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Similar to Vidit, Praggnanandhaa had strong opening preparation in his game against Hikaru Nakamura, with the initial exchanges making it seem like the American was interested in only a
draw. Desperate for a result, Praggnanandhaa opted for an aggressive strategy which eventually backfired, with the teenager admitting it was a ‘horrible decision’ to go all out for a win.
Elsewhere in the open section, Alireza Firouzja defeated Nijat Abasov, who, not very long ago, had complained about the French-Iranian Grandmaster’s shoes to the arbiter, leading to a big
controversy. Contrary to the fate of the Indian trio in the open section, the Indian pair of Koneru Humpy and R Vaishali had a rewarding day. The former was involved in a 90-game move where
she avenged her earlier defeat against Nurgyul Salimova, whilst the latter defeated Aleksandra Goryachkina – an outcome not many had seed coming, especially considering how the tournament
has played out for Vaishali. Goryachkina, however, paid the price of being aggressive, having previously declined to draw by three-fold repetition. Tan Zhongyi defeated Kateryna Lagno lead
the standings all by herself, as fellow Chinese compatriot, Lei Tingjie could only manage a draw against Anna Muzychuk.