Gukesh returns, Prague United third, Carlsen takes lead

WARSAW: World Championship challenger D Gukesh bounced back from a slow start to beat compatriot R Praggnanandhaa and Germany’s Vincent Kemmerer and defeat world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in the sixth round of the Superbet rapid and blitz tournament here on Friday. Praggnanandhaa produced a strong performance by defeating Holland’s Anish Giri in the fifth round and followed it up with a win over Kemmerer in the sixth round. Norway’s Carlsen is jointly led by China’s Wei Yi with eight points, while Praggnanandhaa and Shevchenko Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdussaturov, Gukesh and Arjun Erigay are tied for fifth with six points, a full point ahead of local star Duda Jan-Krzysztof. With four points, Keimer $175,000 She is ranked ninth in the tournament with a prize money of Rs. 100,000, one point ahead of Giri. However, Romanian Kirill Shevchenko’s dream run was ended by Erigaysi, who recorded her first win at the event. After losses in the first two rounds, Starting with a solitary draw, Gukesh showed courage to win over Praggnanandhaa in the fourth round in 41 moves.

There was not much room for Gukesh in the middle game arising from the double fawn by White and his position worsened as Praggnanandan attacked the kingside by moving his pawns. Both were under a lot of pressure and close to the winning position. Despite reaching the lead, Praggnanandha could not keep his composure and allowed Gukesh to make a strong comeback. In the next round, Praggnanandhan was on target with some difficult moves to defeat Giri in just 21 moves in an irregular queen pawn game. Giri played a brilliant rook move. They fell victim and made mistakes early on. Gukesh made the most of the chances to crush Keymer playing with white. Tactical complications led to an awkward situation in the mid-game in which Keymer found his king taking a long walk. It was difficult for him to recover from there and Gukesh ended the game by sacrificing the queen. Earlier in the day against Duda Arjun faced defeat in the match, but then showed an exemplary game to defeat Shevchenko.

In the last game of the day, Arjun played a draw with Abdusattorov and kept himself well away from the leader pack. For the second consecutive day, Carlsen managed one win and two draws. He was reminded of Carlsen’s superior skills in the semi-finals, while against Gukesh he missed a promising continuation before signing peace. Wei Yi was the star of the day as he made it three wins in a row to move into the lead with Carlsen. Giri’s Starting with a win against, the Chinese picked up a win against Duda before handing Shevchenko her second defeat of the day. Standings after Round 6 Rapid: 1-2. Carlson, Wei Yi 8 points each; 3-4. Shevchenko, Praggnananda 7 points each; 5-7: Abdusatorov, Gukesh, Arjun 6 points each; 8. Duda 5 points; 9. Keymer 4 points; 10. Giri 3 points.