Praggnanandhaa joint second after opening day of Grand Chess Tour

Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa began his campaign in the Zagreb leg of the Grand Chess Tour with a victory over top seed Vincent Keymer of Germany before drawing his next two games to finish the opening day of the rapid section in joint second place. Praggnanandhaa held France’s Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and compatriot and world champion D Gukesh in hard-fought draws to end the day on four points, here on Wednesday.

Alireza Firouzja of France emerged sole leader on five points after winning his first two games and drawing with Anish Giri of the Netherlands in the third round. With each rapid win worth two points, Firouzja moved ahead of Praggnanandhaa, Giri, Vachier-Lagrave and Keymer, who recovered from his opening-round defeat with two victories.

After winning the Norway Chess Classic ahead of Magnus Carlsen, Praggnanandhaa went on an attacking spree against Keymer in what will be hailed as a masterclass in the future.

The fury of white pieces was there for everyone to see as Praggnanandhaa launched his forces right at the opponent king and cashed in on the full two points in a mere 26 moves.

In the second round of the day, the Indian ace drew with Vachier-Lagrave, who had started off with a finely crafted victory over World champion Gukesh.

For Gukesh, the rhythm came back immediately after losing to his French counterpart as he made light work of Ivan Saric of Croatia in the second round.

The youngest ever world champion is set to defend his title in the forthcoming match against Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan.

While he was outplayed in the opener, Gukesh showcased his skills as the master craftsman while defending an attack against his king in the second round.

Gukesh is next in line, along with Deac Bogdan-Daniel of Romania on three points and these two are a full point ahead of Nodirbek Abduttorov of Uzbekistan.

Jorden Van Foreest of the Netherlands is on one point, while Saric is yet to open his account.

The nine rounds of rapid will be followed by an 18-round blitz marathon and the winner will be decided with cumulative points in both sections.

After this, there are two more events left to be held at Saint Louis, USA in the Grand Chess Tour.

Standings (After Rd-3, Rapid): 1. Firouzja Alireza (Fra, 5) 2-5: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra); R Praggnanandhaa (Ind); Anish Giri (Ned); Vincent Keymer (Ger) 4 each; 6-7: D Gukesh (Ind) Deac Bogdan-Daniel (Rou) 3 each; 8. Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 2); 9. Jorden van Foreest (Ned, 1); 10. Ivan Saric (Cro, 0).