World Youth Chess: Iran's Aryan in lead, Praggnanandhaa, Mitrabha in 2nd spot

India's Grand Master R. Praggnanandhaa slipped to the second position after settling for a quick draw against top seed Sargsyan Shant of Armenia.

India's Grand Master R. Pragnanandhaa during the World Youth Chess Championship.

Indians continued to be in the lead in the under-14 sections, with L. R. Srihari, R. Abinandhan and Rakshitta Ravi doing the front-running at six points after seven rounds of World Youth chess championship here on Monday.

Divya Deshmukh, top seed in the girls’ under-14, scored a hard-fought win to stay within half point of Rakshitta and two others.

In the under-18 section, second seed R. Praggnanandhaa drew with top seeded Armenian Shant Sargsyan and slipped to second place. Joint overnight leader Iran’s Aryan Gholami won and moved half-a-point ahead at six points.

Mitrabha Guha matched Praggnanandhaa’s tally of 5.5 points with an easy win. A further half-point behind was GM P. Iniyan.

Among the under-18 girls, Vantika Agarwal carved out a win to share the second spot at 5.5 points, half a point behind Russian leader Polina Shuvalova.

In the under-16 section, Aronyak Ghosh shared the second place at 5.5 points. Among the girls, B. Mounika Akshaya was placed fifth with five points.

Key Results Under-18 Open: Sargsyan Shant (ARM, 5) drew with R Praggnanandhaa (IND, 5.5); Nikoloz Petriashvili (GEO, 4.5) lost to Aryan Gholami (IRI, 6); P Iniyan (IND, 5) drew with Patryk Chylewski (POL, 5); Mitrabha Guha (IND, 5.5) beat Valentin Buckels (GER, 4.5) Under-18 Girls: Polina Shuvalova (RUS, 6) bt Anna Afonasieva (RUS, 5); A Harshini (IND, 4.5) bt Tannaz Azali (IRI, 3.5); Vesal Hamedi (IRI, 4.5) drew with Turmunkh Munkhzul (MGL, 4.5). Under-16 Open: Moke Hans Niemann (USA, 6) bt Rudik Makarian (RUS, 5.5); Aronyak Ghosh (IND, 5.5) drew with Moksh Doshi (IND, 5); Nikolas Wachinger (GER, 4.5) drew with Sankalp Gupta (IND, 4.5). Under-16 Girls: Leya Garifullina (RUS, 6) drew with Anousha Mahdian (IRI, 5.5); Kamaliya Bulatova (RUS, 4.5) lost to Nazerke Nurgali (KAZ, 6); Salonika Saina (IND, 5) drew with Govhar Beydullayeva (AZE, 5); Mrudul Dehankar (IND, 5) bt Noshin Anjum (BAN, 4); Laman Hajiyeva (AZE, 4.5) drew with BM Akshaya (IND, 5). Under-14 Open: Aydin Suleymanli (AZE, 6) drew with S Maralakshikari (IND, 5.5); Pranav Anand (IND, 5) lost to LR Srihari (IND 6); R Abinandhan (IND, 6) bt Andrey Tsvetkov (RUS, 4.5). Under-14 Girls: Dhyana Patel (IND, 5) lost to Rakshitta Ravi (IND, 6); Ekaterina Nasyrova (RUS, 6) bt Erdene Mungunzul (MGL, 5).