Praggnanandhaa Stumbles Against Giri, Title Hopes Take Major Hit

R Praggnanandhaa suffered a setback in his campaign, going down to Anish Giri in the eighth round of the Candidates chess tournament here on Tuesday, a result that leaves the Indian almost out of contention for a top-place finish .

The defeat marked Praggnanandhaa’s second loss of the tournament , undoing the momentum he had built earlier, including his sole victory which had come against the same opponent in the opening round. From a position that appeared balanced for a long time, the young Indian faltered in the later stages, allowing Giri to capitalise with precise tactics.

At the top of the standings, Javokhir Sindarov continued his dominant run, settling for a draw with Russia’s Andrey Esipenko. The Uzbek now leads with 6.5 points out of 8 , opening up a two-point cushion over the chasing pack with six rounds still to be played in the USD 700,000 tournament. The event will determine the next challenger to reigning world champion D Gukesh later this year.

Giri’s victory lifted him to joint second alongside Fabiano Caruana, both trailing Sindarov by two points and needing an exceptional run to close the gap. Praggnanandhaa, meanwhile, is placed in a group tied for fourth with Wei Yi, Matthias Bluebaum and Hikaru Nakamura on 3.5 points each , while Esipenko remains at the bottom of the table.

Playing with the black pieces, Praggnanandhaa chose the Vienna variation and managed to neutralise an early advantage gained by Giri. The position remained evenly poised through the middlegame, but a critical error on move 35 proved decisive. Giri quickly seized the initiative, and another inaccuracy a few moves later left the Indian with no chance of recovery.

Elsewhere, Bluebaum and Wei Yi played out a draw to move to 3.5 points apiece. In a key encounter, Nakamura showcased his resilience with a crucial victory over compatriot Caruana, tightening the race for the second spot.

In the women’s section, R Vaishali stayed firmly in contention, drawing with Bibisara Assaubayeva to remain within striking distance of the leaders. Anna Muzychuk looked set to maintain her narrow lead as her game against Divya Deshmukh headed towards a draw.

Meanwhile, Kateryna Lagno defeated Aleksandra Goryachkina to climb to 4.5 points , joining Vaishali in a closely contested standings. Other games in the section were still in progress, with indications that China’s Zhu Jiner could secure an important result against compatriot Zhongyi Tan.

With six rounds remaining, Sindarov appears firmly in control, while the battle for the remaining top positions and relevance in the title race is intensifying.