Praggnanandhaa beats Keymer, retains top spot in country
In other games of the day, D Gukesh had a chance to fight for more but had to settle for a draw with Richard Rapport of Romania, and Vidit Gujrathi split the point with David Navara of Czech Republic.
PRAGUE: India’s R Praggnanandhaa came up with a scintillating performance to grind down German Vincent Keymer in the first round of the Prague Masters Chess tournament that got underway on Wednesday.
With this win Praggnanandhaa also added some more spice to the tale around the highest rated Indian as he again overtook Viswanathan Anand in live rating to clinch the top spot in the country.
In other games of the day, D Gukesh had a chance to fight for more but had to settle for a draw with Richard Rapport of Romania, and Vidit Gujrathi split the point with David Navara of Czech Republic. Gujrathi tried for as long as 89 moves before finally signing the peace. Gukesh faced the Sicilian Classical from Richard Rapport and looked in control in what appeared to be a wild middle game. The excitement, however, was short-lived as Gukesh went for trading the queens when many felt that he should have retained.
The result was a draw after 40 moves. In the Challengers section, R Vaishali lost her first round game against Ukrainian Anton Korobov.
