Praggnandhaa and Gukesh share lead, stay on course for Tata Steel Masters glory

Praggnanandhaa notched up his third consecutive win to take his tally to a commendable 8.5 points, same as his compatriot Gukesh after the 12th and penultimate round

Wijk Aan Zee: World Champion D Gukesh played out a draw with Jorden van Foreest of Holland, while Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa beat Alexey Sarana of Serbia as the two Indians shared the lead after a thrilling day at the Tata Steel Masters here.

Praggnanandhaa notched up his third consecutive win to take his tally to a commendable 8.5 points, same as his compatriot Gukesh after the 12th and penultimate round. The two Indians are now poised for an exciting finish in the prestigious tournament, with the remarkable prospect of one of them potentially clinching the title—a first in Tata Steel Masters history.

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Eying the top spot after the 11th round, Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan was outdone by Arjun Erigaisi and is all but out of title contention on 7.5 points. Praggnanandhaa was involved in another Queen’s gambit declined opening. Only this time he was playing with white pieces.

It was quite a contrast from his previous round game against Caruana as Sarana went for an early advance of kingside pawns and then castled on the queenside. It was time to launch an attack against the black king and Praggnanandhaa did not disappoint.

In tactical complications, Praggnanandhaa was at his best as he sacrificed a piece to rip apart the black’s king position and what followed thereafter was a pleasure to watch. “At that point, I realized it could be a long game, but then I saw this piece sacrifice,” said Pragg after the game.

The game ended through a queen sacrifice resulting in force checkmate. Gukesh played a game of fluctuating fortunes against Foreest, who has the ability to play the spoiler on any given day.

Foreest declared his peaceful intentions early in the Queen pawn game as white when he appeared ready for repetition. However, Gukesh declined the offer and the game was still equal with many pieces on board.

Foreest sacrificed a Rook for a knight but on the 39th move, Gukesh returned the favour with his clock ticking away. It was a won position for Gukesh but precise calculation was needed and it was right here that the Indian faltered allowing his opponent a huge comeback.

Foreest had suddenly turned the tables down but did not quite realise it and decided to go for perpetual checks in the heavy piece endgame. Arjun Erigaisi finally proved his mettle against Nodirbek Abdusattorov, whose ambitions of claiming the top spot came to an end. The game featured a Nimzo-Indian Defense, wherein the Indian had white pieces and his choice of Capablanca variation gave little chances for Abdusattorov to disturb the balance.

In the early middle game, Abdusattorov went for unwarranted complications and ended up blundering on the king’s side. Arjun won a pawn first and later won two bishops for a rook. With precise calculations, he wrapped up the issue.

In other games, Leon Luke Mendonca shared the point with top seed Fabiano Caruana of United States, while P Harikrishna drew with Vincent Keymer of Germany. The finale could be exciting as Gukesh is up against a resurgent Arjun, while Praggnanandhaa has to tackle Keymer. In case of a drawn result on both boards, the play-off of shorter duration game will decide the winner.

In the challengers’ section, R Vaishali lost to Ediz Gurel of Turkey to remain on five points and Divya Deshmukh was on the receiving end against Benjamin Bok of Holland.

It’s a three-way lead in this section with Aydin Suleymanli of Azerbaijan and Nguyen Thai Dai Vam of Czech Republic joining overnight leader Erwin L’ami in pole position on 8.5 points.

Results: Round 12: Masters: Erigaisi Arjun (Ind, 4.5) bt Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 7.5); Jorden van Foreest (Ned, 5) drew with D Gukesh (Ind, 8.5); Wei Yi (Chn, 6.5) drew with Anish Giri (Ned, 6.5); Leon Luke Mendonca (Ind, 4.5) drew with Fabiano Caruana (USA, 6); R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 8.5) beat Alexey Sarana (Srb, 5.5); P Harikrishna (Ind, 6) drew with Vincent Keymer (Ger, 5); Max Warmerdam (Ned, 3.5) lost to Vladimir Fedoseev (Slo, 7).

Challengers: Nodirbek Yakubboev (Uzb, 7) bt Arthur Pijpers (Ned, 5); Divya Deshmukh (Ind, 3) lost to Benjamin Bok (Ned, 8); Nguyen Thai Dai Van (Cze, 8.5) bt Irina Bulmaga (Rom, 1); Aydin Suleymanli (Aze, 8.5) beat Svane Frederik (Ger, 7); Ediz Gurel (Tur, 7) bt R Vaishali (Ind, 5); Erwin L’Ami (Ned, 8.5) drew with Nogerbek Kazybek (Kaz, 6.5); Oro Faustino (Arg, 3.5) bt Lu MIaoyi (Chn, 5.5).