New Delhi: A strong performance from world No. 5 Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi saw him defeat American GM Ray Robson to stay in sole second position behind Germany’s Vincent Keymer after three rounds of the Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters, here on Saturday.
With six more rounds to go in the round-robin competition in the Masters category, Erigaisi is on 2.5 points, while Keymer continues to lead with a perfect score of three points after scoring another victory, this time against Karthikeyan Murali in the classical chess tournament.
Another Indian GM, Vidit Gujrathi bounced back with a crucial win against country-mate Nihal Sarin, while American GM Awonder Liang scored his first victory of the tournament, stunning Dutch GM Jorden van Foreest.
V Pranav, one of the youngest players in the field, impressed by holding top seed Anish Giri to a draw.
In the Challengers section, Abhimanyu Puranik maintained his steady rise with victory over Harshavardhan GB, while M Pranesh defeated P. Iniyan.
Leon Luke Mendonca overcame R. Vaishali, while Adhiban Baskaran split point with D. Harika. Aryan Chopra and Diptayan Ghosh also played out a draw.
Results (Round 3): Masters: Vincent Keymer bt Karthikeyan Murali; Arjun Erigaisi bt Ray Robson; Awonder Liang bt Jorden van Foreest; V Pranav drew with Anish Giri; Vidit Gujrathi bt Nihal Sarin.
Standings: 1. Vincent Keymer – 3; 2. Arjun Erigaisi – 2.5; 3. Ray Robson – 1.5; 4. Awonder Liang – 1.5; 5.
Anish Giri – 1.5; 6.
Vidit Gujrathi – 1.5; 7. Jorden van Foreest – 1; 8. V Pranav – 1; 9. Karthikeyan Murali – 1; 10. Nihal Sarin – 0.5.
Challengers: Abhimanyu Puranik bt Harshavardhan GB; M Pranesh bt P Iniyan; Adhiban Baskaran drew with D. Harika; Leon Luke Mendonca bt R. Vaishali; Aryan Chopra drew with Diptayan Ghosh.
Standings: 1.
M Pranesh – 2.5; 2. Abhimanyu Puranik – 2.5; 3. Diptayan Ghosh – 2; 4. Leon Luke Mendonca – 2; 5. Adhiban Baskaran – 1.5; 6. P Iniyan – 1.5; 7. R. Vaishali – 1; 8. Aryan Chopra – 1; 9. D. Harika – 0.5; 10. Harshavardhan G B – 0.5.