Chess
Prague Chess: Chithambaram beats Keymer, Praggnanandhaa settles for a draw
Aravindh Chithambaram registered his first victory as he crashed through the defences of Germany’s Vincent Keymer.
Aravindh Chithambaram in action during a chess tournament.
Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa settled for a second consecutive draw against Turkey’s Gurel Ediz in the second round of the Prague Masters on Thursday.
Aravindh Chithambaram, on the other hand, registered his first victory as he crashed through the defences of Germany’s Vincent Keymer.
Playing with black pieces, Chithambaram, who played out a draw in his first-round game against Czech Grandmaster Nguyen Thai Dai Van, defeated Keymer.
He was the lone player to register a win in the second round in the 10-player round-robin format, as the other matches ended in draws.
Chithambaram is currently sharing the top spot with Sam Shankland, with 1.5 points out of two games.
The duo is followed by Anish Giri, Quang Leim Le, Dai Van, Navara David, Keymer and Praggnanandhaa. The last spot is shared by Gurel Ediz and Wei Yi.
Chithambaram's victory on the day world champion Boris Spassky breathed his last was a fitting tribute from the Indian youngster to the legend.
Chithambaram’s style of play resembles the late Russian player's style.
Praggnanandhaa, meanwhile, has demonstrated his ability to play all openings with either colour and his choice of French defence turned out to be a good one guaranteeing an equal game.
In the challengers’ section, taking place simultaneously, Divya Deshmukh registered an impressive victory over Richard Stalmach of the Czech Republic.
