Tata Steel Chess Rapid R1-3: Arjun bests Karthikeyan in 17 moves
Levon Aronian has taken the sole lead at the end of the first day of Tata Steel Chess India 2021 Rapid. The two-time World Cup winner beat Shankland, Adhiban and Vidit. Although Shankland was not completely lost in their game, it's just his misadventures with the king cost him the full point. Praggnanandhaa, Arjun and Vidit are at 2.0/3 each. Only Praggnanandhaa has remained undefeated. The opening match between the siblings did not disappoint. At one point, Vaishali had the upper hand. However, the younger one, Praggnanandhaa, managed to wriggle out of trouble and save the day. His other draw was against Shankland. Round 4 starts tomorrow at 2 p.m. IST. Photo: Lennart Ootes
Aronian takes sole lead
The first day witnessed only three draws out of 15 games which means 80% games were decisive. All five games ended decisively in Round 2. It is definitely an inkling that the competition is tough and everyone is out there to give their best.
Round 1: Vaishali - Praggnanandhaa: 0.5-0.5
Being siblings means Vaishali and Praggnanandhaa have played against each other countless times. Yet, this is the first time they played against each other in such a large scale. The elder sister got a good opportunity after the younger brother played a bit ambitiously.
26...gxf2 would have been fine for Black. 26...Bxf2 turns things completely in White's favor as 27.Bxd8 Rxd8 and now 28.Rxd6 gives White a decisive advantage. Vaishali played 28.Rxf2 instead, which allowed Black to equalize 28...gxf2 and salvage a draw eventually.
Arjun - Parham: 1-0
How strong is Arjun Erigaisi? Well the move 27.c4 in the endgame should give you a clue.
While computer may not agree with it, only a human will understand the strength and importance of the move 27.c4. The idea behind the move is simple, White wants to place his knight on d5, gain a stronghold and slowly gain complete control of the position, which is exactly what happened.
Shankland - Aronian: 0-1
Sam Shankland (USA) was forced to give up his queen for Aronian's rook and bishop.
White has no choice but to take on a3, 30.Qxa3 Qxa3 31.Bxd7 and the game is far from over. White's advanced isolated central passed pawn at d5 combined with the bishop at c6 keeps him afloat.
White misplaced his king at g2, 43.Kg2 h3+ and it was all over. 44.Re3 and there is no easy way for Black to make progress. The game should have headed towards a draw but the misadventures of the king cost White the game.
Adhiban - Vidit: 0-1
Adhiban got an opportunity to strike as Vidit made an inaccuracy early in the middlegame.
White has a couple of choices to break the position wide open. Find out which is the correct. White opted for 15.Bxe5+ which turned out to be the incorrect one. White's position deteriorated and Black soon got decisive advantage.
Round 2: Liem - Vidit: 0-1
Liem wanted to trap Vidit's queen. However, the idea does not work.
25.Be3 is not a good idea because of 25...f6 26.Nd3 and now 26...Rxe3 27.Nc1 Qxb3 28.Nxb3 Rce8 still gives Black substantial advantage. However, Vidit went for the humane 26...Bxd3 and won the game in the next few moves, 27.Qxd3 Ng3 28.Rb7 Qa1+ 29.Kf2 Nh1+ 30.Ke2 Rce8 and White resigned.
Aronian - Adiban: 1-0
Aronian scored his second consecutive win of the day against Adhiban who suffered his second consecutive loss.
Black is at a critical juncture - a4-pawn is hanging and a7 will also fall if no action is taken. 24...Rxf3 was played and Black lost some important pawns. Find out what should have Black done instead. Of course it is not easy to find. Later Adhiban got an opportunity to create a fortress like position but he could not find it.
Praggnanandhaa - Arjun: 1-0
Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi had a grueling battle. Eventually the latter erred in a relatively equal rook endgame.
45...Rxg3 is a blunder. Find out what Black should have done to keep things going out of hand.
Round 3: Vidit - Aronian: 0-1
Aronian scored his third consecutive win to take sole lead 3.0/3 by beating Vidit.
26.Qd4 is what cost White the e4-pawn after 26...Nf4 27.Qe3 Bxe4 28.Re1 Qf5. A couple of more inaccuracies gave Black a favorable endgame which Aronian converted into a win with ease.
Arjun - Karthikeyan: 1-0
Arjun made a short work of Karthikeyan in just 17 moves after the latter made a blunder in a difficult position.
