Amazing Aravindh Chithambaram wins MPL Indian Chess Tour 2022 leg 2
Aravindh Chithambaram continued his momentum from the previous day. He won the first two games on the final day of MPL Indian Chess Tour leg 2. A draw in the final round was enough for him to win the tournament, as he had more number of wins than Nihal Sarin. Both Aravindh and Nihal scored 32/45. Leon Luke Mendonca and Raunak Sadhwani scored 26/45 each. They secured third and fourth place. This win earned Aravindh a spot in the next event of Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. He also qualified for the eight-player tour finals, which will take place in November. This is Aravindh's fourth triumph of the year and perhaps could be the most important one. Photo: chess24
Invincible Nihal finishes second on tie-breaks
While Nihal remained undefeated, it was Aravindh who scored 10 wins, one more than Nihal. He actually scored 11 wins, however Gukesh's withdrawal nullified that victory. GM Harsha Bharathakoti and FM Aradhya Garg were the only two players who managed to beat the eventual winner.
Round 13: Aravindh - Leon: 3-0
GM Aravindh Chithambaram extended his win streak to five games when defeated GM Leon Luke Mendonca.
There are always two approach to any position - you let your opponent do the things they want or take charge and do the things you want, in short take control. Aravindh did exactly that 28.Nexf3! shows the class exf3 29.Rxe7 Bxe7 30.Ne6 Qd6 31.Nxf8 Nxf8 32.Bf5 Qf6 33.Qxf3. White might had to give two minor pieces for a rook, however White also has three pawns for it and the bishops are unable to unleash their true potential. Aravindh went on to win the game comfortably.
Round 14: Visakh - Aravindh: 0-3
Aravindh scored a double hat-trick of wins when GM Visakh N R made a fatal mistake in a slightly unfavorable Knight endgame.
It is incredibly difficult to defend this endgame as White. 35.Nc2 only hastened White's loss Nd2+ 36.Ke3 Nxb3 37.Kd3 Kb5 38.Kc3 Nc5 and White resigned.
Scoring system
Win - 3 points, Draw - 1 point and Loss - 0.
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Final standings after Round 15
All games will start from 3:30 p.m. IST between 2nd and 5th June 2022.
