Top seed B. Adhiban beat prodigious teen-sensation R. Praggnanandhaa 3-1 for a place in the semifinals of the Indian Qualifier for the Champions Chess Tour on Saturday.
After Praggnanandhaa proved equal to the challenge in the first two drawn games, Adhiban came out stronger in the third. In the fourth, Adhiban sacrificed three pawns and went on to crack Praggnanandhaa’s defence for an authoritative victory.
National champion Aravindh Chithambaram gained the right to challenge Adhiban by blanking former National champion Surya Shekhar Ganguly 2-0 in the blitz tie-break. Earlier, Ganguly bounced back in the must-win fourth rapid game to make it 2-2.
In the bottom half of the draw, Arjun Erigaisi defeated Harsha Bharathakoti 2.5-1.5, and D. Gukesh ended Mitrabha Guha’s campaign with a victory in the fourth game for a 2.5-1.5 verdict.
Late on Friday, the first-round surprises came when Arjun knocked out favourite Nihal Sarin 2.5-1.5, Harsha took out S. P. Sethuraman while Gukesh eased past Abhijeet Gupta 2.5-0.5.
The finalists will qualify to play in the elite $1.5 Meltwaters Champions Chess Tour.
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