WR Chess Masters Day 2: Praggnanandhaa, Arjun, Maxime and Firouzja go ahead

Two Indians and Two Frenchmen in the Semifinals

Day 2 of the WR Chess Masters 2024 kept the excitement alive as top players competed with each other in the Quarterfinals. This knockout event seemed to be impactful as players were pushing for a win. After the first knockout, eight players advanced to the Quarterfinals. And now 4 players proceed to the semifinals - Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and Alireza Firouzja. Check out the article to find out some exciting games from Day 2 of the event.

Day 2 matches

Arjun Erigaisi vs Vidit Gujrathi - Game 2

The first game between these two players ended in a draw where both players had chances to win at some point But the second one turned out to be decisive! Arjun Erigaisi scored a win with the White pieces against Vidit Gujrathi, thus winning the 2-game minimatch 1.5-0.5 and proceeding to the semifinals.

Arjun was already putting pressure on Vidit, but Black's position is still holdable. However, 27...g5? turned out to be a mistake - now the Black king gets under danger as Arjun found the very nice sequence 28. h4! gxh4 29. Qd2! taking control of the dark squares. It was certainly not a trivial conversion, but Arjun did it slowly and surely - forcing resignation from Vidit on the 51st move, just after the 3rd and final time control.

Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa vs Vishy Anand - Armageddon game

This clash between Praggnanandhaa and Vishy Anand was a memorable one, as they met in OTB play after 6 long years. The last time they played was in the Tata Steel Chess India Blitz 2018! The two classical games were drawn - in the first one, Vishy built up a great position and had serious winning chances with the Black pieces. But Pragg defended staunchly and the game ended in a draw. In the 2nd classical game, it was Pragg who was pushing for a win with the Black pieces! But Vishy held on tight, and the players agreed to a draw. It all came down to Armageddon - Vishy had the Black pieces, and he had 6 minutes and 13 seconds with draw odds. Praggnanandhaa had 10 minutes on the clock! 

It became clear early on in the game that Anand has messed up somewhere in the opening. Praggnanandhaa quickly got a very dominating position, and then it was completely winning. This was the final tactical shot by Praggnanndhaaa which sealed the game in his favor:

A dominating win by Praggnanandhaa, who now moves into the semifinals. He will face his compatriot Arjun Erigaisi in the semifinals!

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs Nodirbek Abdusattorov - Armageddon game

Both the classical games between these players were eventful, but they ended in a draw. Maxime got the White pieces in the Armageddon game - he had 10 minutes, while Nodirbek had 7 minutes and 29 seconds on the clock, having Black pieces with draw odds. Maxime got a comfortable position out of the opening, and slowly started to put pressure on Abdusattorov. Nodirbek cracked soon:

This was already a difficult position for Black, but Nodirbek had a chance here - he had to play the extremely difficult move 37...h5. But he missed it - MVL now got a winning advantage with 38. Rb8+ Bf8 39. Qe1 Qd3 40. b5 and the pawns start running on the Queenside, and the Black King is in grave danger. MVL finished off the game in style, scoring a convincing win and proceeding to the semifinals!

Alireza Firouzja vs Raunak Sadhwani

In a very unfortunate incident, Raunak was unable to turn up on time against Alireza Firouzja on the first game. Alireza got a forfeit win - all he had to do was hold a draw with the White pieces in the second game. The players agreed to a draw after 21 moves of play - Alireza Firouzja had won the match 1.5-0.5 and will take on fellow Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the semifinals.

Click here for more photos from Game 1 and Game 2 from the WR Chess Masters Cup Quarterfinals.

Check out all the games from Round of 16

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WR मास्टर्स : अर्जुन और प्रज्ञानन्दा के बीच होगा सेमी फाइनल @ 16/10/2024 by Niklesh Jain (hi)