Superbet Classic: Praggnanadhaa beats Wesley; in sole lead

Bucharest (Romania): Indian grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa shot into sole lead, defeating Wesley SO of the United States in the 8th round of Superbet Classic, a part of the Grand Chess tour.

The victory with black, took Praggananandhaa to five points in all on a day when World champion D Gukesh also registered his first victory at the expense of another American Levon Aronian.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France played a draw with Fabiano Caruana of USA, while local GM Deac Bogdan-Daniel also got a draw with Duda Jan-Krzysztof of Poland.

With just one round to come, Frenchman Alireza Firouzja was trying his best to dent the confidence of Uzbek Nodirbek Abdusattorov in a keenly contested battle.

With Pragg on 5, Caruana and Vachier-Lagrave share the second spot currently on 4.5 points apiece. Alireza can join the Indian in lead if he wins against Abdusattorov. After two losses, Gukesh came back in form and he moved to 3.5 points.

Results round 8: Wesley So (Usa, 3.5) lost to R Praggananandhaa (Ind, 5); Levon Aronian (3) lost to D Gukesh (Ind, 3.5); Deac Bogdan Daniel (Rou, 4) drew with Duda Jan-Krzysztof (Pol, 3); Fabiano Caruana (Usa, 4.5) drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 4.5); Alireza Firouzja (Fra, 4) playing Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 2.5).