Grandmaster R. Praggnanandhaa moved to joint second with six points after his opponent and top-seed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov withdrew from the eighth round due to illness in the Masters category of the 18th Gibraltar Chess Festival here. The 14-year-old Praggnanandhaa shared the second spot with four others.
Four-way tie
The 17-year-old Russian Andrey Esipenko, the 19-year old Iranian Parham Maghsoodloo, David Paravyan (Russia) and China’s Wango Hao were tied for the top spot with 6.5 points out of 8.
GM Vaibhav Suri got the better of Ritvars Reimanis in 53 moves to take his tally to five points while B. Adhiban, the top-ranked Indian in the event, drew his game against 13-year old compatriot D. Gukesh.
Karthikeyan Murali, who finished second last year, shared honours with David Navara while the game between the experienced Sasikiran and young Indian GM Raunak Sadhwani ended in a stalemate.
Important results (eighth round, involving Indians): R. Praggnanandhaa (6) w.o. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (5); B. Adhiban (5.5) drew with D. Gukesh (5.5); Karthikeyan Murali (5.5) drew with David Navara (5.5); K. Sasikiran (5) drew with Raunak Sadhwani (5); Vaibhav Suri (5) bt Ritvars Reimanis.
