Nihal Sarin scripts a stunning comeback, enters Global Championship semifinals

Trailing 1.5-2.5 after the first set of four rapid online games on the previous night, Nihal bounced back to win the first two games and drew the next two for a remarkable 4.5-3.5 victory.

Nihal Sarin beat Samuel Sevian in the quarterfinals of the $500,000 Global Championship Finals on November 3, 2022. | Photo Credit: VELANKANNI RAJ

Grandmaster Nihal Sarin pulled off a stunning comeback against Samuel Sevian and gatecrashed into the semifinals of the $500,000 Chess.com Global Championship Finals on Thursday.

Trailing 1.5-2.5 after the first set of four rapid online games on the previous night, Nihal bounced back to win the first two games and drew the next two for a remarkable 4.5-3.5 victory.

By reaching the semifinals, Nihal is assured of $50,000.

The rules provide for a tie-breaking Armageddon game in case of a 4-4 deadlock. But once Nihal fought back from a seemingly lost position in the final game to settle for a draw in a winning position.

For a place in the final, the 18-year-old Kerala boy plays Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri while Hikaru Nakamura faces fellow-American Wesley So.

The Results:

Quarterfinals: Hikaru Nakamura (USA) bt Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Pol) 5-2; Wesley So (USA) bt Dmitry Andreikin (FIDE) 4.5-1.5; Anish Giri (Ned) bt Teimour Radjabov (Aze) 5-4; Nihal Sarin bt Samuel Sevian (USA) 4.5-3.5.