Aravindh beats Anish Giri to take sole lead at Prague Masters

In the Prague Masters chess tournament, Grandmaster Aravindh Chithambaram secured the sole lead after round seven by breaking through Anish Giri's renowned defensive play.
Meanwhile, R Praggnanandhaa settled for a draw in his match against Chinese favourite Wei Yi.
Aravindh's impressive performance elevated his score to five points from seven rounds, placing him half a point ahead of Praggnanandhaa.
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In the remaining matches of the penultimate round, American Sam Shankland defeated Vietnamese player Quang Leim Le. Notably, both Quang Leim and Giri, who had secured draws in their previous six matches, faced defeats simultaneously.
In the other decisive game, 16 years old Gurel Ediz of Turkey scored over local Nguyen Thai Dai Van to reach a fifty percent score while David Navara of Czech Republic played out a draw with Vincent Keymer of Germany.
Aravindh with five points and Pragg with 4.5 points lead the standings, whilst Wei Yi, Ediz, Keymer and Shankland follow with 3.5 points each. These four competitors trail behind Giri, Navara and Le by half a point. Dai Van occupies the last position with 2.5 points. The competition has now narrowed down to a contest between the two Indian players.
Aravindh demonstrates exceptional skill in standard positions, possessing keen insight into tactical intricacies. His rare opportunity against Giri allowed him to successfully breach the king's defences and achieve a historic victory.
The current live world rankings feature five Indian players in the top 15, with Viswanathan Anand positioned at number 15. Aravindh, ranked 14th, has achieved his first-ever entry into the top fifteen. The match featured a Queen's gambit declined, where Giri miscalculated his position and advanced his king side pawns whilst attempting to gain spatial advantage.
On his 24th move, Aravindh executed a surprising manoeuvre by positioning his knight before a pawn, which proved decisive. The subsequent play became one-sided, with Black's offensive proving overwhelming, leading to Aravindh's victory in 39 moves.
Praggnanandhaa employed the English opening against Wei Yi, with the game evolving into a Tarrasch defence. Although the Chinese player faced pressure, he maintained a stable position throughout.
The contest progressed to a rook and pawns endgame where the Indian secured an extra pawn and established a passed pawn in an advanced position. However, the position was objectively drawn, with the game concluding after 61 moves.
In the challengers' category, Divya Deshmukh's struggles continued as she succumbed to Jonas Buhl Bjerre, leaving her at the bottom of the standings with 1.5 points after seven rounds.
Bjerre and Uzbekistan's Nodirbek Yakubboev currently share the top position in this section, each accumulating 5.5 points.
Results (Round 6): Quang Leim Le (Vie, 3) lost to Sam Shankland (Usa, 2.5); R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 4.5) drew with Wei Yi (Chn, 3.5); Anish Giri (Ned, 3) lost to Aravindh Chithambaram (Ind, 5); Gurel Ediz (Tur, 3.5) beat Nguyen Thai Dai Van (Cze, 2.5); David Navara (Cze, 3) drew with Vincent Keymer (Ger, 3.5)
Challengers: Richard Stalmach (Cze, 3) drew with Finel Vaclav (Cze, 3); Divya Deshmukh (Ind, 1.5) lost to Jonas Buhl Bjerre (Den, 5.5); Nodirbek Yakubboev (Uzb, 5.5) beat Ivan Salgado Lopez (Esp, 3.5); Marc'andria Maurizzi (Fra, 4) beat Nemec Jychym (Cze, 2); Ma Qun (Chn, 4) drew with Stamatis Kourkoulous-Arditis (Gre, 3)
(With PTI inputs)