Tata Steel Chess: Aronian leads field, Praggnanandhaa placed second

Teenager R Praggananandhaa was second with Levon Aronian leading the pack.Playing with the black pieces, Praggnanandhaa employed the Sicilian Sveshnikov, sacrificing a pawn for some strategic initiative against Sam Shankland. The advanced variation of the Caro-Kann defense was on the board and after pieces got traded, the game reached a double rook endgame which was well navigated around by the former world blitz champion.

Young Grandmaster Arjun Erigiasi scored a 17-move win over two-time Indian champion GM Murali Karthikeyan at the Tata Steel Chess here on Wednesday. Arjun finished the day with 2 points and is currently third in the standings. Teenager R Praggananandhaa was second with Levon Aronian leading the pack.

Playing with the black pieces, Praggnanandhaa employed the Sicilian Sveshnikov, sacrificing a pawn for some strategic initiative against Sam Shankland. Praggananandhaa gained space on the queenside and as the game progressed, Sam saw nothing better than repeating the moves and splitting the point in what was a fairly equal game throughout.

Both players end day one at 1.5 points apiece out of three games.

The only female player in the rapid event, Vaishali, faced Le Quang Liem in the final round of the day. The advanced variation of the Caro-Kann defense was on the board and after pieces got traded, the game reached a double rook endgame which was well navigated around by the former world blitz champion. He won a few pawns on the queen side and eventually the game as well.

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