Pragg survives with draw on error-prone day

Thirteen moves across the chess board had gone by without much incident.

- HT Correspondent

R Praggnaanandhaa.

(FIDE)

Then R Praggnanandhaa, playing with white pieces, unexpectedly pushed a pawn forward along the d file when perhaps moving the white bishop up the board from b3 to d5 was a better move.

It put the world No.7 on the backfoot against Russian GM Daniil Dubov in the first game of their fourth round match at the Chess World Cup in Goa on Tuesday. But on a day when both players struggled under time pressure, the fatigue of a long tournament that had reached its halfway point started to kick in, Dubov was unable to capitalise. And after making the 41st move, Praggnanandhaa offered a draw, which the Russian accepted.