Praggnanandhaa wins; Gukesh, Erigaisi draw in Round 2 of Tata Steel Chess Tournament

The 19-year-0ld Praggnanandhaa's win over Harikrishna was a master class on defence and counter-attack

Wijk Aan Zee: Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa defeated compatriot P Harikrishna, while Arjun Erigaisi settled for a draw in the second round of 87th Tata Steel Chess Tournament here.

This was after world champion D Gukesh played out a draw with Russian-turned-Slovenian Vladimir Fedoseev while Leon Luke Mendonca lost another game, this time to Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan. The 19-year-0ld Praggnanandhaa’s win over Harikrishna was a master class on defence and counter-attack. Playing white for the second time in as many days, Harikrishna could not find his magical touch even though he performed slightly better in the middle game.

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The younger Indian took him to the ropes and eventually the endgame, which should have been drawn. Harikrishna faltered when it was necessary to put up resistance and Praggnanandhaa made the most of it to emerge victorious.

Erigaisi pressed hard against local hero Anish Giri, who was almost winning against Gukesh in the opening round. The battle took a steep turn with both players fighting for advantage in the rook and knight endgame but as it turned out, the draw was a result that most experts expected.

Fabiano Caruana was the player of the day as he gradually crushed second-best Dutchman Jorden van Foreest right from the early middle game. It was an innocuous London system that Caruana started with and then capitalised on an unforced error to win a pawn which proved decisive.

Earlier, after a tension-filled game against Giri, Gukesh relaxed with his black pieces and was never in any problem against Fedoseev, who is perceived as a strong opponent at all levels.

With black, Gukesh was looking only optically worse but the Indian equalised without much trouble leading to an endgame with rook and four pawns apiece where the draw was a just result.

For Mendonca, it was a bad day in office as he chose to play the French defense and faced some new ideas by the Uzbek, who has been constantly working to get positions in which he can out-calculate his opponents.

The early middle game saw both players castling on opposite flank and it was Mendonca’s king that came into scrutiny soon. Abdusattorov is a fierce attacker and he pounced on his chance to score his first victory. This was the first game to end in the day.

In the challengers’ section, R Vaishali was forced to split the point with 14-year-old Chinese sensation Miaoyi Lu after an intense battle with white pieces.

Divya Deshmukh also opened her account in this section drawing with top seed Nguyen Thai van Dam of Czech Republic. After her first-round loss, this was an easy comeback for Divya, who is having her second stint here.

Results: Round 2: Masters: Vladimir Fedoseev (Slo, 1) drew with D Gukesh (Ind, 1.5); Erigaise Arjun (Ind, 0.5) drew with Anish Giri (Ned, 0.5); P Harikrishna (Ind, 1) lost to R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 1.5); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 1.5) bt Leon Luke Mendonca (Ind, 0); Vincent Keymer (Ger, 1.5) drew with Max Warmerdam (Ned, 1); Fabiano Caruana (USA, 1.5) bt Jorden van Foreest (Ned, 0.5); Alexey Sarana (Srb, 1) drew with Wei Yi (Chn, 1).

Challengers: Divya Deshmukh (Ind, 0.5) drew with Nguyen Thai van Dam (Cze, 1.5); R Vaishali (Ind, 1.5) drew with Miaoyi Lu (Chn, 1.5); Nodirbek Yakubboev (Uzb, 1.5) drew with Nodirbek Kazybek (Kaz, 0.5); Benjamin Bok (Ned, 1.5) bt Ediz Gurel (Tur, 1); Arthur Pijpers (Ned, 0.5) drew with Aydin Sulemanli (Aze, 1); Svane Frederik (Ger, 1.5) bt Oro Faustino (Arg, 0); Irina Bulmaga (Rom, 0) lost to Erwin L’Ami (Ned, 1.5).