Gukesh blunders to draw against Turkish prodigy; Pragg, Erigaisi post wins

World Champion D Gukesh blundered and settled for draw against Turkish prodigy Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus in the second round of the Grand Swiss 2025 at Samarkand in Uzbekistan on Friday.

The Indian superstar, who won the first round in style, had a firm grip on the game against Erdogmus. But he miscalculated in the end game, opening up a file for the 14-year-old to walk away with a draw by claiming perpetual checks.

R Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi, the other leading Indian GMs in the event, secured their first wins in the competition. Pragg and Erigaisi had drawn their respective games in round one.

In round two, Pragg defeated Ivan Zemlyanskii, while Erigaisi got the better of Armenian Haik Martirosyan in a wild game that gave both players plenty of chances. Gukesh, Pragg and Erigiasi go into the third round with 1.5 points each.

Meanwhile, Nihal Sarin and S L Narayanan, the two Malayalis in the event, have maintained their unbeaten run. Nihal defeated Aram Hakobyan, while Narayanan drew with Shant Sargsyan.

World Cup-winner Divya Deshmukh, who lost her opening round, drew the second against German GM Alexander Donchenko to open her account.