Arjun Erigiasi and R. Praggnanandhaa stayed on course of their much-awaited clash following their third straight victory that made them part of a eight-man leading pack in the Dubai Open chess tournament in Dubai on Monday.
On a day when N. R. Vignesh surprisingly held top seeded Russian Alexandr Predke and V. S. Rathnavel exceeded expectations by proving equal to Germany's Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, Arjun defeated Raja Rithvik in 32 moves and Praggnanandhaa stopped P. Shyaamnikhil in just 25 to be among the leaders.
READ | Arjun Erigaisi replaces Gukesh as India No. 2 in live ratings
Sahaj Grover was the third Indian to maintain an all-win record after racing past Ritviz Parab in 23 moves.
Other leaders were Vladimir Akopian (USA), Rinat Jumabayev (Kazakhstan), Aram Hakobyan (Armenia), Mahammad Muradli (Azerbaijan) and Alexander Indjic (Serbia).
