R. Pragananand got another defeat
PTI, Wijk aan Zee (Netherlands): Defending champion R. Praganananda had to face defeat for the second consecutive day. He was defeated by Nodirbek Abdusatorov of Uzbekistan, while world champion Gukesh was held to a draw by Jordin van Forest of the Netherlands in another tough match.
With the second consecutive draw, Gukesh's total point has increased to one. Praggnanandhan, who was in excellent form in 2025, looks tired at the moment. An endgame that was headed for a draw against the Uzbekistan players on Sunday turned into a defeat.
bottom of the table
Due to not opening the account after the first two matches, Praggnanandhan is at the bottom of the table and to present a challenge, he will have to make a strong comeback in the remaining 11 rounds. Arjun Erigey, who defeated Praggnananda, tried to take the lead against Thai Dai Van Nguyen of the Czech Republic, but could not break the fortifications. Despite this, the top seeded Indian remains in the joint lead with America's Hans Mock Niemann and Abdusatorov with 1.5 points.
The fourth player of the Indian team, Arvind Chithambaram, scored one point out of two by playing a draw with Yagiz Kan Erdoganmus of Türkiye. Praggnanandha played the Queen's Gambit Declined and did not face much problem in matching the black pieces. Nodirbek waited for the position to open up and, following a mistake by the Indian player on move 31, took a pawn lead in the endgame of the rook and pawns. Although technically this endgame should have been a draw, Praggnanandhaa could not find a way to level the match and had to concede defeat on the 60th move.
Arjun gave a fight
Arjun also adopted the Queen's Gambit and faced some pressure in the early stages of the middle game. The Indian player tried to repeat the moves, which was turned down by Nguyen. Ultimately the match also ended in a draw in the endgame of rooks and pawns.
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