R Vaishali back in joint lead in Women’s FIDE Grand Swiss; Indian men struggle in Open section

Samarkand (Uzbekistan): Indian Grandmaster R Vaishali beat former world champion Mariya Muzychuk of Ukraine and jumped into joint lead after the end of the 10th and penultimate round in the women’s section of FIDE Grand Swiss here on Sunday.

Vaishali knew she had to win to remain in contention and her approach right from the start was in sync with the requirement of the tournament situation.

The defending champion was up against the Sicilian defense and in the Sveshnikov variation tried a few tricks that landed her in tricky situations as the game progressed.

Mariya obviously sensed that she was better but the growing pressure eventually got to her as she fumbled and blundered in the rooks and minor piece endgame. Vaishali won in 42 moves and joined overnight leader Kateryna Lagno of Ukraine in the lead on 7.5 points out of a possible 10.

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The two leaders are now followed by former women’s world champion Zhongyi Tan and Yuxin Song of China and Bibisara Assaubayeva of Kazakhstan who all have seven points each.

Either a win or a draw as black and her chances for a berth in the Candidates will look pretty bright.

In the open section, the Indian challenge for a berth in the Candidates almost evaporated as Arjun Erigaisi played out a draw with Yu Yangyi of China and erstwhile joint leader Nihal Sarin also could only hold Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan.

R Praggnanandhaa’s aim to make it to the Candidates from here ended after he lost to Hans Moke Niemann of the United States and currently it’s a five-way lead at the top with Alireza Firouzja of France, German duo of Matthias Bluebaum and Vincent Keymar, Anish Giri of Holland and Niemann who all have seven points each.

The only Indian almost assured of the Candidates is still Praggnanandhaa who is likely to qualify for his performance during the year.

Important and Indian results round 10 open (Indians unless specified): Alireza Firouzja (Fra, 7) drew with Anish Giri (Ned, 7); Vincent Keymer (Ger, 7) drew with Matthais Bluebaum (Ger, 7); Yu Yangyi (Chn, 6.5) drew with Arjun Erigaisi (6.5); Nihal Sarin (6.5) drew with Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 6.5); Abhimanyu Mishra (Usa, 6.5) drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 6.5); Hans Moke Niemann (Usa, 7) beat R Praggnanandhaa (5.5); Amin Tabatabaei (Iri, 6) drew with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze, 6): Ivan Saric (Srb, 5.5) lost to Vidit Gujrathi (6.5); Aditya Mittal (5.5) drew with Daniil Dubov (Fid, 5.5); Vokhidov Shamsiddin (Uzb, 5.5) drew with V Pranav (5.5); Ivan Cheparinov (Bul, 4.5) lost to P Harikrishna (5.5); Nikita Vitiugov (Sui, 5) drew with Leon Luke Mendonca (5); Anton Demchenko (Srb, 4.5) lost to Raunak Sadhwani (5.5); Abhimanyu Puranik (5) drew with Aydin Suleymanli (Uzb, 5); Maksim Chigaev (Fid, 4.5) lost to S L Narayanan (5.5); D Gukesh (5) beat Gabriel Sargissian (Bul, 4); Sam Shankland (4.5) drew ith Aryan Chopra (4.5): Murali Karthikeyan (4.5) drew with Ivan Zemlyanskii (Fid, 4.5); Aleksander Indjic (Srb, 4.5) drew with Divya, Deshmukh (4.5).

Women: Tan Zhongyi (Chn, 7) drew with Kateryna Lagno (Fid, 7.5); Yuxin Song (Chn, 7) drew with Bibisara Assaubayeva (Kaz, 7); R Vaishali (7.5) beat Mariya Muzychuk (Ukr, 6); Guo Qi (Chn, 6) drew with Irina Krush (Usa, 6.5); Ulviyya Fataliyeva (Aze, 6.5) beat Olga Girya (Fid, 5.5); D Harika (5.5) drew with Antoaneta Stefanova (Bul, 5.5); Vantika Agrawal (4.5) beat Ouellet Maili-Jade (Can, 3.5).