Praggnanandhaa loses to Giri, Sindarov extends lead in Candidates chess

Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa lost to Anish Giri in round eight of the Candidates chess tournament, slipping to 3.5 points. Uzbek Javokhir Sindarov leads with 6.5 points, while R Vaishali drew her game to stay in contention

Paphos (Cyprus): Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa almost went out of contention for a top finish after losing to Anish Giri of the Netherlands in the eighth round of the Candidates chess tournament here on Tuesday.

On a day when Uzbek Javokhir Sindarov consolidated his lead with a draw against tailender Andrey Esipenko of Russia, Praggnanandhaa, who had scored his only victory over Giri in the first round, fell prey to simple tactics from an equal position and suffered his second defeat of the tournament.

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Sindarov took his tally to 6.5 points out of eight and looks headed for victory as his lead now stands at two points with six rounds remaining in the USD 700000 prize money event that will decide the next challenger for reigning world champion D Gukesh later this year.

Sindarov is followed by Giri and Fabiano Caruana of the United States, who are two points behind and need a miracle to catch up. Praggnanandhaa, Wei Yi of China, Matthias Bluebaum of Germany and Hikaru Nakamura of the USA share fourth spot on 3.5 points each, a point clear of last-placed Esipenko.

It was a tough day for Praggnanandhaa, who started with the Vienna variation with black pieces. After the opening, Giri enjoyed a small advantage that the Indian neutralised as the game progressed.

However, on the 35th move Praggnanandhaa erred, allowing Giri to unleash a dangerous sequence. Another mistake three moves later sealed the game for the Dutchman.

In other games, Matthias Bluebaum drew with Wei Yi, while Nakamura scored a big win over compatriot Caruana.

In the women’s section, R Vaishali stayed within striking distance of the leader after drawing with Bibisara Assaubayeva of Kazakhstan. Kateryna Lagno defeated Aleksandra Goryachkina to match Vaishali on 4.5 points, while Anna Muzychuk was headed for a draw with Divya Deshmukh to protect her half-point lead. Zhu Jiner looked poised to beat Zhongyi Tan.

Results round 8:
Anish Giri (Ned, 4.5) beat R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 3.5); Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 3.5) beat Fabiano Caruana (USA, 4.5); Andrey Esipenko (Rus, 2.5) drew with Javokhir Sindarov (Uzb, 6.5); Wei Yi (Chn, 3.5) drew with Matthias Bluebaum (Ger, 3.5).

Women: Anna Muzychuk (Ukr, 4.5) playing Divya Deshmukh (Ind, 3.5); Kateryna Lagno (Rus, 4.5) beat Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus, 3); Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kaz, 3.5) drew with R Vaishali (Ind, 4.5); Zhongyi Tan (Chn, 2.5) playing Zhu Jiner (Chn, 3).