time but the decision seems to have likely been taken because they can no longer participate in European tournaments due to the conflict with Ukraine.
With two more rounds to come, the competition is wide open in the women's section, while Daneshvar seems to be on course for a gold medal triumph.
Important results (Round 7): Open (Indians unless stated): Ivan Zemlyanskii (Fid, 5.5) drew with Bardiya Daneshvar (Iri, 6); Murali Karthikeyan (5) drew with Sergei Lobanov (Fid, 5); Yang Zilong (Chn, 4.5) lost to Shamsiddin Vokhidov (Uzb, 5.5); M Pranesh (5) drew with GB Harshavardhan (5); Nihal Sarin (5) beat Rinat Jumabayev (Kaz, 4); Amin Tabatabaei (Iri, 4.5) drew with Raja Rithvik (4).5; Dai Changren (Chn, 4.5) drew with Nodirbek Yakubboev (Uzb, 4.5); Denis Makhnev (Kaz, 4.5) drew with A R Saleh Salem (UAE, 4.5); Abhimanyu Puranik (5) beat Sina Movahed (Iri, 4); S Aswath (4.5) drew with Xu Xiangyu (Chn, 4); Lev Zverev (Fid, 4.5) drew with P Iniyan (4.5); Bai Jinshi (Chn, 4.5) drew with A R Ilamparthi (4); Huang Renjie (Chn, 5) beat Bharath Subramaniyam (4); Jiang Haochen (Chn, 4) lost to Pranav Anand (5);
Women: Vantika Agrawal (5.5) drew with Srija Seshadri (6); PV Nandhidhaa (5) lost to Mungunzul Bat-Erdene (Mgl, 6); Valentina Gunina (Fid,5.5) beat Batkhuyag Munguntuul (Mgl, 4.5); Anastasia Bodnaruk (Fid, 5.5) beat Olga Girya (Fid, 4.5); Xeniya Balabayeva (Kaz, 5) drew with Song Yuxin (Chn, 5); Swati Ghate (5) drew with Pham Le Thao Nguyen (Vie, 4.5); Tokhirjonova Gulrukhbegim (Uzb, 5) beat Elnaz Kaliakhmet (Kaz, 4); Galina Mikheeva (Fid, 4.5) drew with Padmini Rout (4); B Savitha Shri (4.5) drew with Rouda Essa Alserkal (UAE, 4.5).
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