Praggnanandhaa defeats Azerbaijan GM Vasif in 9th round

CHENNAI: Young Indian Grandmaster R Praggnanandhaa won against Azerbaijan GM Vasif Durarbayli on Sunday during his Round 9 game against Azerbaijan at the 44th Chess Olympiad 2022.

He did the star turn for India 'B' against Azerbaijan, beating Vasif Durarbayli in 66 moves.

Teen Grandmaster D Gukesh saw his winning streak come to a halt after he drew his top board game against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov after having notched up eight victories on the trot.

Results: India's matches: Open: India 'A' beat Brazil 3-1 (P Harikrishna drew to Param Maghdoodloo, Vidit S Gujrathi drew with Alexandr Fier, Arjun Erigaisi beat Krikov Sevag Mekhitarian, K Sasikiran beat Andre Diamant).

India 'B' drew with Azerbaijan 2-2 (D Gukesh drew with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Nihal Sarin drew with Rauf Mamedov, R Praggnanandhaa beat Vasif Durarbayli, Raunak Sadhwani lost to Nijat Abasov).

India 'C' beat Paraguay 3-1 (Surya Shekhar Ganguly lost to Axel Bachmann, S P Sethuraman beat Rami Delgado, Karthikeyan Murali beat Jose Fernando Cubas, Abhimanyu Puranik beat M Ruben D Zacarias).