New Delhi: Indian Grandmaster Aravindh Chithambaram secured an important victory while world champion D Gukesh continued his winless run in the eighth round of the Prague Chess Festival in Prague, Czech Republic.
Chithambaram defeated Dutch Grandmaster Jorden van Foreest to move up the standings, while Gukesh had to settle for a draw against Germany’s Vincent Keymer. The Indian world champion has yet to record a victory in the tournament and remains near the bottom of the leaderboard with one round left to play.
Meanwhile, Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov moved into the sole lead after defeating Czech Grandmaster David Navara. Abdusattorov now leads the standings with 5.5 points, holding a half point advantage over van Foreest going into the final round. The young Uzbek, who recently won the Tata Steel Chess Tournament Masters earlier this year, is now close to securing another major title.
Navara currently sits in third place with 4.5 points. Chithambaram’s victory lifted him to joint fourth position with four points alongside Keymer and Iran’s Parham Maghsoodloo.
Further down the standings, Nodirbek Yakubboev of Uzbekistan, Hans Moke Niemann of the United States and Spain’s David Anton Guijarro share the next positions with 3.5 points, staying one point ahead of Gukesh.
Both Abdusattorov and Chithambaram secured their wins after dramatic endgames that initially appeared to be heading towards draws. Abdusattorov capitalised on a costly mistake from Navara in a rook and minor piece endgame, while Chithambaram benefited after van Foreest missed a tactical opportunity in the closing stages.
In the challengers section of the tournament, Czech International Master Vanclav Finek strengthened his position after drawing with Indian Grandmaster Surya Shekhar Ganguly. Another Indian participant, Divya Deshmukh, also played out a draw against Jachym Nemec.
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