Praggnanandhaa posts 4th straight win in Gibraltar chess; five players share lead

Young Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa registered his fourth win on the trot, beating compatriot Ravi Teja in the 18th Gibraltar Chess festival here.

After a defeat at the hands of compatriot P V Nandhidhaa in the opening round, Praggnanandhaa's remarkable turnaround continued with the fifth round win against Teja. He is now joint second with a bunch of 11 others, including K Sasikiran and SL Narayanan, on four points.

Five players now share the lead on 4.5 points from five rounds.

Playing with black pieces, Praggnanandhaa (ELO rating 2602) crushed Teja.

"Today, I prepared this move h5, which was played by Ding Liren at the World Cup and then by many others." he said.

 

However, Praggnanandhaa's compatriot D Gukesh, the world's second youngest GM ever, went down to Gwain Jones in 26 moves.

B Adhiban moved to 4 points after settling for a draw against fellow Indian Aryan Chopra in a marathon game lasting 103 moves.

Georgia's Ivan Cheperinov's winning streak was halted by former world champion Veselin Topalov who held him to a draw in 45 moves.

Important Results of Round 5: Ivan Cheperinov (4.5) drew Veselin Topalov (4); Shakriar Memmedyarov (3.5) drew Fernando Perlata (3.5); Maxim Vachier-Lagrave (3.5 drew Sanal Vahap (3.5); B Adhiban (3.5) drew with Ayan Chopra (3); K Sasikiran (3.5). Jones Gwain (4) beat D Gukesh (3); R Praggnanandhaa (4) beat Ravi Teja (3); M R Lalith Babu (3.5) drew Kirill Alekseenko (3.5); Daniil Yuffa (3.5) drew David Navarra (3.5); K Sasikiran (4) beat Luca Moroni (3); Michael Adams (3.5) drew Jose Carlos Ibarra Jerez (3.5).