Shalaka Kachare, Pune
On Tuesday, Magnus Carlsen defeated Indian Grandmaster Gukesh D in the opening round of the FIDE Chess World Cup quarterfinal.
With black pieces, the world’s top player defeated India’s 17-year-old grandmaster and moved one step closer to the Chess World Cup semifinals. Gukesh began with fury and required 48 moves from the Norwegian great to defeat him.
Gukesh tried his best and had a plan, but Carlsen proved that it would take more to defeat him in the end. “I felt really, really good before the game; I was in a fighting mood for sure,” Carlsen remarked.
Arjun Erigaisi, a 19-year-old GM, defeated R Praggnanandhaa, an 18-year-old GM, in another game from the last eight, winning in 53 moves to go one step closer to the semifinals.
Praggnanandhaa lost his focus toward the end of the game, but Arjun Erigaisi maintained composure to lead 1-0 going into the quarterfinal.
To force a tie-breaker, Praggnanandhaa needs to triumph on Wednesday using the black pieces. Praggnanandhaa will be eliminated from the World Cup with any other outcome than a victory.
In order to avoid losing to hometown favorite Abasov Nijat, Vidit Gujarathi, the fourth Indian in the World Cup quarterfinals, agreed to a draw. The lengthy game took nearly six hours and 109 moves. On Wednesday, the two players will square off one more time.
The winner of the match advances to the Chess World Cup semifinal. A tiebreaker will be used to determine the winner if the game is tied.
For the first time ever, four Indians are participating in the World Cup’s last eight teams, and one of them will go to the semifinals thanks to the Praggnan-Erigaisi game. In the event of a 1-1 tie in the first two classical games of each match, tie-breaks are used to decide the winner.