R Praggnanadhaa played out a solid draw with world champion D Gukesh in the all-Indian top-of-the-table clash in the eighth round of the Tata Steel Masters on Sunday in Wijk Aan Zee, Netherlands. With this result, both Indians remain on 5.5 points each along with Nodirbek Abdusattorov, with Gukesh's tie-break score putting him on top for the moment, ahead of Abdusattorov and Praggnanandhaa in that order. .
Playing the white side of a Berlin defense, Praggnanadhaa had slightly favourable position optically, but Gukesh was always on guard to defend. It was in the early middle game that Gukesh sacrificed a pawn to get his counterplay rolling and even though Praggnanadhaa tried to make use of it, the game was always closer to a draw.
As the Queens got traded, the players arrived at a rook and minor piece endgame wherein Gukesh found the best resources and even got an outside passed pawn. With Praggnanadhaa's rook having the lone task of working against the pawn, the result was not in doubt. The game was drawn after 33 moves.
27...Nd6! would suddenly be winning now for Caruana, hitting the queen and the f4-knight! #TataSteelChess pic.twitter.com/bU097mvmMS
- chess24 (@chess24com) January 26, 2025
The only two winners amd big movers of the round were Fabiano Caruana and defending champion Wei Yi, who got late victories with Black to move within a point of the leading back at 4.5 points. Both were solid wins snatched from what looked like an all-draw day at the tournament. The remaining games were all drawn.
The other overnight leader, Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan, shared the point with fourth placed Vladimir Fedoseev of Slovenia, who moved closer to the leading pack at 5.0 points. It was a quick game, with the almost 30 moves in 15 minutes before things settled down towards a draw.
Among other Indians in the fray, Grandmaster P Harirkishna played out a draw with highest ranked Dutchman Anish Giri. The Arkhengelsk variation in the Ruy Lopez as black gave Giri an easy equality in the early middle game and the pieces got exchanged in a heap. The players arrived at an absolutely level rook and pawns endgame where the draw was a just result.
Harikrishna moved to four points out of a possible eight, while Anish took his tally to 3.5 following his seventh straight draw.
Arjun Erigaisi played out a draw with Alexey Sarana of Serbia, while Leon Luke Mendonca also got the same result against Jorden van Foreest of Holland. Arjun on two points is a half point behind Mendonca.
(With PTI Inputs)
Standings after Round 8
Dommaraju Gukesh: 5.5
Nodirbek Abdusattorov: 5.5
R Praggnanandhaa: 5.5
Vladimir Fedoseev: 5.0
Fabiano Caruana: 4.5
Wei Yi: 4.5
Alexey Sarana: 4.5
Pentala Harikrishna: 4.0
Anish Giri: 3.5
Jordan van Foreest: 3.0
Max Warmerdam: 3.0
Vincent Keymer: 3.0
Leon Luke Mendonca: 2.5
Arjun Erigaisi: 2.0