Arjun Erigaisi is now India no.1 in Blitz
Arjun Erigaisi did not play in this event, still he became India no.1 in Blitz in the live ratings as Anand lost 66 Elo rating points which dropped him from World no.4 to 16 and brought Arjun from World no.14 to 13 in the Blitz live ratings. Since he is playing at World Rapid and Blitz starting on this Saturday 26th December, it is very much possible that Arjun finishes this year by securing his place in World top 10 in Blitz.
Round 8: Rapport - Karjakin: 0.5-0.5
The game reached an interesting minor piece endgame, although draw was the obvious result.
40...Bxe6 41.fxe6 Nxe6 is perhaps a safer way to draw. However, Karjakin wanted to go for a win. So he continued 40...Nc6 41.Bc1 Kb3 and hung a mate in one in time trouble.
If Rapport played 52.Bg7#, the final standings could have looked slightly different.
Round 10: Navara - Anand: 0-1
Vishy Anand scored his lone victory in the Blitz event against David Navara in Round 10 after the latter made an inaccuracy in the endgame.
32.Ne1 is a mistake. Try to find out why.
Round 14: Mamedyarov - Caruana: 0-1
In a twist of fate, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov blundered in a completely winning position against Fabiano Caruana.
35.Qf4 would have maintained White's decisive advantage. Instead, 35.Nf6 allowed Black to completely turn things in his favor 35...Rd1+ 36.Kh2 Qxe5+ and the knight fell, resulting in White's resignation in three more moves.
Armageddon: Caruana - Rapport: 1-0
Rapport lost another Armageddon against Caruana in this event, the first one was in Rapid.
27...Rc8 would have kept Black afloat as 28.Nb6 Nxb6 29.cxb6 and now Black has c2 due to the support of the rook at c8 which is not possible after 27...Rd8. After 28.Nb6 Black made a bigger mistake 28...Qa5. 29.Nxd5 Rxd5 30.c6 and it's all over for Black. Caruana won the Armageddon and the tournament too.
Caruana tweeted his thoughts on winning the event
twitter.com/i/status/1474260956528140303
Arjun made a very nice tweet about becoming India no.1 in Blitz live ratings
twitter.com/i/status/1474057262104817670
Replay Blitz Round 8-14 and Tie-break games
Final standings after Round 14 Blitz
