Raunak holds high-flying Pranav; Aronian closes in on Erigaisi with fine win

GM Raunak Shwani ended four-match winning run of promising Pranav V, holding latter for a draw in Challengers category of Chennai Grand Masters here on Saturday.

two Indians agreed to share point after 39 moves in fifth-round contest, but Grandmaster Levon Aronian was in roaring form while dispelling challenge of GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.

Aronian w has 3.5 points to close in on table-topper GM Arjun Erigaisi (4) who was held to a draw by GM Parham Maghsoodloo.

Aronian, playing with white, opted for Kings Indian defense and his opponent responded with Alekhine Anti-Grunfeld variation.

game looked evenly-poised during initial exchanges but Aronian took control of board by 30th move and Maxime’s error of pushing his e-file pawn a few moves later cost him dearly.

experienced Vidit Gujarathi tried hard for a win but h to settle for a draw after 57 moves against GM Amin Tabatabaei, while GM Alexey Sarana and GM Aravindh Chithambaram signed truce after 33 moves.

In Challengers category, all-women clash between D Harika and Vaishali Rameshbabu ended in a stalemate.

GM Murali Karthikeyan was only player to claim a full point in Round 5 in this category, beating compatriot GM Abhimanyu Puranik.