Bengaluru:Arjun Erigaisi slipped into demolition mode rightaway on Day 1 of the Paris leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam tour on Monday. The 21-year-old Indian defeated world No.1 and 5 Magnus Carlsen and Fabiano Caruana respectively, in the first two rapid rounds. His fine run was briefly halted by compatriot and reigning world champion D Gukesh in Round 3. It was Gukesh’s first full point from a Freestyle chess game this year after he went winless through the first leg at Weissenhaus in February. It, however, turned out to be his lone win of the day.
Of the four Indians – Arjun, Gukesh, Praggnanandhaa R and Vidit Gujrathi – who feature in the 12-player event with 10+10 time control, single round robin over the first two days, Arjun had the best opening day and is placed at 3.5 points. He’s followed by Praggnanandhaa at 2.5 points. Only eight players will make the classical knockouts after two days and 11 rounds of rapid games.
Before every round, the starting position is picked using a specially-designed lottery machine-like device with 960 small wooden balls. The pieces on the back rank of the boards are randomised based on the chosen position and the players are given ten minutes to discuss before the start of every round. The White and Black players huddle separately, wearing microphones, to discuss the position. Before the start of the day’s final round, Gukesh appeared to have mistakenly joined the wrong huddle, discussing alongside Black players, when he had the White pieces.
The game between Carlsen and Gukesh in Round 4 didn’t end well for the Indian. Even as he navigated a seemingly frustrating position, the 18-year-old’s heart rate hovered around a strikingly calm 70 bpm. In a Queen endgame, with White flaunting a harmonious piece structure and Gukesh staring at little counterplay, he resigned against the five-time world champion to be stranded at 1.5 points from four rounds. It was Carlsen’s third win in four rounds. Earlier in the opening round, Carlsen ground out a win from what looked like a theoretical draw for a while. With little time on his clock, Vidit fumbled under pressure and blundered by pushing his King to the h7 square, inviting checkmate and losing rightaway.
Results (only Indians):
Round 1: Magnus Carlsen beat Vidit Gujrathi; Arjun Erigaisi beat Fabiano Caruana; Gukesh D drew Maxime-Vachier Lagrave; R Praggnanandhaa lost to Richard Rapport
Round 2: Nepomniachtchi lost to Praggnanandhaa; Vidit beat Gukesh; Arjun beat Carlsen
Round 3: Gukesh beat Arjun; Hikaru Nakamura beat Vidit; Praggnanandhaa lost to Maxime-Vachier Lagrave
Round 4: Carlsen beat Gukesh; Vidit lost to Praggnanandhaa; Arjun lost to Nakamura
Round 5: Gukesh lost to Caruana; Praggnanandhaa drew Arjun; Keymer beat Vidit
Round 6: Vidit lost to Nodirbek Abdusattorov; Arjun beat Keymer; Carlsen beat Praggnanandhaa; Gukesh lost to Nakamura
