A day after making waves by beating Magnus Carlsen, R. Praggnanandhaa stretched World women rapid champion Alexandra Kosteniuk’s losing streak to 12 from as many rounds of the Airthings Masters online rapid chess tournament on Monday. Like on Sunday, Praggnanandhaa posted two wins and climbed to the 12th spot. Earlier in the day, Praggnanandhaa overpowered Kosteniuk’s Russian compartriot Andrey Esipenko. His lone loss was also against a Russian, current leader Ian Nepominachtchi, after starting the day with a draw against the reigning World rapid champion Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan). With three rounds to go in the league, Praggnanandhaa has 15 points from a maximum of 36. Nepomniachtchi leads with 27, followed by Carlsen, Vladislav Artemiev and Vincent Keymer at 20. After the league, top eight finishers qualify for the knockout qualifiers. The results (involving Praggnanandhaa): 12th round: Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rus) lost to R. Praggnanandhaa; 11th round: Praggnanandhaa lost to Ian Nepomniachtchi (Rus); 10th round; Andrey Esipenko (Rus) lost to Praggnanandhaa; 9th round: Praggnanandhaa drew with Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb).
