Divya takes down Muzychuk to emerge joint-leader; Pragg slips up
Divya Deshmukh and R Vaishali of India are in joint lead in the Candidates chess tournament in Cyprus.
Divya Deshmukh and R Vaishali of India are in joint lead in the Candidates chess tournament in Cyprus.
Divya Deshmukh and R Vaishali of India are in joint lead in the Candidates chess tournament in Cyprus.
Divya Deshmukh took down overnight leader Anna Muzychuk in a thrilling queen ending to put herself in contention for the Candidates title in Cyprus.
Ukraine's Muzychuk squandered a clear advantage, and Divya fought hard in a lengthy endgame to prevail in their round eight tie.
Divya had missed an opportunity in the previous round with Kateryna Lagno stealing a draw in a 135-move game.
Meanwhile, Vaishali R, the second Indian in the women's section, drew with Bibisara Assaubayeva to join Divya and four others in the lead on 4.5 points. Vaishali will play white against Divya in round nine on Wednesday.
In the open section, though, Javokhir Sindarov is running away with the title as he maintained a two-point lead following a draw with Andrey Esipenko.
The Uzbek star Sindarov has 6.5 points, while Fabiano Caruana and Anish Giri have 4.5 points each following their victories over Hikaru Nakamura and R Praggnanandhaa respectively. Praggnanandhaa, India's sole competitor in the eight-player field, is on 3.5 points.
The 14-round tournament will determine the challengers for reigning classical world champions Ju Wenjun and D Gukesh.