Tata Steel Chess: Praggnanandhaa draws level with Gukesh at top of standings

Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa drew level with D Gukesh at the top of the standings at the end of the 12th and penultimate round of Tata Steel Masters in the Netherlands on Saturday.

Praggnanandhaa defeated Serbia’s Alexey Sarana of Serbia to register his third straight victory and took his tally to 8.5 points to become the joint topper on the table.

Earlier in the day, D Gukesh looked well poised to retain his sole lead on nine points. But a draw against Dutchman Jorden van Foreest meant Gukesh had to settle for 8.5 points, the same as Praggnanandhaa.

Arjun Erigaisi, another Indian in the fray, meanwhile, ended the hopes of Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan by scoring a brilliant victory with white pieces.

Abdusattorov slipped to third spot with 7.5 points.

Praggnanandhaa, playing with white pieces, saw Sarana going for an early advance of kingside pawns and then castled on the queen's side. It was time to launch an attack against the black king and Praggnanandhaa did not disappoint.

In tactical complications, Praggnanandhaa was at his best as he sacrificed a piece to rip apart the black’s king position and what followed thereafter was a pleasure to watch. The game ended through a queen sacrifice resulting in a force checkmate.

Arjun Erigaisi finally proved his mettle against Abdusattorov by ending Uzbek’s ambitions for the top place. It was a Nimzo Indian wherein Arjun had white pieces and his choice of Capablanca variation gave little chance for Abdusattorov to disturb the balance.

In the early middle game, Abdusattorov went for unwarranted complications and ended up blundering on the kingside. Erigaisi won a pawn first and later won two bishops for a rook. With precise calculations, he wrapped up the issue in 46 moves.