Wijk Aan Zee: Grandmaster D Gukesh scored his second victory on the trot at the expense of Jorden Van Foreest of Holland and jumped to joint third spot after the end of the sixth round of Tata Steel Masters chess tournament, here. After beating Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia, Gukesh firmly posted another victory with black pieces in the fifth decisive game played by the Indian.
After a not-so-good start initially, it has been a good comeback by the Indian star. Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa played out a draw with Nepomniachtchi in what was a keenly contested affair while Vidit Gujrathi continued to chase an elusive victory as he split the point with Women's world champion Ju Wenjun of China for his sixth draw in as many games.
With seven rounds still to come in the first super tournament of the year, Anish Guru maintained his sole lead on 4.5 points out of a possible six and he is now trailed by Iranian turned Frenchman Firouza Alireza who is on 4 points. Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh, Nodirbek Abdusattarov of Uzbekistan and Max Warmerdam of Holland share the third spot on 3.5 points and they are now followed by a pack of four players including Gujrathi with a fifty percent score.
Gukesh came up with an original idea in the Scotch opening with black pieces. It turned out to be a nasty surprise for Foreest as he decided to part with a pawn in the early stages of the middle game, hoping to get an upper hand through his better development.
Gukesh was however quite up to the task in finding his share of counter attack after steering his king to safety on the queenside and a tactical blow forced the liquidation to a rook and minor pieces endgame with two extra pawns for the Indian. The game lasted 45 moves. Praggnanandhaa appeared to be under some pressure in the middle game arising out of an English opening by Nepomniachtchi.
Just while experts believed that a passive defense was the real chance the golden boy from Chennai uncorked a piece sacrifice for a couple of pawns. The situation still favoured Nepomniachtchi but he needed machine-like accuracy along with some mistakes from the Indian. Both of them did not happen and the game petered out to a draw.
Vidit Gujrathi tried to create complications against Wenjun but the Chinese remained rock-solid and did not give any real chances. In the challengers section being held simultaneously, D Harika defeated Stefan Beukema of Belgium to reach 2.5 points. Len Luke Mendonca met his nemesis in Liam Vrolijk of Holland and Divya Deshmukh also suffered a loss against A R Saleh Salem of UAE.
Erwin L'Ami of Holland continued to lead this section on 4.5 points while Mendonca is the best performing Indian so far with three points in his kitty. Results round 6 Masters (Indians unless stated): Firouzja, Alireza (Fra, 4) beat Wei Yi (Chn, 3); Ding Liren (Chn, 3) drew with Nodirbek Abdusattorov (3.5); Anish Giri (Ned, 4.5) drew with Parham Maghsoodloo (Iri, 1.5); Ian Nepomniachtchi (Rus, 3) drew with R Praggnanandhaa (3.5); Jorden Van Foreest (Ned, 2) lost to D Gukesh (3.5); Max Warmerdam (Ned, 3.5) beat Alexander Donchenko (Slo, 1.5); Ju Wenjun (Chn, 2.5) drew with Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (3)
Challengers: Vrolijk Liam (Ned, 3) beat Leon Luke Mendonca (3); Stefan Beukema (Bel, 2) lost to D Harika (2.5); Anton Korobov (Ukr, 4) drew with Erwin L'Ami (Ned, 4.5); Jaime Santos Latasa (Esp, 3) drew with Daniel Dardha (Bel, 3); Hans Moke Niemann (Usa, 3) drew with Marc`Andria Maurizzi (Fra, 4); Mustafa Yilmaz (Tur, 2.5) lost to Eline Roebers (Ned, 2); A.R. Saleh Salem (Uae, 4) beat Divya Deshmukh (1.5).
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