R. Praggnanandhaa never ceases to surprise. His willingness to trade rooks for bishops, as seen in his second and fourth round victories at the World Junior Chess Championship, highlights his sophisticated tactical reading of the board.
Following a closely contested draw with Ravi Haria of England earlier in the day, Praggnanandhaa employed a stunning double-rook sacrifice to dismantle Mongolian player Dambasuren Batsuren, winning the match in 44 moves with a powerful queen and bishop combination.
As seven of the eight top-tier games ended in draws, Praggnanandhaa found himself tied with Spain's Ruiz Miguel Santos and Ukraine's Evgeny Shtembuliak. The double-session day served as a recovery period for the higher-seeded players who had struggled in the previous two days. A notable anomaly occurred in the fourth round when Iranian player Aaryan Gholami, seeded 11th, gave a walkover to Israel's Alexander Zlatin. Because matches between athletes from these two countries are frequently cancelled or avoided, Gholami chose to avoid the confrontation entirely, submitting a doctor's note to excuse his absence.
In the girls' category, Arpita Mukherjee missed a prime opportunity to overtake N. Priyanka for the lead, ending her game in a draw. Before this, Mongolia's Boldbaatar Altantuya had dominated with four consecutive wins. Rakshitta Ravi moved into a tie for second place with 3.5 points, while R. Vaishali (seeded fifth) played to a draw against Russia's Elizaveta Solozhenkina.
Round 3 results: Haria (2.5) and Praggnanandhaa (2.5) drew; M. Karthikeyan (2.5) defeated Aaryan Varshney (2); R.K. Srihari (2) and Kollars (2) split the point; P. Iniyan (2.5) beat Slovenia's Vid Dobrovoljc (1.5). Additionally, Aditya Mittal (2) won against Arno Sterck (1), and Aravindh Chithambaram (1.5) beat Amir Ghaazi Mohd Saprin (1).
Girls' Round 4: Boldbaatar Altanutuya (4) defeated Michelle Katkov (3); N. Priyanka (3.5) and Arpita Mukherjee (3.5) drew; Elizaveta Solozhenkina (3) and R. Vaishali (3) drew; Vantika Agarwal (3) and Divya Deshmukh (3) drew; Mrudul Dehankar (3) and Gabriela Antova (3) drew; Rakshitta Ravi (3.5) beat V. Toshali (2.5). Round 3: Priyanka (3) defeated Dinara Dordzhieva (2); Mrudul (2.5) and Rakshitta (2.5) drew; Arpita (3) beat Marian Avetsyan (2); Vaishali defeated Saloni Sapale (1.5); Divya (2.5) beat G. Harshita (1.5).