Vidit Gujrathi proved equal to World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen in 51 moves to share the fifth spot after 11 rounds of the Masters section in the Tata Steel chess tournament at Wijk aan Zee, near Amsterdam, on Friday.
At one stage, Vidit (6 points) looked in serious trouble but Carlsen missed the precise continuation on the 36th move. The queens returned to be board before the players agreed to draw the game.
Carlsen maintained his half-point lead at 7.5 points. Richard Rapport moved to the second spot after getting a free point, following the withdrawal of Daniil Dubov due to Covid. Anish Giri lost to defending champion Jorden van Foreest and slipped a rung to be joint third, with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.
R. Praggnanandhaa (3.5) lost to Fabiano Caruana in 46 moves to occupy the last spot in the 14-player field.
In the Challengers section, Arjun Erigaisi (9) moved within a draw of winning the title. In the 11th round, he drew with Dutch rival Erwin L’Ami to hold a 1.5 points lead. Two rounds remain.
11th round results:
Masters (Indians unless stated): Magnus Carlsen (Nor, 7.5) drew with Vidit Gujrathi (6); R. Praggnanandhaa (3.5) lost to Fabiano Caruana (USA, 6); Richard Rapport (Hun, 7) received a walkover from Daniil Dubov (Rus, 3.5); Jorden van Foreest (Ned, 5.5) bt Anish Giri (Ned, 6.5); Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze, 6.5) drew with Sergey Karjakin (Rus, 6); Nils Grandelius (Swe, 3.5) drew with Andrey Esipenko (Rus, 6); Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Pol, 5) drew with Sam Shankland (USA, 4.5).
Challengers (involving Indians): Erwin L’Ami (Ned, 5.5) drew with Arjun Erigaisi (9); Polina Shuvalova (Rus, 4) drew with Surya Shekhar Ganguly (5.5).
