99% accuracy & 0 breakthroughs: Praggnanandhaa, Keymer produce a masterclass in Bucharest

Praggnanandhaa played with all his might, trying to squeeze out a win against Keymer in a long-drawn battle, but the German No. 1 came up with the best defences to neutralise all the attacking threats of the Indian.

From the first move to the last, the evaluation bar barely flickered. Both players operated at near perfection, their accuracy touching 99. It was a masterclass in defensive resilience and a stark reminder of how difficult it is to break down a well-prepared opponent.

ALSO READ | How 12-year-old ‘Messi of chess’ Faustino Oro became the second youngest Grandmaster ever

A five-hour, 64-move battle in the Nimzo-Indian game, with Pragg having the white pieces. The Indian had come up with a solid line in the Nimzo-Indian game with white pieces to gain a significant time advantage in the opening. While Keymer bled his clock more at the start, he compensated with accurate moves.

By the 16th move, Pragg had more than double the time, nearly a 46-minute edge over Keymer, along with two extra pawns. However, the extra material wasn’t really an advantage for the Indian, as Keymer had the right plans to win them back. He did so by steering the game into a rook-and-knight versus rook-and-bishop endgame with equal material.

By this time, he had also nullified most of the time advantage, and with each move, Keymer edged closer to the time control. For the second time in the game, Pragg went a pawn up when he captured Black’s central marching minor piece.

This is when both players started dishing out top engine moves, as if playing with the help of a computer. Move after move, Praggnanandhaa synchronised his pieces in a desperate search for a breakthrough, but Keymer displayed utmost brilliance in his defensive game, forcing an exchange of all pieces to earn a well-deserved half point.

15-move draw for Sindarov

On the other board, where the game lasted barely an hour, Candidates winner and the new challenger to the World Championship throne, Javokhir Sindarov, played a very quick draw against MVL.

Having lost his first classical game in eight months to Praggnanandhaa in the previous round, Sindarov’s priority was to play no-nonsense chess and stop the bleeding instantly. A 15-move draw was exactly how he conserved his energy for a tournament that still has plenty of challenges in store.

Sindarov admitted that playing the Giuoco Piano with white pieces against Pragg was a poor decision.

“I chose the wrong line yesterday. Maybe this line works here against anyone except Pragg. He actually knew this line, and one of my seconds told me that Peter (Svidler) had said on the stream that Pragg has this file. So, of course, Pragg knows it,” Sindarov said after sharing the spoils with MVL on Saturday.

“It was a big mistake. After that, I somehow lost a lot of energy to find everything in the position, so it was indeed a big mistake. I am trying to forget it and get over it,” he added.

Sindarov said his plan was simply to play a solid game and avoid going into a losing streak. “Today I tried not to tilt and played a solid game,” he said in a conversation with Saint Louis Chess.

Speaking about being defensive against Frenchman MVL, he said: “Against Maxime, I always get a bad score. We play a lot of rapid and blitz, and he always beats me. So today, I only wanted to play a solid game. If he had pushed, I would have tried my chances, but he ended up playing a completely equal game.”

The Uzbek sensation also admitted that he needed rest after a tiring Candidates tournament in Cyprus, where he had obliterated the field to earn the right to challenge India’s D. Gukesh.

“I didn’t take this tournament very seriously, which I believe is the biggest mistake on my part. I spent a lot of energy in the Candidates, and maybe I needed a little rest, but I played this tournament, which is very strong,” Sindarov admitted.