Round 5 of Superbet Classic: Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh Settle for DrawsRound 5 of Superbet Classic: Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh Settle for Draws In the fifth round of the Superbet Classic in Bucharest, Romania, Indian prodigy R Praggnanandhaa missed a critical queen move in time trouble, forcing a draw against Wesley So. Meanwhile, D Gukesh overlooked a tactical opportunity and also ended up drawing against Abdusattarav. Praggnanandhaa’s Blunder Praggnanandhaa’s encounter with So began with the Indian defense of the king. However, Praggnanandhaa deviated from theory early on, repeating variations that had previously resulted in his defeat. Despite gaining a plus-six advantage after Wesley So gifted him a pawn, Praggnanandhaa failed to exploit his edge due to time pressure. When questioned after the match if he had noticed the winning move, Praggnanandhaa replied, “No, but he should have.” Wesley So acknowledged his mistake and capitalized on Praggnanandhaa’s oversight, leading to a repetition of moves and an eventual draw. Gukesh’s Missed Opportunity Gukesh initiated his game with a straightforward queen pawn opening, which Garry Kasparov interpreted as Gukesh concealing his strategy for the World Championships. However, the game lacked excitement until Gukesh reached the 27th move, where he could have placed his knight on b6 and pressured his opponent with three pieces on that square. Instead, the players traded pieces, and their kings paralleled each other, resulting in a draw. Other Matches Tournament leader Fabiano Caruana drew against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who effectively prevented Caruana from launching an attack. Anish Giri and Alireza Firouza also drew, exchanging pieces throughout the game. Wildcard Daniel and Ian Nepomniactchi played a marathon match of 109 moves, with Nepomniactchi attempting to create imbalances, but Daniel defended staunchly, leading to another draw. Round 6 Preview Monday is a rest day at the Superbet Classic 2024, with the sixth round scheduled for July 2. Round 6 Pairings * R Praggnanandhaa vs Bogdan-Daniel Deac * Maxime-Vachier Lagrave vs Gukesh D * Fabiano Caruana vs Ian Nepomniactchi * Alireza Firouza vs Wesley So * Nodirbek Abdusattarav vs. Anish Giri
R Praggnanandhaa missed a queen move in time trouble and forced his opponent Wesley So to draw in the fifth round of the Superbet Classic in Bucharest, Romania.
D Gukesh forgot a tactical move and drew against Abdusattarav, but had to settle for a draw.
Praggnanandhaa’s miss
The duel with Wesley So and Praggnanandhaa started with the Indian defense of the king.
However, Praggnanandhaa got out of theory early as he played the same variations many times which resulted in a loss for him.
An aequalis game ensued before Wesley decided to take a free pawn, giving Praggnanandhaa a plus-six advantage.
The boy from Chennai only had to find the winning move by putting his queen in the open rank, but he failed to see it in the time pressure and lost his advantage.
When asked in the post-match interview if he had noticed the move, Praggnanandhaa said: “No, but he should have.”
Wesley knew he had made a blunder and was given a second chance. He repeated the pieces smoothly and Praggnanandhaa followed suit and both players settled for a draw.
Gukesh settles for a draw
Gukesh started with a simple opening with a queen pawn, with Garry Kasparov saying in the commentary box that Gukesh is hiding his opening preparation for the World Championships.
However, the game did not have much to offer, except a tactical move on 27 for Gukesh, where he could have played his knight to b6, followed by pressure with three pieces on that square.
The players exchanged pieces and the two kings were parallel to each other, resulting in a draw.
In the other matches, the tournament leader Fabiano Caruana also settled for a draw against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, with Maxime not giving Fabiano any chance to organize an attack on him.
Anish Giri and Alireza Firouza also drew and exchanged pieces throughout the game.
Wildcard Daniel and previous World Championship challenger Ian Nepomniactchi played a marathon game of 109 moves. Ian kept infiltrating and creating imbalances, but the home boy did not let Ian succeed and both ended the match in a draw.
Monday is a rest day at the Superbet Classic 2024 and the sixth round will be played on July 2.
Round 6 Links
- R Praggnanandhaa vs Bogdan-Daniel Deac
- Maxime-Vachier Lagrave vs Gukesh D
- Fabiano Caruana vs Ian Nepomniactchi
- Alireza Firouza vs Wesley So
- Nodirbek Abdusattarav vs. Anish Giri
