India’s Vidit Gujrathi keeps lead in Prague Chess

Vidit Gujrathi continued to lead the standings in the Masters Category at Prague Chess after sharing a point with Nils Grandelius in the fourth round.

Vidit Gujrathi (left) beat GM Nils Grandeliu, while P. Harikrishna (right) drew with Sam Shankland. (File Photo)

Indian Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi continued to lead the standings in the Masters Category of the Prague Chess Festival after sharing a point with Swedish GM Nils Grandelius in the fourth round.

Pentala Harikrishna, the other Indian in the 10-player field, held Sam Shankland of the USA to a draw after suffering a defeat in round three at the hands of the world’s top junior Alireza Firouzja.

Gujrathi (Elo 2721), the second-ranked Indian chess player behind Viswanathan Anand, could not force the issue against Grandelius, the lowest rated player (at 2659) in the field, in a 35-move game.

Harikrishna, on the other hand, opted for a Sozine attack against Shankland, but had to sign peace after 48 moves.

Top-seed Jan-Krzysztof Dua of Poland played out a quiet draw against Spanish GM David Anton Guijjaro in 30 moves.

Gujrathi will take on Firouzja in the fifth round later on Sunday while Harikrisha will battle it out against Russian Nikita Vitiugov.

 

Results after Round 4: Pentala Harikrishna (India) 1.5 drew with Sam Shankland (USA) Vidit Gujrathi (India) 3 drew with Nils Grandelius (SWE) 2 Alireza Firouzja (Iran) 2.5 drew with Nikita Vitiugov (RUS) 2.5 Markus Ragger (Austria) 1.5 drew with David Navara (CZE) 1 Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL) 2.5 drew with David Anton Guijarro (SPA) 2.