Praggnanandhaa draws and maintains joint lead, Gukesh loses again in Superbet Classic

Bucharest: Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa played out a draw with Duda Jan-Krzysztof of Poland to maintain joint lead with 3.5 points but compatriot D Gukesh lost a tense battle against Alireza Firouzja of France in the sixth round of Superbet Chess Classics, a part of the grand chess tour.

Playing the black side of an English opening, Praggnanandhaa was subjected to some initial tactics by Duda, who is looking forward to come back in the event, but the Indian was quite up to the task in not giving any free-way to his Polish opponent.

The Polish Grandmaster showed his intent with a queen sacrifice for a rook and minor piece in the middle game and Praggnanandhaa was quick to realise that his chances were slim. The draw was a just result as neither player could make much progress.

Gukesh, not at his best, suffered his second loss in the event late on Tuesday night and, in live rankings, slipped to number five with Arjun Erigaisi taking over as the new world number three.

The game should have been a draw once the endgame reached after Alireza missed out on his chances in the middle game.

However, with a rook and Bishop on board besides just a pawn each, Gukesh made a huge blunder which was beyond recoverable.

Alireza, Fabiano Caruana of the United States, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France and Praggnanandhaa share the joint lead.

Caruana tried hard to break through with a piece sacrifice against local hero Deac Bogdan-Daniel but he had to settle for a draw as well.

The other overnight leader Vachier-Lagrave could do little with his white pieces either as he drew very quickly with Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan.

Results after round 6: Duda jan-Krzysztof (POL, 2.5) drew with R Praggnanandhaa (IND, 3.5); Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA, 3.5) drew with Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB, 2); Levon Aronian (USA, 3) drew with Wesley So (USA, 3); Firouzja Alireza (FRA, 3.5) beat D Gukesh (IND, 2); Fabiano Caruana (USA, 3.5) drew with Deac Bogdan-Daniel (ROU, 2.5).