FIDE World Cup: All 5 Indians Including Arjun Erigaisi & R Praggnanandhaa Play Out Draws

FIDE World Cup: Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa (PTI)

Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi continued his pursuit of a spot in the finals as all five Indian players drew their opening games in the fourth round of the World Chess Cup on Tuesday.

Erigaisi faced little difficulty against Peter Leko, who seemed content with a draw while playing with the white pieces. The Indian Grandmaster is expected to play aggressively in the return game.

Erigaisi employed the Sicilian Taimanov variation and entered a critical opening phase from one of the main lines. Leko did not find any faults in Erigaisi’s preparation and opted for a draw rather than engaging in a prolonged struggle.

Praggnanandhaa was in a worse position when Daniil Dubov decided that there wasn’t much to gain and drew the game. It was apparent that Dubov was hoping to take his chances in the subsequent match.

Grandmaster P Harikrishna also accepted a draw against Nils Grandelius of Sweden. Grandelius is known for chasing higher prize funds, but for Harikrishna, this did not matter much.

India’s champion Karthik Venkataraman played out a draw in the first game against Le Quang Liem of Vietnam.

“I checked my notes on the London System, but it’s funny – I completely forgot to review his course, so I had to play on my own,” Karthik said.

“I’m quite optimistic about my chances here. I was worried about getting a slight disadvantage in the opening today, but overall I managed to draw quite easily,” he added.

Complete Pairings Round 4:

Frederic Svane (Ger) vs Shant Sargysyan (Arm); Peter Leko (Hun) drew with Arjun Erigaisi; R Praggnanandhaa vs. Daniil Dubov (Fid); Matthias Bluebaum (Ger) vs Alexander Domchenko (Ger); V Pranav Yakubboev’s Nodirbbe (Uzb); Vincent Keymer (Word); Parham Maghsoodloo (Iri); Martiny of the Martin Hair (Mex); Nils Grandelus (Swe). P HarikrishnaSamuel Sevian (Usa) vs Lorenzo (Lodici (Ita), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra) vs Aleksy Grebnev (Fid), Awonder Liang (Usa) vs Gabriel Sargissian (Arm), Le Quang Liem (Vie) vs V KarthikSam Shankland (Usa) vs Richard Rapport (Hun), Levon Aronian (Usa) vs Radoslav Wojtaszek (Pol), Yu Yangyi (Chn) vs Javokhir Sindarov (Uzb).

(With inputs from Agencies)