Arjun Erigaisi underlined his skill sets in rapid chess by bringing down Radolsaw Wojtaszek (Poland), Sam Shankland and Leinier Dominguez Perez (both USA) to climb to the second spot after eight rounds of the FTX Road to Miami online rapid chess tournament on Monday.
On a day when Arjun played four higher-seeded players - all rated over 2700 - his only draw came against China’s Wei Yi.
With three wins and a draw, Arjun raised his tally to 17/24, three points behind leader Samuel Sevian (USA). Overnight leader Jeffery Xiong (USA) and Jan Krzysztof Duda (Poland) shared the third spot at 16/24.
In an event that offers three points for each win in the 16-player league stage, eight players qualify for the knockout stage. Seven more rounds remain.
Arjun caught Wojtaszek, once a ‘second’ of Viswanathan Anand, in a checkmating net in 66 moves to make a fine start to the day. In the sixth round, the National champion punished Shankland for an erroneous judgement on the 43rd move and forced resignation six moves later.
The seventh round saw an equal battle between Arjun and Wei Yi who eventually forced a draw by perpetual checks in 41 moves. Against Perez, Arjun found the decisive breakthrough once his rival erred on the 30th move.
With the queens still on the board, soon Arjun held the advantage of having a rook against a bishop. Down a pawn and his position crumbling fast, Perez resigned on the 42nd move.
While Anish Giri recovered a lot of ground by matching Arjun’s effort, the day’s other noteworthy performer was the Women’s world champion Ju Wenjun. The Chinese, who lost the first three rounds on Day One, bounced back to the seventh spot by stunning the formidable trio of Richard Rapport, Shankland and Wei Yi.
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