Prague Chess festival: Gukesh held by Yakubboev; Aravindh turns the table on Niemann

World Champion D Gukesh played out another draw with Nodirbek Yakubboev of Uzbekistan, while defending champion Aravindh Chithambaram pulled a rabbit out of the hat to beat Hans Moke Niemann of the United States in the second round of the Masters section of the Prague International Chess Festival here.

Following a draw with Niemann, Gukesh’s second white game also did not yield much as Yakubboev seemed well-armed in the Queen’s gambit declined. After a couple of trades, the position looked level and Yakubboev uncorked a rook sacrifice to force a repetition of position.

Aravindh continued with his newfound preference for the Philidor Defence, while Niemann seized the early initiative with the white pieces. The American, however, ran short of time at a critical juncture and paid heavily, just when the analytical engines were evaluating his position as winning.

Aravindh was quick to capitalise on his chances and soon transitioned into a winning endgame. After a heartbreaking first-round loss to Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan, this was a welcome victory for the Chennai-based player.

In the only other decisive game of the day, Spaniard David Anton Guijarro put it across in-form Dutchman Jorden van Foreest from the white side of a King’s Indian defense.

With seven rounds still to come, Abdusattorov, Yakubboev and local hopeful David Navara emerged as the co-leaders on 1.5 points apiece and the trio is followed by Gukesh, Aravindh, van Foreest and Guijarro a half point behind.

Parham Maghsoodloo of Iran, top seeded Vincent Keymer of Germany and Niemann are another half point adrift in the 10-players 9-rounds tournament.

In the challengers section, Grandmaster and world women’s cup winner Divya Deshmukh played out a draw with Daniil Yuffa of Spain to remain on a fifty percent score after two games.

After a draw with highest ranked Benjamin Gledura of Hungary in the opener this was another good result for Divya who is vying for a chance to play a world championship match post the women’s candidates tournament slated at the end of March.

The other Indian Surya Shekhar Ganguly opened his account with a draw with Jonas Buhl Bjerre of Denmark.

Results round 2: D Gukesh (Ind, 1) drew with Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 1.5); Hans Moke Niemann (Usa, 0.5) lost to Aravindh Chithambaram (Ind, 1); David Anton Guijarro (Esp, 1) beat Jorden van Foreest (Ned, 1); Parham Maghsoodloo (Iri, 0.5) drew with Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 1.5); Vincent Keymer (Ger, 0.5) drew with David Navara (Cze, 1.5).

Challengers: Gledura Benjamin (Hun, 0.5) lost to Thomas Beerdsen (Ned, 2); Jonas Buhl Bjerre (Den, 1) drew with Surya Shekhar Ganguly (Ind, 0.5); Jachym Nemec (Cze, 0.5) lost to Finek Vanclav (Cze, 1.5); Stpen Hrbek (Cze, 2) beat Jiner Zhu (Chn, 0); Divya Deshmukh (Ind, 1) drew with Daniil Yuffa (Esp, 0.5).