Paphos (Cyprus), April 9 The unstoppable Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan made another significant step towards the title as he defeated India's R Praggnanandhaa, extending his lead to a massive two points after the end of the tenth round of the Candidates chess tournament here on Thursday.
Sindarov reached eight points after his sixth victory in the tournament, and his second win over the Indian.
Anish Giri of the Netherlands is the only player closest to Sindarov, with six points.
Praggnanandhaa is completely out of contention as he remained on four points after his third loss in the tournament.
In other games of the day, Fabiano Caruana of the United States drew with Wei Yi of China, while American Nakamura drew with Giri and Andrey Espenko of Russia drew with Matthias Bluebaum.
R Vaishali, Praggnanandhaa's elder sister, meanwhile, continued her good form and drew with Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine to emerge as the sole leader in the women's Candidates with six points.
Muzychuk and Jiner Zhu of China are now second and third, both with 5.5 points.
Bibisara Assaubayeva of Kazakhstan defeated Jiner Zhu and reached five points, alongside Russian players Kateryna Lagno and Aleksandra Goryachkina. The remaining four rounds will determine the winner, and it looks like there will be a thrilling finish in the women's section.
Sindarov once again demonstrated his deep opening preparation and put Praggnanandhaa in a well-prepared position. The Uzbek sacrificed a piece early, and significant complications arose on the board when Praggnanandhaa made a mistake and lost his queen for two rooks and a number of white pawns.
Sindarov's technique was flawless from then on.
Vaishali was in a solid position and did not face any problems in equalizing against Muzychuk, while Divya Deshmukh misplayed an endgame and lost to Goryachkina.
Results Round 10: Javokhir Sindarov (Uzb, 8) beat R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 4); Andrey Esipenko (Rus, 3.5) drew with Matthias Bluebaum Ger (4.5); Wei Yi (Chn, 4.5) drew with Fabiano Caruana (Usa, 5); Hikaru Nakamura (Usa, 4.5) drew with Anish Giri (Ned, 6).
Women: Anna Muzychuk (Ukr, 5.5) drew with R Vaishali (Ind, 6); Bibisaraa Assaubayeva (Kaz, 5) beat Jiner Zhu (Chn, 5.5); Kateryna Lagno (Rus, 5) drew with Zhongyi Tan (Chn, 3.5); Divya Deshmukh (Ind, 4.5) lost to Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus, 5).