Bucharest (Romania) Grandmaster R Praggnandhaa once again squandered a promising position to settle for a draw against American Wesley in the fifth round of the Superbet Classic tournament as none of the five boards produced any decisive results here.
The leading positions remained unchanged with Fabiano Caruana of the United States still ahead with 3.5 points, enjoying a half-point lead over world championship challenger D Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa.
The French duo of Alireza Firouzja and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia and Wesley share third place with 2.5 points each, half a point ahead of Anish Giri of the Netherlands and Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan.
Local challenger Deac Bogdan-Daniel follows at the bottom with 1.5 points.
Gukesh also enjoyed some advantage that slipped against Abdusattorov, while Vachier-Lagrave played solidly to contain Caruana.
Bogdan-Daniel tied with Ian Nepomniachtchi in the 10-player double round-robin event, offering $350,000 in prize money.
Praggnanandhaa usually gets it right when it comes to precise calculations or tactics, but somehow here he has been missing advantageous positions and also some winning moves.
Having lost a technically winning finish against Gukesh, Wesley So was lucky as the Indian missed a not-so-difficult maneuver that he would find in seconds another day.
Inspired by the presence of Garry Kasparov in the playing room, Praggnanandhaa chose the King's Indian defense with black, faced the Fianchetto variant and did not have much trouble maintaining his balance.
Wesley became a little ambitious towards the closing stages of the midgame and this is where Praggnanandhaa could have decisively penetrated his kingside. Wesley survived by the skin of his teeth.
Gukesh also had a chance against Nodirbek through a tactical strike that would have ensured constant pressure and a long-term advantage. The game was simply tied when Gukesh missed the opportunity.
Caruana showed his opening experience to keep Maxime Vachier-Lagrave open in a Ruy López. The American opted for a little-known variant like black and it was clear that his task was profound. Vachier-Lagrave decided not to risk it for too long and achieved a great repetition in just 28 moves.
Monday is the only rest day of the tournament and the sixth round will be played on Tuesday.
Round 3 results: D Gukesh (Ind, 3) tied with Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 2.5); Wesley So (USA, 2.5) tied with R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 3); Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 2.5) tied with Fabiano Caruana (United States, 3.5); Anish Giri (Ned, 2) tied with Firouza Alireza (Fra, 2.5); Deac Bogdan-Daniel (Rou, 1.5) tied with Ian Nepomniachtchi (FID, 2.5).
The leading positions remained unchanged with Fabiano Caruana of the United States still ahead with 3.5 points, enjoying a half-point lead over world championship challenger D Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa.
The French duo of Alireza Firouzja and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia and Wesley share third place with 2.5 points each, half a point ahead of Anish Giri of the Netherlands and Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan.
Local challenger Deac Bogdan-Daniel follows at the bottom with 1.5 points.
Gukesh also enjoyed some advantage that slipped against Abdusattorov, while Vachier-Lagrave played solidly to contain Caruana.
Bogdan-Daniel tied with Ian Nepomniachtchi in the 10-player double round-robin event, offering $350,000 in prize money.
Praggnanandhaa usually gets it right when it comes to precise calculations or tactics, but somehow here he has been missing advantageous positions and also some winning moves.
Having lost a technically winning finish against Gukesh, Wesley So was lucky as the Indian missed a not-so-difficult maneuver that he would find in seconds another day.
Inspired by the presence of Garry Kasparov in the playing room, Praggnanandhaa chose the King's Indian defense with black, faced the Fianchetto variant and did not have much trouble maintaining his balance.
Wesley became a little ambitious towards the closing stages of the midgame and this is where Praggnanandhaa could have decisively penetrated his kingside. Wesley survived by the skin of his teeth.
Gukesh also had a chance against Nodirbek through a tactical strike that would have ensured constant pressure and a long-term advantage. The game was simply tied when Gukesh missed the opportunity.
Caruana showed his opening experience to keep Maxime Vachier-Lagrave open in a Ruy López. The American opted for a little-known variant like black and it was clear that his task was profound. Vachier-Lagrave decided not to risk it for too long and achieved a great repetition in just 28 moves.
Monday is the only rest day of the tournament and the sixth round will be played on Tuesday.
Round 3 results: D Gukesh (Ind, 3) tied with Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 2.5); Wesley So (USA, 2.5) tied with R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 3); Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 2.5) tied with Fabiano Caruana (United States, 3.5); Anish Giri (Ned, 2) tied with Firouza Alireza (Fra, 2.5); Deac Bogdan-Daniel (Rou, 1.5) tied with Ian Nepomniachtchi (FID, 2.5).
