Continuing his impressive display, R. Praggnanandhaa knocked out higher-rated Armenian Grandmaster Gabriel Sargissian 2-0 for a place in the third round of World Cup chess in Sochi on Friday.
On a day when an indisposed Armenia’s Levon Aronian withdrew, P. Harikrishna, B. Adhiban, Nihal Sarin and D. Harika advanced, Aravindh Chithambaram, P. Iniyan, Praggnanandhaa’s sister R. Vaishali and Bhakti Kulkarni made an exit. D. Gukesh took fancied Daniil Dubov to the tie-breaker games after a second straight draw.
Indian results (second round, game 2):Men: Daniil Dubov (Rus) drew with D. Gukesh; Evgney Tomeshevsky (Rus) bt P. Iniyan (Tomeshevsky wins 2-0); Vidit Gujrathi drew with Alexandr Fier (Bra); Neuris Delgado Ramirez (Par) lost to B. Adhiban (Adhiban wins 2-0); Aravindh Chithambaram lost to Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb); (Abdusattorov wins 1.5-0.5); Sanan Sjugirov (Rus) lost to Nihal Sarin; (Nihal wins 1.5-0.5); P. Harikrishna bt Yasser Quesada Perez (Cub) (Harikrishna wins 1.5-0.5); Gabriel Sargissian (Arm) lost to R. Praggnanandhaa; (Praggnanandhaa wins 2-0).
Women: Natalia Pogonina (Rus) bt Bhakti Kulkarni (Pogonina wins 1.5-0.5); D. Harika w.o. Medina Warda Aulia (Ina) (Harika wins 2-0); Padmini Rout drew with Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Iri); R. Vaishnavi lost to Bela Khotenashvili (Geo) (Bela wins 2-0).
