Paphos (Cyprus), April 7 Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa almost lost his chance for a top finish after a loss against Anish Giri of the Netherlands in the eighth round of the Candidates chess tournament here on Tuesday.
On a day when Uzbek Javokhir Sindarov decided to consolidate his lead and drew with tailender Andrey Esipenko of Russia, Praggnanandhaa, who had won his only game against Giri in the first round, fell prey to some simple tactics from a seemingly equal position and lost his second game in the tournament.
Sindarov took his tally to 6.5 points out of a possible eight and looks set for victory, with a lead of two points over the remaining six rounds in the USD 700,000 prize money tournament, which will also select the next challenger for reigning world champion D Gukesh in the world championship match later this year.
Sindarov is followed by Giri and Fabiano Caruana of the United States, both of whom are two points behind and need a miracle to catch up with the leader. Praggnanandhaa, Wei Yi of China, Matthias Bluebaum of Germany, and Hikaru Nakamura of the USA share the fourth spot with 3.5 points each, a full point ahead of last-placed Esipenko.
It was a hard day at work for Praggnanandhaa, who started with the Vienna variation with the black pieces. After initial opening discussions, Giri gained a small advantage that the Indian was able to neutralize as the game progressed.
However, it was on the 35th move that Praggnanandhaa made a mistake, allowing Giri to unleash a sequence of moves that proved dangerous. Another mistake three moves later, and it was curtains for the Indian.
In another game, Matthias Bluebaum drew with Wei Yi of China, and the result edged them both up to 3.5 points apiece.
In the main game of the day, Nakamura finally proved his mettle and scored a huge victory over American compatriot Fabiano Caruana.
In the women's section, R Vaishali ensured that she remained within striking distance of the leader and drew with Bibisara Assaubayeva of Kazakhstan.
While the other games were still in progress in this section, it seemed like Zhu Jiner was poised to give a knockout blow to Chinese compatriot Zhong Tan. Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine is likely to protect her half-point lead on 5 points as she was headed to a draw with Divya Deshmukh, while Kateryna Lagno defeated fellow Russian Aleksandra Goryachkina to match Vaishali on 4.5 points.
Round 8 results: Anish Giri (Ned, 4.5) beat R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 3.5); Hikaru Nakamura (Usa, 3.5) beat Fabiano Caruana (Usa, 4.5); Andrey Esipenko (Rus, 2.5) drew with Javokhir Sindarov (Uzb, 6.5); Wei Yi (Chn, 3.5) drew with Matthias Bluebaum (Ger, 3.5).
Women: Anna Muzychuk (Ukr, 4.5) playing Divya Deshmukh (3.5); Kateryna Lagno (Rus, 4.5) beat Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus, 3); Bibisara Assuabayeva (Kaz, 3.5) drew with R Vaishali (Ind, 4.5); Zhongyi Tan (Chn, 2.5) playing Jiner Zhu (Chn, 3).
