Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa maintained his joint lead in the Superbet Classic, part of the Grand Chess Tour, after drawing with co-leader Alireza Firouzja of France in the seventh round on Thursday in Bucharest, Romania. He shares the top spot with Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and Firouzja, all having four points from seven rounds.The tournament remains wide open with two rounds remaining, as any of the four leaders could claim the trophy and the top prize of USD 100,000.Praggnanandhaa’s game against Firouzja in the English opening was relatively straightforward. The Iranian-turned-French player attempted some tactical moves but was unable to create significant counterplay, leading to a theoretically drawn rook-and-pawn endgame.Quiz: Who’s that IPL player?World champion D Gukesh continues to search for his first victory in the event after drawing with Wesley So of the United States. With just 2.5 points in seven games, Gukesh is having difficulty making an impact in the tournament.
In other seventh-round results, Levon Aronian drew with Fabiano Caruana, while Deac Bogdan Daniel and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave also shared points. Nodirbek Abdusattorov secured a victory against Duda Jan Krzysztof.The complete round seven results were: R Praggnanandhaa (Ind, 4) drew with Alireza Firouzja (4); Levon Aronian (USA, 3.5) drew with Fabiano Caruana (USA, 4); Deac Bogdan Daniel (Rou, 3.5) drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (4); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 3.5) beat Duda Jan Krzysztof (Pol, 2.5); Wesley So (USA, 3.5) drew with D Gukesh (Ind, 2.5).
