Tata Steel Masters Chess Tournament Round 8: The Match Between Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh Ends in a Draw

Wijk aan Zee, January 27 : Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa played a thrilling draw against World Champion D. Gukesh in the eighth round of the Tata Steel Masters Chess Tournament.

Playing with white pieces in the Berlin Defense, Praggnanandhaa created a favorable position, but Gukesh kept the game balanced with his excellent defense.

During the game, Gukesh sacrificed a piece to advance his counterplay. Although Praggnanandhaa tried to take advantage of this, the game remained balanced.

As soon as the queens were exchanged, the game transitioned into an endgame with rooks and pawns, where Gukesh, using a brilliant strategy, created an outside passed pawn. Praggnanandhaa had no choice but to stop it. After 33 moves, the game ended in a draw.

With this draw, both Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh are likely to remain joint leaders with 5.5 points. Meanwhile, the overnight leader from Uzbekistan, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, also drew with Slovenia's Vladimir Fedoseev, keeping him in the top spot as well.

Performance of Other Indian Players:

Grandmaster P. Harikrishna played a draw against Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri. In this Ruy Lopez Arkhangelsk Variation game, both players ended in a draw after the middle game. Harikrishna now has 4 points, while Giri, with his seventh consecutive draw, has 3.5 points.

Arjun Erigaisi drew with Serbia's Alexey Sarana, while Leon Luke Mendonca also drew with the Netherlands' Jordan van Foreest. Arjun is half a point behind Mendonca.