Superbet Classic Chess: Praggnanandhaa takes on Bogden, Gukesh faces Vachier
With five rounds gone, the two Indians with three points each are just 0.5 points behind leader Fabiano Caruana of the USA.
Gukesh D. (Photo Credit: PTI)
World Championship challenger D Gukesh and grandmaster Praggnanandhaa will be looking to close down the gap between them and leader Fabiano Caruana through their upcoming games at the ongoing 2024 Superbet Class Chess in Bucharest in Romania.
While the latter will face bottom-placed Deac Bogdan-Daniel of Romania, Gukesh will be up against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France in the sixth round of the ongoing tournament.
After five rounds, Fabiano of the USA leads the pack with 3.5 points and right behind him are the Indian duo with 3 points each.
Behind them, Alireza Firouzja and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France, Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi and American Wesley share the fourth spot with 2.5 points each.
With five rounds to go, the competition between the players tends to get intense given the margin of separation between each of them.
Praggnanandhaa goes into his game as a favourite and playing with the white pieces, he certainly holds the advantage and is expected to win.
The Chennai-based sensation missed out on a straightforward winning manoeuvre against Wesley So in the previous round and will enter the game under pressure to make it count.
Gukesh's matchup is much trickier, having to play with black pieces and an opponent who has looked good this tournament