WR Chess Masters Day 3: Arjun vs MVL in the finals!

Arjun Erigaisi vs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the Finals of WR Chess Masters

After a heated day where there was lots of chaos, Arjun Erigaisi and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave have made it to the finals of the WR Chess Masters 2024 in London. Their match will start from 2:30 PM today! Arjun defeated Praggnannadhaa by 1.5-0.5 in the classical segment, while MVL took down Firouzja in the Armageddon game. A win today has an added significance for Arjun today - if he wins, he will cross 2800 in live ratings!

Day 3 matches 

Arjun Erigaisi vs Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa

The first game between the Indian prodigies was filled with ups and downs. Arjun defeated Praggnanandhaa after a long intense fight of 70 moves. White tried to simply the position a bit by trading queens on the 21st move. White was slightly better as he got hold of the a-file with his rook. Black played 28. f5 to activate his pieces which White captured.

At this point, it was a balanced complex position. White brilliantly activated his king while Black’s pieces were trying to find optimal squares. There was material balance but White’s king and knight were comparatively more active. Black’s 47. Kb7 was a blunder which made White push for his pawn.

White had a completely winning position and was pawn up. Unfortunately, he played 51. Nf6 instead of pushing b5, which made the position equal again.

Black had an opportunity to gain control of the position but he blundered again with 56. Ka6. This move cleared White Knight’s path to capture Black’s pawns.

Black could not stop White from promoting passed pawns to a queen. After showing beautiful tactics, Arjun won his first classical game against Praggnanandhaa.

Praggnanandhaa was in a must-win situation after his first loss against Arjun. Both players developed their pieces naturally and were looking to create some weaknesses in the middle game. Black played a risky move 18. b5 which White captured activating his rook.

While White’s rooks were active, Black had a solid position. After 24. hxg6, White threatened to attack the queenside while both players were doubled on the a and b file for the queenside attack.

There was a possibility of a draw by 3-fold repetition as moves Qe7 and Nh5 repeated twice, but since Whtie needed a win, he avoided repeating it for the third time. After a couple of exchanges, the position remained balanced with both sides having chances. Black made a big blunder with 35. Nxb2, increasing the risk of checkmate with White pushing the f pawn.

Unfortunately, White missed this opportunity due to time pressure and played 36. Qg5+. Both players drew their game after this move and White missed the final seat.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs Alireza Firouzja

The first game between the Frenchmen ended in a draw. Both the players had a complex position with both playing precise moves. White initiated an attack by playing 18. Ng5 which Black defended with 18. h6.

White played another attack with 22. f4 while Black countered with 22. b5.

After a couple of moves, there were multiple exchanges that simplified the position completely leading to a rook endgame. Despite the intensity of the struggle, the players ultimately reached a balanced position, resulting in a hard-fought draw.

After both players drew their second game as well, they played an Armageddon in which Maxime won with Black pieces in a Sicilian Defence. Maxime opted for the Sicilian Najdorf setup, which he is an expert in. He played 8. h5 indicating his intention to launch a Kingside attack early in the game.

White attempted to open lines on the kingside with 18. g4 to which Black replied with 18. d5 for counterplay.

After the queens got exchanged, the position was slightly better for White. In the endgame, Black used his f-pawn to put pressure but White had a comparatively better position. However, he could not capitalize on this advantage due to time pressure. White made a terrible blunder 37. b4 and Black got a golden opportunity to push for a win by attacking White’s rook with 37. Ng3.

This made White resign as he could not stop Black from promoting a queen.

Check out all the games from the Semifinals

You can find photos from the first and second game of the semifinals here. The finals start from 2:30 PM IST - follow all the action live on our YouTube Channel!

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