Indian Champions Chess Tour Qualifiers: Adhiban, Aravindh in semifinals

In the bottom half of the draw, Arjun Erigaisi defeated Harsha Bharathakoti and D. Gukesh ended Mitrabha Guha’s campaign to enter the semis.

Published : May 08, 2021 21:14 IST

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.

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.

The results:

Quarterfinals: B. Adhiban bt R. Praggnanandhaa 3-1; Aravindh Chithambaram bt Surya Shekhar Ganguly 4-2 (2-0 in blitz tie-break); D. Gukesh bt Mitrabha Guha 2.5-1.5; Arjun Erigaisi bt Harsha Bharathakoti 2.5-1.5.

First round: Adhiban bt Aronyak Ghosh 2.5-1.5; Praggnanandhaa bt M. Karthikeyan 2.5-1.5; Aravindh bt D. Harika 3-1; Ganguly bt N. R. Visakh 2.5-1.5; Arjun bt Nihal Sarin 2.5-1.5; Harsha bt S. P. Sethuraman 4-2 (2-0 in tie-breaker); Gukesh bt Abhijeet Gupta 2.5-0.5; Mitrabha bt K. Sasikiran 2.5-1.5.