Gukesh up against Abdusattorov; Praggnanandhaa faces Wei Yi

Praggnanandhaa and Abdusattorov share the pole position with four points apiece after five round, while Gukesh is in third spot with Vladimir Fedoseev of Slovenia on 3.5 points in the Tata Steel Chess tournament

Wijk Aan Zee: World champion D Gukesh will look join the leaders when he takes on Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan after a rest day on Friday, while R Praggnanandhaa will hope to cement his place at the top when he faces defending champion Wei Yi of China in the sixth round of the Tata Steel Chess tournament here.

Praggnanandhaa and Abdusattorov share the pole position with four points apiece after five round, while Gukesh is in third spot with Vladimir Fedoseev of Slovenia on 3.5 points. Another half a point behind is P Harikrishna, who holds the fifth spot with eight rounds still to come in the first super tournament of the year.

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Praggnanandhaa has been the star performer so far in the tournament, clinching three wins over his Indian counterparts and drawing two. Victories against Arjun Erigaisi, P Harikrishna and Leon Luke Mendonca have propelled Praggnanandhaa in the top-10 in world rankings, marginally ahead of five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand.

Gukesh, meanwhile, has displaced Erigaisi to become the new world No 4 with his consistent performance in the first tournament as world champion. While the teenager went through mind-boggling complications and survived a lost position against Anish Giri of Holland, his second victory in the fifth round was a typical grind against his friend and second Vincent Keymer of Germany.

Harikrishna, barring the loss against Praggnanandhaa, has done well and will meet Jorden van Foreest of Holland in the sixth round, a duel where the Indian starts favourite with white pieces.

If there is one person who might want to turn the clock a week back, it is Erigaisi who dropped out of the 2800 club after a forgettable start, which has got him a mere one point from the first five rounds. In the next round he will meet Fabiano Caruana.

For debutant Mendonca, it was a heartbreaking first-round loss against Keymer but since then he has managed a couple of draws for his one point.

Both Erigaisi and Mendonca will have to score well in the remaining rounds to come out of the hopeless situation.

In the challengers’ section, R Vaishali has had some good games and her victory over Nodirbek Yakubboev of Uzbekistan was particularly impressive. With three points in her bag, Vaishali has her task cut out against Irina Bulmaga who is struggling in the tournament with just half a point.

The other Indian in the challengers, Divya Deshmukh is on 1.5 points and will face Faustino Oro, the youngest IM in the world who hails from Argentina.

Pairings Round 6

Masters: Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 4) vs D Gukesh (Ind, 3.5); Leon Luke Mendonca (Ind, 1) vs Max Warmerdam (Ned, 2); Arjun Erigaisi (Ind, 1) vs Fabiano Caruana USA, 2.5); R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 4) vs Wei Yi (Chn, 2.5); P Harikrishna (Ind, 3) Jorden van Foreest (Ned, 1.5); Vincent Keymer (Ger, 2.5) vs Anish Giri (Ned, 2); Alexey Sarana (Srb, 2.5) vs Vladimir Fedoseev (Slo, 3.5).

Challengers: Nodirbek Yakubboev (Uzb, 2.5) vs Frederik Svane (Ger, 2.5); Irina Bulmaga (Rom, 0.5) vs R Vaishali (Ind, 3); Benjamin Bok (Ned, 3.5) vs Nogerbek Kazybek (Kaz, 3); Arthur Pijpers(Ned, 1.5) vs Miaoyi Lu (Chn, 3); Divya Deshmukh (Ind, 1.5) vs Faustino Oro (Arg, 1.5); Nguyen Thai Dai Van (Cze, 3.5) vs Erwin L’Ami (Ned, 4); Aydin Suleymanli (Aze, 2.5) vs Ediz Gurel (Tur, 2.5).