Tata Steel Masters: Arjun Erigaisi holds Anish Giri, Gukesh-Praggnanandhaa draw again

Arjun Erigaisi held Anish Giri, while Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa drew again in round 4 of the Tata Steel Masters. Abdusattorov and Niemann emerged joint leaders, Sindarov beat Bluebaum, and Aravindh Chithambaram lost to Niemann

Wijk Aan Zee (The Netherlands): World Champion D Gukesh drew his fourth game in a row, signing peace with compatriot and defending champion R Praggnanandhaa, while Arjun Erigaisi could not break the defence of Anish Giri and settled for his third straight draw in the Tata Steel Masters here.

Praggnanandhaa was denied a win for the fourth day running by Gukesh, who played an unusual variation to counter the French Defence. Despite weakening white’s pawn structure on the queenside, Praggnanandhaa could not convert and the game ended in a drawn queen-and-pawns endgame.

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With two draws and two losses in the first four rounds, Praggnanandhaa remains at the bottom of the table along with Giri.

On a day when Aravindh Chithambaram suffered his first defeat at the hands of American Hans Moke Niemann, Nodirbek Abdusattorov strengthened his claim by beating Thai Dai Van Nguyen of the Czech Republic. Abdusattorov and Niemann emerged as joint leaders on three points out of four, while Arjun Erigaisi is right behind them along with Uzbek Javokhir Sindarov and Dutchman Jorden van Foreest.

Sindarov was the other winner of the day, defeating Germany’s Matthias Bluebaum, who will feature in the Candidates tournament later this year.

Aravindh Chithambaram ran into a storm called Niemann. The two had met once before in Classical format in 2022, with Niemann winning then as well. The middle game was intense as Aravindh faced a dangerous queen sacrifice, and Niemann displayed skill to convert from that point.

The clash between Giri and Arjun lacked momentum. Giri’s solid play and Arjun’s contrasting style ended in a rook-and-pawns endgame where white had little to look forward to.

Results – Round 4 (Indians unless specified):

Anish Giri (Ned, 1) drew with Arjun Erigaisi (2.5)

D Gukesh (2) drew with R Praggnanandhaa (1)

Vladimir Fedoseev (Slo, 2) drew with Jorden van Foreest (Ned, 2.5)

Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 3) bt Thai Dai Van Nguyen (Cze, 1.5)

Aravindh Chithambaram (1.5) lost to Hans Moke Niemann (USA, 3)

Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus (Tur, 2) drew with Vincent Keymer (Ger, 1.5)

Matthias Bluebaum (Ger, 2) lost to Javokhir Sindarov (Uzb, 2.5)