Last but certainly not the least, check out the world champion and the winner of previous edition, Magnus Carlsen's message for the tournament and the chess universe
Replay Round 1-3 games
Round 1-3 results
| Round 1 on 2021/11/17 at 1400 h | |||||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | FED | Rtg | No. | ||||
| 1 | 1 | IND | 2388 | GM | Karthikeyan Murali | ½ - ½ | GM | Le Quang Liem | VIE | 2715 | 10 | ||
| 2 | 2 | IND | 2210 | WGM | Vaishali R | ½ - ½ | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | IND | 1821 | 9 | ||
| 3 | 3 | IND | 2323 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | 1 - 0 | GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | IRI | 2516 | 8 | ||
| 4 | 4 | USA | 2647 | GM | Shankland Sam | 0 - 1 | GM | Aronian Levon | ARM | 2761 | 7 | ||
| 5 | 5 | IND | 2626 | GM | Adhiban B. | 0 - 1 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | IND | 2639 | 6 | ||
| Round 2 on 2021/11/17 at 1530 h | |||||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | FED | Rtg | No. | ||||
| 1 | 10 | VIE | 2715 | GM | Le Quang Liem | 0 - 1 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | IND | 2639 | 6 | ||
| 2 | 7 | ARM | 2761 | GM | Aronian Levon | 1 - 0 | GM | Adhiban B. | IND | 2626 | 5 | ||
| 3 | 8 | IRI | 2516 | GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | 0 - 1 | GM | Shankland Sam | USA | 2647 | 4 | ||
| 4 | 9 | IND | 1821 | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | 1 - 0 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | IND | 2323 | 3 | ||
| 5 | 1 | IND | 2388 | GM | Karthikeyan Murali | 1 - 0 | WGM | Vaishali R | IND | 2210 | 2 | ||
| Round 3 on 2021/11/17 at 1700 h | |||||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | FED | Rtg | No. | ||||
| 1 | 2 | IND | 2210 | WGM | Vaishali R | 0 - 1 | GM | Le Quang Liem | VIE | 2715 | 10 | ||
| 2 | 3 | IND | 2323 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | 1 - 0 | GM | Karthikeyan Murali | IND | 2388 | 1 | ||
| 3 | 4 | USA | 2647 | GM | Shankland Sam | ½ - ½ | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | IND | 1821 | 9 | ||
| 4 | 5 | IND | 2626 | GM | Adhiban B. | 0 - 1 | GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | IRI | 2516 | 8 | ||
| 5 | 6 | IND | 2639 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | 0 - 1 | GM | Aronian Levon | ARM | 2761 | 7 | ||
Round 4-6 pairings
| Round 4 on 2021/11/18 at 1400 h | |||||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | FED | Rtg | No. | ||||
| 1 | 10 | VIE | 2715 | GM | Le Quang Liem | GM | Aronian Levon | ARM | 2761 | 7 | |||
| 2 | 8 | IRI | 2516 | GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | IND | 2639 | 6 | |||
| 3 | 9 | IND | 1821 | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | GM | Adhiban B. | IND | 2626 | 5 | |||
| 4 | 1 | IND | 2388 | GM | Karthikeyan Murali | GM | Shankland Sam | USA | 2647 | 4 | |||
| 5 | 2 | IND | 2210 | WGM | Vaishali R | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | IND | 2323 | 3 | |||
| Round 5 on 2021/11/18 at 1530 h | |||||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | FED | Rtg | No. | ||||
| 1 | 3 | IND | 2323 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | GM | Le Quang Liem | VIE | 2715 | 10 | |||
| 2 | 4 | USA | 2647 | GM | Shankland Sam | WGM | Vaishali R | IND | 2210 | 2 | |||
| 3 | 5 | IND | 2626 | GM | Adhiban B. | GM | Karthikeyan Murali | IND | 2388 | 1 | |||
| 4 | 6 | IND | 2639 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | IND | 1821 | 9 | |||
| 5 | 7 | ARM | 2761 | GM | Aronian Levon | GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | IRI | 2516 | 8 | |||
| Round 6 on 2021/11/18 at 1700 h | |||||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | FED | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | FED | Rtg | No. | ||||
| 1 | 10 | VIE | 2715 | GM | Le Quang Liem | GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | IRI | 2516 | 8 | |||
| 2 | 9 | IND | 1821 | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | GM | Aronian Levon | ARM | 2761 | 7 | |||
| 3 | 1 | IND | 2388 | GM | Karthikeyan Murali | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | IND | 2639 | 6 | |||
| 4 | 2 | IND | 2210 | WGM | Vaishali R | GM | Adhiban B. | IND | 2626 | 5 | |||
| 5 | 3 | IND | 2323 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | GM | Shankland Sam | USA | 2647 | 4 | |||
Standings after Round 3
| Rk. | SNo | Name | sex | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | ||
| 1 | 7 | GM | Aronian Levon | ARM | 2761 | 3,0 | 0,0 | 3,50 | 3 | 2 | ||
| 2 | 9 | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | IND | 1821 | 2,0 | 0,0 | 3,00 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 3 | 3 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | IND | 2323 | 2,0 | 0,0 | 2,50 | 2 | 0 | ||
| 4 | 6 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | IND | 2639 | 2,0 | 0,0 | 1,50 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 5 | 4 | GM | Shankland Sam | USA | 2647 | 1,5 | 0,0 | 2,00 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 6 | 10 | GM | Le Quang Liem | VIE | 2715 | 1,5 | 0,0 | 1,25 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 7 | 1 | GM | Karthikeyan Murali | IND | 2388 | 1,5 | 0,0 | 1,25 | 1 | 0 | ||
| 8 | 8 | GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | IRI | 2516 | 1,0 | 0,0 | 0,00 | 1 | 1 | ||
| 9 | 2 | WGM | Vaishali R | w | IND | 2210 | 0,5 | 0,0 | 1,00 | 0 | 0 | |
| 10 | 5 | GM | Adhiban B. | IND | 2626 | 0,0 | 0,0 | 0,00 | 0 | 0 |
