Chess: D Gukesh held by Svane; Arjun Erigaisi beats Vokhidov

D Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi

Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi continued his fine form to beat his Uzbekistani opponent Shamsiddin Vokhidov in a clean attacking game, while world champion D Gukesh played out a draw with Frederik Svane of Germany in the first game of the third round of the FIDE Chess World Cup, here on Friday.

Erigaisi, playing with white pieces, began with a Queen-pawn opening and proceeded to crush Vokhidov in a one-sided affair.

Apart from Erigaisi, GM P Harikrishna, who famously assisted Gukesh in the World Championship title match against China's Ding Liren last year, also shot into the lead with another finely-crafted victory at the expense of young GM Daniel Dardha of Belgium.

With both Erigaisi and Harikrishna winning with white pieces, a draw would be enough for them with black pieces tomorrow to get over the line and into the fourth round.

In the Round-of-64, R Praggnanandhaa drew his first game with Robert Hovhannisyan of Armenia having started with black pieces, while Vidit Gujrathi played out a draw with USA's Sam Shankland.

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