Grandmaster R Praggnanadhaa played out a solid draw with World champion D Gukesh in the eighth round of the Tata Steel Masters here. Playing the white side of a Berlin defense, Praggnanadhaa had slightly favourable position optically but Gukesh was always on guard to defend.

It was in the early middle game that Gukesh sacrificed a pawn to get his counterplay rolling and even though Praggnanadhaa tried to make use of it, the game was always closer to a draw. As the Queens got traded the players arrived at a rook and minor piece endgame wherein Gukesh found the best resources and even got an outside passed pawn. With Praggnanadhaa's rook having the lone task of working against the pawn, the result of the game was never in doubt.