Praggnanandhaa beats Gujrathi; Carlsen on top

Wijk Aan Zee (The Netherlands): Young Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa pulled off a win over compatriot Vidit Santhosh Gujrathi in a marathon 10th round clash at the Tata Steel Masters chess tournament here.

The 16-year old Praggnanandhaa (Elo 2612) halted his three-match losing streak to shock the higher-rated Gujrathi (Elo 2727) in 78 moves in a Nimzo-Indian Classical variation game late on Wednesday. Gujrathi, who was among the leaders till about two rounds ago, has slipped to joint fourth with 5.5 points. Praggnanandhaa, on the other hand, improved to 3.5 points but stood in 13th position.

With all the players in the leading group drawing their games in round 10, world no.1 Magnus Carlsen continued to stay on top of the standings with seven points. Carlsen and Sergey Karjakin played one of the shortest games in the tournament this year, which lasted just 16 moves.

Standings after Round 10: 1. Magnus Carlsen 7 points; 2. Anish Giri 6.5; 3-4. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Richard Rapport 6; 5-7. Vidit Gujrathi, Sergey Karjakin and Andrey Esipenko 5.5; 8. Fabiano Caruana 5; 9-10. Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Jorden Van Foreest 4.5; 11. Sam Shankland 4; 12-13. Daniil Dubov and R Praggnanandhaa 3.5; 14. Nils Grandelius 3.