India's Praggnanandhaa, Aravindh Chithambaram continue to share top spot at Prague Masters

NEW DELHI: The sixth round of the Prague Masters Chess tournament saw the two Indian Grandmasters, R Praggnanandhaa and Aravindh Chithambaram, maintain their joint lead position after drawing their respective games.
Praggnanandhaa faced Sam Shankland of the United States, while Aravindh took on Quang Leim Le of Vietnam, with both encounters ending in draws. This marked the first time in the tournament that all games were drawn.
Praggnanandhaa and Aravindh currently lead the standings with 4 points out of a possible 6.
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They are closely followed by the top seed Wei Yi of China, Anish Giri of the Netherlands, Vincent Keymer of Germany, and Quang Leim Le, all tied at 3 points each. Half a point behind are the Czech duo of Nguyen Thai Dai Van and David Navara, along with Gurel Ediz of Turkey and Shankland.
With three rounds remaining, Praggnanandhaa holds a slight advantage over Aravindh, as he is set to play the next two games with the white pieces, while Aravindh has only one game remaining with the white pieces.
The seventh round promises to be crucial, with Praggnanandhaa facing Wei Yi and Aravindh taking on Anish Giri, who has drawn all his games so far.
In the sixth round, Praggnanandhaa found himself under pressure in the middlegame against Shankland, who played with the white pieces.
Shankland sacrificed a knight on the kingside, leading to a complex position where Praggnanandhaa had to give up a rook for a minor piece.
However, the Indian navigated the complications skillfully, eventually forcing Shankland to repeat moves and secure a draw after 43 moves.
Aravindh, playing with the white pieces, faced the Queen's Gambit Declined, a classical opening setup. While he managed to control the center initially, Quang Leim's solid defense proved impenetrable.
By the 19th move, the players had exchanged three minor pieces and two pawns, leading to a simplified position. Aravindh later sacrificed his last bishop for a knight, but black's position remained secure.
The game eventually transitioned into a rook-and-pawn endgame, where a draw was agreed after 32 moves.

In the Challengers section, Indian player Divya Deshmukh continued to struggle, suffering another defeat and falling to the last position among the 10 players. Vaclav Finel of the Czech Republic defeated Divya in a rook-and-minor-piece endgame, leaving her with 1.5 points. Jonas Buhl Bjerre of Denmark regained the joint lead by beating Marc'Andria Maurizzi of France, sharing the top spot with Nodirbek Yakubboev of Uzbekistan.
Results (Round 6): Sam Shankland (USA, 2.5) drew with R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 4); Aravindh Chithambaram (Ind, 4) drew with Quang Leim Le (Vie, 3); Wei Yi (Chn, 3) drew with Gurel Ediz (Tur, 2.5); Nguyen Thai Dai Van (Cze, 2.5) drew with David Navara (Cze, 2.5); Vincent Keymer (Ger, 3) drew with Anish Giri (Ned, 3).Challengers: Finel Vaclav (Cze, 2.5) beat Divya Deshmukh (Ind, 1.5); Ivan Salgado Lopez (Esp, 3.5) drew with Richard Stalmach (Cze, 2.5); Stamatis Kourkoulous-Arditis (Gre, 2.5) drew with Nodirbek Yakubboev (Uzb, 4.5); Jonas Buhl Bzerre (Den, 4.5) beat Marc'Andria Maurizzi (Fra, 3); Nemec Jychym (Cze, 2) lost to Ma Qun (Chn, 3.5).