Superbet Rapid and Blitz: D Gukesh returns, R Praggnanandha joint third. chess news

World Championship challenger D Gukesh bounced back from a slow start to beat compatriot R Praggnanandhaa and Germany’s Vincent Keimer and then world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in the sixth round of the Superbet rapid and blitz tournament in Warsaw on Friday. However, Praggnanandhaa put in a strong performance by defeating Holland’s Anish Giri in the fifth round and followed that up with a win over Keymer in the sixth round. Norway’s Carlsen leads the way jointly with China’s Wei Yi with eight points, while Praggnanandhaa and Shevchenko are placed third with seven points each.

Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Gukesh and Arjun Erigaysi are tied for fifth on six points, a full point ahead of local star Duda Jan-Krzysztof.

With four points, Keymer is placed ninth in the $175,000 tournament, one point ahead of Giri.

However, Romanian Kirill Shevchenko’s dream run was ended by Erigași, who recorded his first win in the event.

Starting with a solitary draw after losing the first two rounds, Gukesh showed courage to win over Praggnanandhaa in 41 moves in the fourth round.

There was not much room for Gukesh in the middle game arising from the double fawn by White and his position deteriorated as Praggnananda attacked the kingside by moving his pawns forward.

There was a lot of pressure on both of them and despite being close to the winning position, Praggnanandha could not keep his patience and allowed Gukesh to make a strong comeback.

In the next round, Praggnanandhaa was on target with some difficult moves to defeat Giri in just 21 moves in an irregular queen pawn game.

Giri fell victim to a brilliant rookie move and made an early mistake.

Gukesh made the most of the chances to crush Keymer playing with white. Tactical complications led to an awkward situation in the middle 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.

Arjun faced defeat in the first match of the day against Duda, but then showed exemplary play to defeat Shevchenko.

In the last game of the day, Arjun drew with Abdusattorov and kept himself within striking distance of the leader pack.

Carlsen remained strong for the second consecutive day with a win and two draws, the win over Abdussaturov in the fifth round reminded everyone of Carlsen’s superior skill in defeating the opponent, while against Gukesh he had a promising performance before signing the peace. Missed continuity.

Wei Yi was the star of the day as he won three consecutive wins to take the lead over Carlsen.

Starting with a win against Giri, the Chinese followed up with 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.

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