Indian Battle Royale: Praggnanandhaa vs. Nihal Sarin
Praggnanandhaa shockingly lost the ninth round to an unheralded American throwing the tournament in a crazy party. This means that he is suddenly tied with a handful others, including Nihal and Keymer, for the third place! To make matters tougher, their rivals Hong and Keymer have comparatively easier opponents. But Nihal and Praggu are forced to play each other. It is going to be a Battle Royale — the loser will simply lose any chance at the medal, while the winner can still go for the gold. And they know that — Nihal has played an opening he has never played before and this will result in a crazy attack on the kings on the opposite sides!
Indian Battle Royale: Praggnanandhaa vs. Nihal Sarin
The tale of two prodigies:
Nihal had a rocky start to his tournament when a flashy attack by his opponent left him in tears. But since then, he has fought back like he usually does and is in contention for the medals with draws against Keymer and Hong. He has shown enterprising character by sacrificing pawns for compensation in a couple of games, tricking his opponents with his positional understanding. This is not new as Parimarjan Negi noted here.
Praggnanandhaa was dominating the tournament, swatting opponents down with his usual tactical flair. He didn't just beat them, but simply crushed them. He was held to a draw by Vincent Keymer, but he still maintained cruise-control. But the ninth round was a bad day for young Praggu. He lost to unheralded American Nikhil Kumar. But you can expect him to bounce back from such situations as we reported here.
This means that he is suddenly tied with a handful others, including Nihal and Keymer, for the third place! To make matters tougher, their rivals Hong and Keymer have comparatively easier opponents. But Nihal and Praggu are forced to play each other. It is going to be a Battle Royale — the loser will simply lose any chance at the medal, while the winner can still go for the gold.
To make matters more interesting, Nihal has played the Caro-Kann Defence for the first time in his career! They have played each other in crucial games in the past, and to my knowledge, the score stands tied. Now, who will take this round?