Bucharest (Romania), Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa will look to improve his game after squandering chances to win when he faces last-place Deac Bogdan-Daniel of Romania in the sixth round of the Superbet Classic Chess tournament.
While Praggnanandhaa has not been at his best in better positions, World Championship challenger D Gukesh has survived quite well despite living dangerously in a couple of games in the tournament, which is part of the Chess Grand Tour.
With five rounds completed and only four more to come, the two Indians with three points each are within striking distance of the tournament leader, Fabiano Caruana of the United States, who has 3.5 points.
The French Alireza Firouzja and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, the Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi and the American Wesley So share fourth place with 2.5 points each, half a point ahead of the Dutchman Anish Giri and the Uzbek Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Bogdan-Daniel is at the bottom of the table with 1.5 points.
Gukesh will have black pieces against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and it should not be a difficult task for the Indian, who has been trying various setups against the king's pawn opening.
Vachier-Lagrave, for his part, expects a difficult fight, but the fact that he is not very adventurous when it comes to opening up options makes his task a little more difficult.
Praggnanandhaa will not only be favorite but will also be under pressure. In the previous round, the Indian missed an easy winning maneuver against Wesley So, while earlier, Gukesh survived what was a technically difficult but theoretically losing finish against him.
With the white pieces supporting him, the ball will be in Praggnanandhaa's court to deliver the goods.
Bogdan-Daniel is still looking for an elusive victory with only three draws so far and the Romanian knows that it will not be easy to cross paths with a tiger on the prowl.
Caruana has had some good games and would like to continue like this. The next round is against Ian Nepomniachtchi, who has drawn all of his games so far in the tournament.
Round 6 matchups: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 2.5) vs D Gukesh (Ind, 3); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 2) against Anish Giri (Ned, 2); Alireza Firouzja (Fra, 2.5) against Wesley So (USA, 2.5) R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 3) against Deac Bogdan Daniel (Rou, 1.5); Fabiano Caruana (United States, 3.5) vs Ian Nepomniachtchi (FID, 2.5).
While Praggnanandhaa has not been at his best in better positions, World Championship challenger D Gukesh has survived quite well despite living dangerously in a couple of games in the tournament, which is part of the Chess Grand Tour.
With five rounds completed and only four more to come, the two Indians with three points each are within striking distance of the tournament leader, Fabiano Caruana of the United States, who has 3.5 points.
The French Alireza Firouzja and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, the Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi and the American Wesley So share fourth place with 2.5 points each, half a point ahead of the Dutchman Anish Giri and the Uzbek Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Bogdan-Daniel is at the bottom of the table with 1.5 points.
Gukesh will have black pieces against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and it should not be a difficult task for the Indian, who has been trying various setups against the king's pawn opening.
Vachier-Lagrave, for his part, expects a difficult fight, but the fact that he is not very adventurous when it comes to opening up options makes his task a little more difficult.
Praggnanandhaa will not only be favorite but will also be under pressure. In the previous round, the Indian missed an easy winning maneuver against Wesley So, while earlier, Gukesh survived what was a technically difficult but theoretically losing finish against him.
With the white pieces supporting him, the ball will be in Praggnanandhaa's court to deliver the goods.
Bogdan-Daniel is still looking for an elusive victory with only three draws so far and the Romanian knows that it will not be easy to cross paths with a tiger on the prowl.
Caruana has had some good games and would like to continue like this. The next round is against Ian Nepomniachtchi, who has drawn all of his games so far in the tournament.
Round 6 matchups: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 2.5) vs D Gukesh (Ind, 3); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 2) against Anish Giri (Ned, 2); Alireza Firouzja (Fra, 2.5) against Wesley So (USA, 2.5) R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 3) against Deac Bogdan Daniel (Rou, 1.5); Fabiano Caruana (United States, 3.5) vs Ian Nepomniachtchi (FID, 2.5).
