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India’s R Praggnanandhaa has claimed the sole lead at the ongoing Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk Aan Zee (The Netherlands) after beating compatriot Leon Luke Mendonca. However, India’s top-ranked Arjun Erigaisi’s wretched run continues as he slumped to his third defeat in the competition to stay winless.

On the other hand, world champion D Gukesh played out an epic six-hour, 70-over draw with Alexey Sarana.

Grandmaster Pentala Harikrishna defeated Max Warmerdam for his second win of the tournament.

Praggnanandhaa was sharing the lead alongside Uzbek Nodirbek Abdusattorov. However, Abdusattorov drew with Wei Yi allowing the Indian to claim the sole lead.

Praggnanandhaa started with an innocuous Ruy Lopez close but found his chances in the middle game when Mendonca, clearly being the rookie here, could not handle the pressure of another high-profile game.

It was another day when Praggnanandhaa found the fire to score his third win on the trot after 46 moves. With his third win, the Chennai-based player has stamped his authority ahead of the first rest day of the long and gruelling tournament that lasts three rounds with three rest days thrown in.

Praggnanandhaa has 3.5 points with all three of his wins coming against Indians counterparts. He’s yet to face Gukesh.

On the other hand, Erigaisi lost to Vladimir Fedoseev in the fourth round despite being in a strong position at one stage. He had earlier lost to Harikrishna before being held to a draw by Anish Giri and then losing to Praggnanandhaa.

Praggnanandhaa (3.5) is currently at the top followed by Abdusattorov (3) while Gukesh (2.5) is joint-third alongside Fabiano Caruana, Vincent Keymer, Vladimir Fedoseev and Harikrishna.

Just four days back, Arjun Erigaisi was on the top of the world but it has all come crashing down as he lost another game against Vladimir Fedoseev, the Russian who now plays for Slovenia. It was another bad day in the office for Erigaisi as his tactical ability surrendered before his opponent’s prophylactic thinking.

Just out of the opening, Erigaisi was worse and then came close to winning in the queen pawn opening. But a blunder cost him dearly as he walked into a worse endgame. Fedoseev won a piece and never looked back.

In the challengers’ section, R Vaishali made a huge comeback at the expense of Nodirbek Yakubboev of Uzbekistan and Divya Deshmukh proved her critics wrong with an exemplary victory over Ediz Gurel of Turkey.

After a day that saw seven wins with white pieces in this section, Vaishali was at her best scrolling the tactical possibilities out of a queen’s gambit declined and found her niche as Yakubboev forgot to take care of his weakened king. Vaishali, never shy of tactics, wrapped it up quickly.

Divya had to wait for the fourth round for her first victory, and it was a clean triumph wherein the Indian outplayed Gurel, who played black.

Winning a pawn was crucial for Divya and after that, her endgame skills were clearly on the fore as she won in 56 moves.

Results – Round 4

Masters: P Harikrishna (Ind, 2.5) beat Max Warmerdam (Ned, 1); Arjun Erigaisi lost to Vladimir Fedoseev (Slo, 2.5); Fabiano Caruana (Usa, 2.5) drew with Anish Giri (Ned, 1.5); R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 2.5) beat Leon Luke Mendonca (Ind, 0.5); Wei Yi (Chn, 2) drew with Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 3); Vincent Keymer (Ger, 2.5) dew with Jorden van Foreest (Ned, 1.5); Alexey Sarana (Srb, 2) drew with D Gukesh (Ind, 2.5).
 

Challengers: Divya Deshmukh (Ind, 1.5) beat Ediz Gurel (Tur, 2); Nodirbek Yakubboev (Uzb, 1.5) lost to R Vaishali (Ind, 2.5); Svane Frederik (Ger, 2) drew with Nogerbek Kazybek (Kaz, 2); Miaoyi Lu (Chn, 3) drew with Irina Bulmaga (Rom, 0.5); Nguyen Thai Dai Vam (Cze, 3) drew with Aydin Suleymanli (Aze, 2); Arthur Pijpers (Ned, 1) drew with Erwin L’Ami (Ned 3); Oro Faustino (Arg, 1) beat Benjamin Bok (Ned, 1.5).

With PTI Inputs