Airthings Masters: Arjun eliminates Gukesh; Praggnanandhaa in Grand Final

On a day when Magnus Carlsen reached the Grand Finale by topping the winner’s division at the expense of Hikaru Nakamura, Arjun ended Gukesh’s resistance in 47 moves in the first game and drew the next.

File Photo: Praggnanandhaa went on to beat Ukraine’s Olexandr Bortnyk 2-1 in the loser’s final and gained the right to challenge Sevian for the title. | Photo Credit: Getty Images/Dean Mouhtaropoulos

Arjun Erigaisi overcame D. Gukesh 1.5-0.5 to stay alive in Division 1 of the Airthings Masters online rapid chess championship on Wednesday.

On a day when Magnus Carlsen reached the Grand Finale by topping the winner’s division at the expense of Hikaru Nakamura, Arjun ended Gukesh’s resistance in 47 moves in the first game and drew the next.

Arjun now plays Wesley So in the semifinals. A win will earn Arjun a clash with Nakamura in the loser’s final. Another victory will see the Indian teenager meet Carlsen in the Grand Final.

In Division 3, R. Praggnanandhaa earned a return clash with USA’s Samuel Sevian in the Grand Final.

Sevian defeated Praggnanandhaa in the Armageddon game after the two regular rapid games ended as draws in the final and progressed to the Grand Final. Praggnanandhaa went on to beat Ukraine’s Olexandr Bortnyk 2-1 in the loser’s final and gained the right to challenge Sevian for the title.

Meanwhile, in the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix in Munich, all draws in the sixth round kept the leaderboard unchanged. K. Humpy (3.5 points) stayed in the joint second place behind Alexandra Kosteniuk (5) after drawing with Germany’s Dinara Wagner. D. Harika (3) remained in the joint-fourth spot after proving equal to China’s Tan Zhongyi.