In Bucharest (Romania), Indian grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa tied with Fabiano Caruana of the United States, while world championship contender D Gukesh also split points with Dutchman Anish Giri in the eighth and penultimate round of the Superbet Classic chess tournament here .
For the fourth time, the day did not produce a single decisive game and ties on all five boards meant Caruana maintained its slim half-point lead heading into the final round of the 10-player round-robin tournament, part of the Grand Tour Of chess.
With 5 points under his belt in eight matches, the American continued to be followed by Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh and Alireza Firouzja of France, who are half a point behind.
Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi and Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave share fifth place with four points each, ahead of Wesley So of the United States, Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan and Giri with 3.5 points each.
Deac Bogdan-Daniel of Romania remains at the bottom of the standings with three points in the $350,000 prize money tournament.
There was not much enthusiasm from Caruana, who began the English opening with white and believed he had some semblance of an advantage at the start of the middlegame.
However, in the 14th, a series of exchanges saw Praggnanandhaa equalize easily and the players landed in an endgame of rooks and minor pieces that was tied in just 31 moves.
Talking about his performance in the post-match chat, Praggnanandhaa said, "The matches have been exciting, I am disappointed because I missed two chances (against Gukesh and Wesley So), but it happens."
Giri started a Nimzo Indian defense with black and Gukesh sacrificed a pawn in the middlegame for piece play. The position offered sufficient compensation for the Indian and Giri decided not to take risks and chose to repeat the position. He finished in just 30 moves.
So he tied with Vachier-Lagrave, who played white in an Italian opening.
Results after round 8: Alireza Firouzja (FRA, 4.5) tied with Ian Nepomniachtchi (FID, 4); Fabiano Caruana (USA, 5) tied with R Praggnaanandhaa (IND. 4.5); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB, 3.5) tied with Deac Bogdan-Daniel (ROU, 3); D Gukesh (IND, 4.5) tied with Anish Giri (NED, 3.5); Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA, 4) tied with Wesley So (USA, 3.5). or SSC SSC
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For the fourth time, the day did not produce a single decisive game and ties on all five boards meant Caruana maintained its slim half-point lead heading into the final round of the 10-player round-robin tournament, part of the Grand Tour Of chess.
With 5 points under his belt in eight matches, the American continued to be followed by Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh and Alireza Firouzja of France, who are half a point behind.
Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi and Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave share fifth place with four points each, ahead of Wesley So of the United States, Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan and Giri with 3.5 points each.
Deac Bogdan-Daniel of Romania remains at the bottom of the standings with three points in the $350,000 prize money tournament.
There was not much enthusiasm from Caruana, who began the English opening with white and believed he had some semblance of an advantage at the start of the middlegame.
However, in the 14th, a series of exchanges saw Praggnanandhaa equalize easily and the players landed in an endgame of rooks and minor pieces that was tied in just 31 moves.
Talking about his performance in the post-match chat, Praggnanandhaa said, "The matches have been exciting, I am disappointed because I missed two chances (against Gukesh and Wesley So), but it happens."
Giri started a Nimzo Indian defense with black and Gukesh sacrificed a pawn in the middlegame for piece play. The position offered sufficient compensation for the Indian and Giri decided not to take risks and chose to repeat the position. He finished in just 30 moves.
So he tied with Vachier-Lagrave, who played white in an Italian opening.
Results after round 8: Alireza Firouzja (FRA, 4.5) tied with Ian Nepomniachtchi (FID, 4); Fabiano Caruana (USA, 5) tied with R Praggnaanandhaa (IND. 4.5); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB, 3.5) tied with Deac Bogdan-Daniel (ROU, 3); D Gukesh (IND, 4.5) tied with Anish Giri (NED, 3.5); Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA, 4) tied with Wesley So (USA, 3.5). or SSC SSC
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