Tata Steel India 2022 Blitz R1-9: Arjun Erigaisi grabs sole lead, performs at 2871, now World no.12
Arjun Erigaisi scored 6.5/9 to emerge sole leader at Tata Steel Chess India 2022 Blitz. He is a half point ahead of Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE) who was the only person to beat Arjun so far. They are followed by Vidit Gujrathi at 5.5/9. With a performance of 2871, Arjun is gaining 14.4 Elo rating points so far, making him currently the World no.12 in Blitz in the live ratings. Nihal Sarin made the perfect start by beating Hikaru Nakamura in the first round. However, they both are now at 5/9 each. Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa are at 4/9 each. The final day of the Blitz tournament starts today from 3 p.m. IST. Who do you think will win the event? Photo: Lennart Ootes
No one remains invincible
If the Rapid event was a sign of things to come, no one should be surprised to see that all players lost at least one game. The reigning World Rapid champion, Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) is struggling at 2/9. That certainly speaks volumes about the level of the playing field. Round 1, 3, 6 and 7 had five decisive games each. As the tournament progresses towards its conclusion, we might just see more of them. 36 out of 45 games ended decisively. There were only nine draws. The decisive game percentage is at 80 now.
Round 1: Nihal, Arjun and Praggnananadhaa score big
Nihal Sarin (2702) started the day with a huge victory over Hikaru Nakamura (USA, 2909). It was certainly a difficult queen vs double rook endgame for both players to play in the last few seconds. Nihal eventually prevailed against all odds.
Nihal - Nakamura
70...Kh6 and bringing the black king into action would have made things difficult for White. 70...Rd3+ 71.Kh4 and now Rxf4+ still ensures Black does not lose the pawns. 71...Rde1 72.Kh4 Rde1 73.Qxg6+ Kh8 74.Qf6+ Kg8 75.Qg6+ Kf8 76.Qxf5+ dropped both pawns in quick succession and it was also important to capture the last pawn with a check to not lose tempo. The game ended with a nice zugzwang where Black is forced to lose a rook and liquidating into a pawn ending is also a loss for Black too.
If you play the French Defense and want to see a complete domination in it, look no further. Arjun Erigaisi's (2750) win over the reigning World Rapid champion, Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB, 2666) is a perfect example of it.
Praggnanandhaa - So
So has made a thematic exchange sacrifice. Black is making some deadly advances with his pawns at the middle of the board. 23.g4 Bxb2 instead Black should have followed through his plan and gone with d2. 24.gxf5 Bxa3 25.Rc3 dxe2 26.Qxe2 and White gained the upper hand.
Round 2: White wins three
Arjun Erigaisi (2750) was winning against Vidit Gujrathi (2669). However, the time trouble caused the former to miss his chance in a complex position and Vidit escaped with a draw via perpetual check.
Round 4: Arjun, Gukesh and Vidit score
D Gukesh (2632) ended his losing streak by scoring his first win of the event against Nihal Sarin (2702). One blunder by Nihal allowed his opponent to create a deadly battery on the second rank.
Arjun Erigaisi (2750) sacrificed his knight on the kingside to launch an attack. Although his opponent, R Praggnanandhaa (2599) could have refuted it, he just could not find the way.
Vidit Gujrathi (2669) defeated Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB, 2666) in a 143-move marathon game. The queen vs queen and knight endgame lasted for 55 moves.
Round 5: Gukesh beats Abdusattorov again
Praggnanandhaaa made a tactical error in an advantageous endgame which allowed his opponent, Nihal to do some tactic of his own to win the game.
Gukesh beat Abdusattorov for the second time at Tata Steel Chess India 2022. This time he just kept rolling his passed a-pawn and promoted it into a queen. He had no trouble winning the game with two queens present on the board.
Round 6: Five decisive games
Nihal Sarin played ambitiously from the get-go against Wesley So. He certainly wanted to win which was evident from his play and he scored a win.
Praggnanandhaa showed a great positional understanding to hand Abdusattorov his fourth consecutive loss.
Vidit Gujrathi denied a hat-trick to Gukesh. He scored an emphatic win in the Catalan.
Round 7: Gukesh beats Hikaru, Praggnanandhaa and Arjun win
D Gukesh became the second person to beat Hikaru Nakamura at the Blitz event after Nihal. The teenager just completely destroyed the Blitz no.1's kingside.
Praggnanandhaa handed Vidit his second loss of the day by launching a devastating attack on the kingside.
Arjun showed a great positional understanding in a semi-gridlocked position against Parham.
Round 8: Arjun, Nihal and Gukesh score full point
Arjun defeated Hikaru effortlessly and made it look easy.
Nihal launched an excellent attack on the kingside in a double rook and bishop endgame. Parham's erroneous play and no resistance to the attack, allowed Nihal to score the victory.
While Praggnanandhaa was winning for the better part of the game, an ill-timed mistake in the endgame cost him material and the game against D Gukesh.
Mamedyarov - Vidit, Round 9
29.Be4?? is a mistake. Can you find out the winning continuation for Black?
Replay Round 1-9 games
Round 9 results
| Round 9 on 2022/12/03 at 1840 h | ||||||||||||
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||||
| 1 | 5 | 2599 | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | 0 - 1 | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | 2909 | 10 | |||
| 2 | 6 | 2763 | GM | So Wesley | 1 - 0 | GM | Gukesh D | 2632 | 4 | |||
| 3 | 7 | 2733 | GM | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 0 - 1 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | 2669 | 3 | |||
| 4 | 8 | 2672 | GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | ½ - ½ | GM | Abdusattorov Nodirbek | 2666 | 2 | |||
| 5 | 9 | 2750 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | ½ - ½ | GM | Nihal Sarin | 2702 | 1 | |||
Standings after Round 9
| Rk. | SNo | Name | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | ||
| 1 | 9 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun | 2750 | 6,5 | 0 | 25,75 | 5 | 4 | |
| 2 | 7 | GM | Mamedyarov Shakhriyar | 2733 | 6 | 0 | 27,00 | 5 | 3 | |
| 3 | 3 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | 2669 | 5,5 | 0 | 24,25 | 4 | 2 | |
| 4 | 1 | GM | Nihal Sarin | 2702 | 5 | 1 | 20,25 | 4 | 1 | |
| 5 | 10 | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | 2909 | 5 | 0 | 18,75 | 4 | 2 | |
| 6 | 8 | GM | Maghsoodloo Parham | 2672 | 4 | 1 | 16,50 | 3 | 1 | |
| 7 | 4 | GM | Gukesh D | 2632 | 4 | 1 | 16,00 | 4 | 1 | |
| 8 | 5 | GM | Praggnanandhaa R | 2599 | 4 | 1 | 14,50 | 4 | 1 | |
| 9 | 6 | GM | So Wesley | 2763 | 3 | 0 | 12,00 | 2 | 0 | |
| 10 | 2 | GM | Abdusattorov Nodirbek | 2666 | 2 | 0 | 10,50 | 1 | 0 |
