Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa began his campaign in the Zagreb leg of the Grand Chess Tour with a victory over top seed Vincent Keymer of Germany before drawing his next two games to finish the opening day of the rapid section in joint second place.
Praggnanandhaa's strong start
Praggnanandhaa held France's Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and compatriot and world champion D Gukesh in hard-fought draws to end the day on four points, here on Wednesday. The Indian grandmaster started with an attacking spree against Keymer, winning in just 26 moves with the white pieces.
Alireza Firouzja of France emerged sole leader on five points after winning his first two games and drawing with Anish Giri of the Netherlands in the third round. With each rapid win worth two points, Firouzja moved ahead of Praggnanandhaa, Giri, Vachier-Lagrave and Keymer, who recovered from his opening-round defeat with two victories.
Gukesh's mixed day
For Gukesh, the rhythm came back immediately after losing to Vachier-Lagrave in the first round. He made light work of Ivan Saric of Croatia in the second round. The youngest ever world champion is set to defend his title in the forthcoming match against Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan.
While he was outplayed in the opener, Gukesh showcased his skills as the master craftsman while defending an attack against his king in the second round. Gukesh is next in line along with Deac Bogdan-Daniel of Romania on three points, a full point ahead of Nodirbek Abduttorov of Uzbekistan.
Standings and upcoming rounds
Jorden Van Foreest of the Netherlands is on one point, while Saric is yet to open his account. The nine rounds of rapid will be followed by an 18-round blitz marathon, and the winner will be decided with cumulative points in both sections.
After this, there are two more events left to be held at Saint Louis, USA in the Grand Chess Tour.
Standings (After Rd-3, Rapid): 1. Alireza Firouzja (Fra, 5); 2-5: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra), R Praggnanandhaa (Ind), Anish Giri (Ned), Vincent Keymer (Ger) 4 each; 6-7: D Gukesh (Ind), Deac Bogdan-Daniel (Rou) 3 each; 8. Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 2); 9. Jorden van Foreest (Ned, 1); 10. Ivan Saric (Cro, 0).
