Grand Master Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa won his first game in the classical leg of the 2024 Biel Chess Triathlon against Sham Shankland of the USA on Saturday.
Meanwhile, GM Vaishali blundered a chance to win her game and settled for a draw against Saleh Salem of UAE.
With just a couple of seconds left on the clock for the extra time to be allotted, Vaishali played Qd3 which took away all the advantage from her.
Saleh then found a mate in three moves to which Vaishali replied with perpetual checks and ended the game in a draw.
Vaishali still sits at the ninth position in the world rankings and finished as the joint top scorer in the classical segment of the triathlon.
The next round will begin in the blitz format, giving Vaishali a chance to solidify her lead and progress further into the final rounds.
Praggnanandhaa bounces back
Had Praggnanandhaa drawn or lost this game, his chances of qualifying for the last stage of the Biel Chess Festival would’ve been tending to zero.
But Praggnanandhaa played a beautiful game against Sham Shankland of America on Saturday and won his first classical game of the tournament.
In a must-win game, Praggnanandhaa opted for the Anti-Berlin and it took a mere six moves for the players to reach the novelty.
Praggnanandhaa went out in deep thought and found himself forty minutes behind the clock in the middle.
With a pawn, bishop pair, active knight, and open files for the rook, Shankland had more than enough compensation, but Praggnanandhaa played more accurately in the game.
However, Praggnanandhaa ran away with his a-file pawn, resulting in a resignation from the two-time American champion Sham Shankland.
In the upcoming double round-robin blitz, which is going to be the deciding leg before the finals, Praggnanandhaa has entered as the fifth-placed player. But he must be ready to push for a top 4 position to qualify for the finals.
Praggnanandhaa now looks for a phenomenal blitz tournament to make up a 1.5-point deficit against GM Vincent Keymer.