CHENNAI: R Vaishali was seemingly down and out after a blunder in the middlegame but she rescued her losing position with a series of brilliances and great moves to rescue half-a-point against compatriot Divya Deshmukh in the second round of the women's Candidates in Cyprus on Monday.
After the Indian ace played 34. Ne4, Deshmukh, playing with white, spotted the vulnerable b pawn and claimed it. But further along the line, she played 37. Qg3 when she ought to have played Qg4.
Those blunders were understandable as both players were fighting against the clock. Both were forced into the tank on multiple occasions earlier in the game as a result of which they were both down to under than 90 seconds with a good few moves remaining to hit the time control (players get an additional 30 minutes after the 40th move).
Suddenly, Deshmukh, the reigning World Cup champion and India's newest women's GM, had frittered away the advantage. She still could have pushed but Vaishali, featuring in her second Candidates event, reeled off a sequence of 'great moves', per the engine, to stabilise her position.
And both players shook hands soon after.
Pragg holds own
R Praggnanandhaa followed up with a win in the first round with a solid draw against China's Wei Yi. The Indian, playing with black, did create an opening but couldn't follow it up with a bunch of precise moves to really test Yi. It allowed Yi a small window of opportunity to get back to level footing.
Results (2nd Rd): Open: Wei Yi drew with R Praggnanandhaa, Javokhir Sindarov drew with Matthias Bluebaum, Anish Giri drew with Fabiano Caruana, Andrey Esipenko Hikaru Nakamura
Women: Kateryna LAgno drew with Jhu Ziner, Anna Muzychuk drew with Tan Zhongyi, Divya Deshmukh drew with R Vaishal, Bibisara Assaubayeva Aleksandra Goryachkina