Tata Steel Chess: Unbeaten Vidit Gujrathi stays in joint lead; Arjun crushes Ganguly

Joint leader Vidit Gujrathi maintained his unbeaten run in the Masters section of the elite Tata Steel Chess tournament after a 36-move draw, following a three-fold repetition of moves, with Poland’s Jan-Krzysztof Duda in the sixth round at Wijk aan Zee, near Amsterdam, on Friday.

Magnus Carlsen defeated Richard Rapport, one of the three overnight leaders, and joined Vidit and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov at four points.

R. Praggnanandhaa drew with Sam Shankland to join four others at 2.5 points. Anish Giri defeated Fabiano Caruana and Sergey Karjakin scored over defending champion Jorden van Foreest to join Carlsen as the winners of the day.

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In the Challengers section, young top seed Arjun Erigaisi crushed senior compatriot Surya Shekhar Ganguly in 42 moves to enlarge his lead to 1.5 points. Following his fifth successive win from six rounds, Arjun’s tally stood at 5.5 points. Ganguly (3.5) slipped joint fourth spot, with three others.

Sixth-round results (Indians unless stated):

Masters: Vidit Gujrathi (4) drew with Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Pol, 3); Sam Shankland (USA, 2.5) drew with R. Praggnanandhaa (2.5); Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 4) bt Richard Rapport (Hun, 3.5); Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze, 4) drew with Nils Grandelius (Swe, 1.5); Daniil Dubov (Rus, 2.5) drew with Andrey Esipenko (Rus, 3.5); Fabiano Caruana (USA, 2.5) lost to Anish Giri (Ned, 3); Sergey Karjakin (Rus, 3) bt Jorden van Foreest (Ned, 2.5).

Challengers (involving Indians): Arjun Erigaisi (5.5) bt Surya Shekhar Ganguly (2.5).