Gujrathi settled for a draw against Russia's Andrey Esipenko to stay in the lead with three points
He also went on to laud the 18-year-old Indian grandmaster and explained why he was taking more time initially in the game.
With seven rounds still to come in the first super tournament of the year, Anish Guru maintained his sole lead on 4.5 points out of a possible six and he is now trailed by Iranian turned Frenchman Firouza Alireza who is on 4 points.
Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi scored crushing victories, while D Gukesh held on to the joint top spot with a draw in a brilliant sixth-round outing for the Indian men's team at the Candidates Chess Tournament in Toronto.
Praggnanandhaa is on his own at the Azerbaijan capital of Baku as his personal coach RB Ramesh is away in another country.
Praggnanandhaa went down 1.5-2.5 to Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan, Erigasi lost to Poland's Jan-Krzysztof Duda 0.5-2.5.
Praggnanandhaa is on top of the standings with nine match points along with world No 1 Magnus Carlsen
Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa opened his campaign in the FTX Crypto Cup, the American finale of Champions Chess Tour, with a 2.5-1.5 win over the world's top junior player Alireza Firouzja in Miami.
The second day of the final will also feature four games and the tie-break if required.
Gujrathi and Erigaisi will represent India in the men's individual event while Koneru Humpy and D Harika will do so in the women's section.
Young Indian International Master V Pranav finished with 6.5 points after losing to Predke in the final round.
"This is no small feat", Prime Minister Narendra Modi said as he led the nation in hailing young Indian Grandmaster Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa's runner-up finish.
Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa advanced to the Chess World Cup final after outclassing Fabiano Caruana in the semi-finals in Baku.
Praggnanandhaa edged out his Dutch opponent in 81 moves in the fourth game after the first three ended in draws.
S L Narayanan, Harsha Bharathakoti, Karthik Venkataraman and Shamsiddin Vokhidov, the other players who had an outside chance of a shot at the title, missed out after drawn games.
Indian GM Praggnanandhaa shocks Giri, meets Ding Liren in final of Chessable Masters tournament.
Praggnanandhaa said just talking to the Indian chess wizard (Anand) boosts his confidence.
He finished 11th in the standings with 19 points with the top eight going through to the knockout phase at the ongoing Airthings Masters.
Adhiban will face the winner of the match between Vidit Santosh Gujrathi and Alexander Fier, who play the tiebreak on Saturday.
Nakamura secured four wins and five draws to stay as the sole leader after nine rounds.
Viswanathan Anand had to be content with a joint third place finish following a draw with compatriot Vidit Gujrathi in the 13th and final round of the Tata Steel Masters, in Wijk Aan Zee, The Netherland.
Reigning world champion Magnus Carlsen of Norway steered clear of the field with another dominating victory over Jan Krzysztof Duda Poland.
Placed fourth after the first leg on Tuesday, the 48-year-old had a dream run on the final day to secure six wins and three draws in the nine rounds to draw level with the world No 3 American Nakamura to force a play-off.
Grandmaster B Adhiban finished tied third at the Chess.com Isle of Man International tournament after beating the highly-regarded Michael Adams of England in the ninth and final round, in Isle of Man (UK) on Monday.
Former World champion Viswanathan Anand struggled for the second day running as he was held to a draw by almost-retired Robert Hess of the United States in the second round of Isle of Man International Chess tournament.
Olympic medallist Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal entered the semi-finals of the Indonesia Masters' tournament after a straight-game win over Pornpawee Chochuwong of Thailand.
Summary of sports events and persons who made news on Wednesday
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