Paphos (Cyprus), April 3 R Praggnanandhaa, the only Indian in the competition, drew with Andrey Esipenko, while Javokhir Sindarov maintained his winning momentum and defeated Hikaru Nakamura to retain the lead after the fifth round of the Candidates Tournament here on Friday.
It turned out to be another dramatic day as Praggnanandhaa, who needed to win, opted for an unconventional opening not found in standard chess literature. While the middlegame promised excitement, the Indian ace decided against taking any risks, and the game ended in a draw in just 31 moves due to repetition.
Sindarov appears to be a young man on a mission as he outclassed world No. 2 Hikaru Nakamura to reach 4.5 points from the first five rounds. Fabiano Caruana of the United States is the only one within striking distance after defeating Matthias Bluebaum to reach 3.5 points.
Praggnanandhaa, with 2.5 points, is next on the list and needs to win a couple of games, along with Anish Giri, who also settled for a draw against Wei Yi.
In the women's event being held simultaneously, Divya Deshmukh drew with Tan Zhongyi of China, while R Vaishali was struggling to save a difficult position against another Chinese player, Zhu Jiner.
Meanwhile, Anna Muzychuk of Ukraine remained as the co-leader following a draw with Aleksandra Goryachkina of Russia, while overnight joint leader Bibisara Assaubayeva lost to Russian Kateryna Lagno, who joined Muzychuk in the lead.
Round 5: R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 2.5) drew with Andrey Esipenko (Rus, 1); Fabiano Caruana (USA, 3.5) beat Matthias Bluebaum (Ger, 2); Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 1.5) lost to Javokhir Sindarov (Uzb, 4.5); Anish Giri (Ned, 2.5) drew with Wei Yi (Chn, 2).
Women: Kateryna Lagno (Rus, 3) beat Bibisara Assuabayeva (Kaz, 2.5); Tan Zhongyi (Chn, 2) drew with Divya Deshmukh (Ind, 2); Zhu Jiner (Chn, 2) playing R Vaishali (Ind, 2); Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus, 2.5) drew with Anna Muzychuk (Ukr, 3).