Chess, Candidates 2024: Praggnanandhaa and Vaishali earn first wins of the tournament in Round 3

Indian chess Grandmasters Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and his elder sister Vaishali were the only two players to score wins in the third round of the open and women’s section, respectively, of the 2024 Candidates tournament in Toronto, Canada on Saturday.

It was also their first wins in the competition.

Praggnanandhaa, playing with black pieces, beat compatriot Vidit Gujrathi, who had stunned world No 3 Hikaru Nakamura a day earlier in Round 2.

The win for 18-year-old Praggnanandhaa takes him to an overall score of 1.5 after he drew Alireza Firouzja in the opening round, followed by a loss to Gukesh Dommaraju on Friday.

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Like her younger brother, 22-year-old Vaishali also bounced back from a loss in the second round to beat Bulgarian player Nurgyul Salimova. Vaishali had started her campaign with a draw against compatriot Koneru Humpy, followed by a loss to China’s Tan Zhongyi.

As for the other Indians competing in the tournament, that serves as a gateway to the World Championships match in their respective categories, Humpy drew against Tan while using white pieces.

In the open section, Gukesh played out a draw with Ian Nepomniachtchi in a match that saw some confusion due to a faulty clock. The arbiter eventually had to change the timings manually, shortly before the two players agreed to end the match as a draw.

On Sunday, Praggnanandhaa will take on Nakamura while Gujrathi and Gukesh play Nepomniachtchi and Fabiano Caruana respectively. In the women’s event, Humpy will play Salimova while Vaishali takes on Russian grandmaster Aleksandra Goryachkina.