Budapest, Nov 12: Indian Grandmasters R Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi began their fast classical campaign with two draws each on day two of the Total Chess World Championship Tour Pilot here.
Praggnanandhaa was held twice by Germany’s Vincent Keymer in Group B, while Erigaisi played out two draws against American Hans Niemann in Group D here on Wednesday.
Both Indians finished the day with two points.
R Vaishali, the third Indian in the fray, endured a difficult start, losing her opening game to French Grandmaster Maxime Vachier-Lagrave due to a late error before settling for a draw in the return encounter.
With one point from two games, 25-year-old Vaishali, who will challenge Ju Wenjun for the Women’s World Championship title next year, was placed last in Group D, which was led by Vachier-Lagrave.
Erigaisi was among four players tied for second place with Niemann, Wesley So and Bibisara Assaubayeva.
In Group B, Fabiano Caruana and Liem Le shared the lead with four points each, while Praggnanandhaa and Keymer were tied for second.
Alireza Firouzja and Jan-Krzysztof Duda are the joint leader in Group A with four points apiece, while Ian Nepomniachtchi took the sole lead in Group C with an identical tally.
World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen, who won the blitz section on Tuesday, had to settle for two draws against Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri. The two finished the day tied for third place in Group C with two points each.
Firouzja made a strong start against Nodirbek Abdusattorov, winning their opening game after capitalising on a critical mistake by his opponent.
Abdusattorov fought back in the return game and created winning chances, but Firouzja held his ground to secure a draw.
Polish GM Duda matched Firouzja’s tally after drawing his first game against Andrew Hong before winning the return encounter with White.
Caruana opened his campaign with a victory over local favourite Richard Rapport, playing with the black pieces.
The return game ended in a draw, taking the American to four points and the top of Group B on the basis of his higher blitz ranking.
Le also collected four points against Vladislav Artemiev. After drawing the opening game, the Vietnamese Grandmaster won the return encounter.
Nepomniachtchi made the strongest start in Group C, defeating Abhimanyu Mishra in their first game before the American held him to a draw in the return encounter.
In the fast classical format, players get 45 minutes each, with an increment of 30 seconds per move from the first move. (PTI)
