New Delhi: India’s Arjun Erigaisi defeated Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov 1.5-.5 in the first two Classical games of the quarterfinals at the Las Vegas leg of the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam. He becomes the first Indian to enter the semifinals and will face Levon Aronian.
Aronian has been in brilliant form in the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam tournament, eliminating Magnus Carlsen on Day 1 and defeating world No.2 Hikaru Nakamura 2.5-1.5 in the quarter-finals.
Erigaisi won the game comfortably as he drew the first game against Abdusattorov before stitching up a brilliant win in the second with white pieces to reach the semifinals.
In the lower bracket of the quarter-finals, world No.1 Carlsen beat India’s Vidit Gujrathi and progressed to the Intermediate Matches Stage 1, where he will face Sindarov.
Fabiano Caruana beats R Praggnanandhaa
R Praggnanandhaa suffered a heartbreaking loss against American Grandmaster Fabiano Caruana in an Armageddon game and was eliminated from the title race on Thursday.
He was in sensational form and defeated Magnus Carlsen in just 39 moves. The Indian Grandmaster went toe to toe against the world no.3 as they were tied at 3-3 after six matches.
Coming from the high of dismantling Magnus Carlsen in just 39 moves and sparking his exit from the tournament, Praggnanandhaa was in great form as he went toe to toe against world No.3 and one of the best players on the circuit, Caruana.
Both players won a Classical match each at the start of their quarter-finals and played with a time control of 30 minutes + 30 seconds per move.
Praggnanandhaa and Caruana remained even after the two Rapid games (10+10) and the two Blitz games (5+2), forcing the match into a tie-breaker.
The player with Black pieces only needs a draw in the Armageddon tie-breaker, while the player with White pieces has to register a clear, and has more time on the clock.
Caruana beat Praggnanandhaa with Black pieces in the Armageddon game after 72 moves and qualified for the semifinals