Chennai Grand Masters: Arjun snatches last-minute win over Vidit in opening round

CHENNAI: It was a perfect start for India No 1 Arjun Erigaisi as he kicked off the Chennai Grand Masters with a win over his compatriot Vidit Gujrathi in the opening round here at Anna Centenary Library on Tuesday.

The first-round loss in the previous edition cost him a lot in terms of his chances at the Candidates. But this time around, the top-seeded player engaged in a five-hour intense game, which ended in favour of him. However, it was looking like a draw till the final minutes.

The game started as a positional battle in the Sicilian Defence (e4,c5). Vidit, playing white, started the game with his usual ritual of praying for a couple of minutes before making the first move and he opted for a more controlled and closed approach.

Vidit castled early, preparing for central control while Arjun countered. And by the time the queens were exchanged, the game seemed headed for a likely draw. But Arjun turned it around after Vidit blundering in a king e5 move, which caught the eyes of World No 4, who made the most of it.

“I thought it should be equal until a point, then he got into slight pressure with 4:4. Yeah, I didn’t see a win and in the end it was almost a draw, but he blundered with king e5 and I also hadn’t seen king g6 earlier but luckily I saw it after that and took my chances,” said Arjun, speaking to the media after his win.

While this was his first tournament since his historic 2800 ELO Rating, which he narrowly missed to hold on to in the November ratings (2799), with this win, he once again moved into the 2800 live rating as of now. Speaking in this regard, he added, “This entire year has been great for me. I’m not thinking about it (reaching a live rating of 2800). I’m just happy that I survived and even won the game.”

Another Indian who is currently making giant strides in his career was TN’s Aravindh Chithambaram, who started the round robin with a hard-fought draw against Iranian Grandmaster Amin Tabatabaei.

The Masters category also saw second-highest-ranked player Levon Aronian play a draw against Alexey Sarana.

“It was an interesting game strategically. I really relied on the queen b1 resource and thought it was really strong. But turns out black had sufficient way, so even he can take it slow but still has an active play,” said Levon.

He also participated in the inaugural edition where he finished fourth overall.

“I’m so happy that the event is taking place again and this time even stronger, better organised in this beautiful place. I’m very pleased to see that this new tournament is becoming more traditional and giving opportunities for local players also. Chess in India in its real sense started in Tamil Nadu and it should continue and grow here.”

Elsewhere in the newly introduced Challengers category, Tamil Nadu’s Vaishali suffered a defeat in the opening round against 18-year-old Indian GM Leon Luke Mendonca in the Challengers section.

The young guns are going all in from the first round itself, as there were no draws in the Challengers contenders, with Pranesh, Pranav and Raunak clinching first round wins. The winner of this round will get a shot at the Masters section next year.