Wijk Aan Zee (The Netherlands), Jan 26 (PTI) World Champion D Gukesh bounced back after two back-to-back losses and put it across Vladimir Fedoseev of Slovenia in the eighth round of the Tata Steel Masters here Monday.
Gukesh won handsomely with black pieces which should do a world of good to his confidence.
The Indian ace had been playing well till the first rest day and then lost two games in a row and finally pulled one back. It was a picturesque finish when Gukesh put his rook emprise and finished the game in 41 moves.
On a day when Arjun Erigaisi survived a difficult position against compatriot Aravindh Chithambaram and settled for a draw, R Praggnanandhaa escaped in a pawn down endgame to hold youngster Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus of Turkey.
Meanwhile, local favourite Anish Giri threw the tournament open with a fine victory against overnight leader Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan.
Abdusattarov remained in sole lead on 5.5 points despite the loss as his nearest rival and compatriot Javokhir Sindarov was held to a draw by Vincent Keymer of Germany.
With just five rounds to come now, Abdusattorov on 5.5 is still at the top pursued closely by Sindarov a half point behind.
The day produced just two decisive games out of a possible seven in the 14-player field and which meant that 14-year old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus of Turkey remained in the joint third spot with Hans Moke Niemann of United States and Jorden van Foreest of Netherlands.
Close behind now and hoping for a few victories is Gukesh on four points with Giri, Fedoseev, Keymer and Matthias Bluebaum of Germany all having still chances to topple the players ahead of them.
Erigaisi is next in contention on 3.5 points after drawing Chithambaram while Praggnanandhaa still needs to win his first game, a rare sight in any tournament that he played in the last few years.
Results round 8: Hans Moke Niemann (4) drew with Jorden van Foreest (Ned, 4); Aravindh Chithambaram (Ind, 2.5) drew with Arjun Erigaisi (Ind, 3.5); Vladimir Fedoseev (Slo, 4) lost to D Gukesh (Ind, 4); Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus (Tur, 4.5) drew with R Praggnnanandhaa (Ind, 3); Matthias Bluebaum (Ger, 3.5); Vincent Keymer (Ger, 4) drew with Javokhir Sindarov (Uzb, 5); Thai Dai Van Nguyen (Cze, 3) drew with Matthias BLuebaum (Ger, 4). PTI VS APS APS
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