Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa suffered a setback in his campaign at the FIDE Candidates Tournament, going down to Javokhir Sindarov in the third round on Tuesday.
The defeat, which came with the white pieces, saw Praggnanandhaa slip to third place in the standings after having shared the lead at the end of Round 2. He now has 1.5 points from three games, with momentum briefly shifting away after a strong start to the tournament.
Praggnanandhaa had begun his campaign in impressive fashion, defeating Anish Giri in the opening round to immediately put himself among the frontrunners. He followed that up with a composed draw with black against Wei Yi in Round 2, where he applied steady pressure out of a French Defence before the game transitioned into an opposite-coloured bishops endgame. Despite holding a slight edge with an extra pawn, Praggnanandhaa could not make further inroads as the players agreed to a draw after 46 moves.
That result had kept him in joint lead after two rounds, underlining both his control and consistency early in the tournament.
The loss to Sindarov, however, marks the first significant dent in that progress.
PRAGG’S AGGRESSION BACKFIRES
Facing a Queen’s Gambit Declined, Praggnanandhaa appeared on course for a balanced position early on. The game could have drifted towards a draw, but he chose to press, a decision that introduced complications into the position.
Sindarov, who has emerged as one of the more aggressive players on the circuit, responded by sacrificing material in the middle game to break open the position. The initiative soon shifted, and Praggnanandhaa found himself on the back foot.
A series of inaccuracies in the later stages of the middle game compounded the pressure, eventually leading to a loss that could prove costly in a tightly contested field.
At the top, Fabiano Caruana joined Sindarov on 2.5 points after defeating Wei Yi in a sharply played game that ended in just 19 moves. The American capitalised on an early slip in preparation to seize control and close out the contest quickly.
Behind the joint leaders, players including Hikaru Nakamura, Matthias Bluebaum, Andrey Esipenko and Giri are grouped on one point, while Wei Yi remains at the bottom with half a point.
The tournament, an eight-player double round-robin, still has 11 rounds to go, leaving ample time for shifts in momentum.
For Praggnanandhaa, the immediate task will be to recover quickly and regain footing in a field where consistency tends to matter as much as individual wins.
The winner of the Candidates will earn the right to challenge reigning world champion D Gukesh later this year.
– Ends
