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Arjun Erigaisi becomes the fourth Indian to win Tata Steel Chess Challengers

by Shahid Ahmed - 31/01/2022

Arjun Erigaisi became the fourth Indian to win Tata Steel Chess Challengers. Harikrishna won in 2012, Adhiban 2016 and Vidit 2018. All three of them won with the exact same score 9.0/13. The 18-year-old scored 10.5/13 which was his aim. He also finished the event two points ahead of the field, which is the biggest margin in Challengers ever since its inception in 2003. The Warangal boy has earned himself a place in the Masters section of 85th Tata Steel Chess which is slated to take place from 13th to 29th January 2023. Magnus Carlsen has now eight triumphs at the Wijk aan Zee. Vishy Anand has won this prestigious event five times, Levon Aronian is at four. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022

Praggnanandhaa finishes with a win

Praggnanandhaa won his final round game against Andrey Esipenko to finish with 5.5/13.

Arjun Erigaisi is the winner of Tata Steel Chess 2022 Challengers | Photo:Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022

Magnus Carlsen receives his record eighth triumph at Tata Steel Chess 2022 | Photo:Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022

Praggnanandhaa - Esipenko: 1-0

Praggnanandhaa made a nice pawn sacrifice to gain positional advantage by putting his knight on an outpost at d5 against Andrey Esipenko.

Position after 24.a4

The threat of 24.a4 is quite simple, White wants to play 25.a5, remove the knight from b6 so that he can jump his knight to d5. Black could have played 24...Rfe8 so that 25.Nd5 does not become deadly. The game continued 24...Nxa4 25.Nd5 Bb7 26.Rxe6 Nxe6 27.Re1 and now g5 would have been better. 27...Qd7 did not help Black's case as 28.Qg3 threatened Nf6+. Black decided to give up the exchange 28...Rf7 29.Nf6+ Rxf6 30.Bxf6. Thus, White got a completely winning position.

Praggnanandhaa wins his last game of the tournament against Andrey Esipenko | Video: Tata Steel Chess Tournament
Praggnanandhaa ends Tata Steel Masters 2022 with a bang! Beats Andrey Esipenko | Video: ChessBase India

Praggnanandhaa finished the tournament on a high note | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit/Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022

Karjakin - Vidit: 1-0

Sergey Karjakin played a line in the Scotch Game which leads to an easy draw. However, to draw the game Black needs to play some precise moves according to the former World Blitz champion.Vidit was unable to find them.

Position after 20.Rb3

Two years ago, Magnus played 20...Be2 in the very same event in the final round against So. The game led to a draw. Vidit played 20...Re5 which is incorrect according to his opponent Karjakin.

Position after 28.Ra5

28...Rb6 is what would have kept Black's chances. However, 28...Kd8 was played and after 29.Rxc5 it was all over for Black. Rest was just a matter of technique and time.

Sergey Karjakin is not unhappy with his result in Wijk aan Zee after three weeks of chess | Video: Tata Steel Chess Tournament

Vidit suffered his second consecutive loss | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit/Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022

Jorden - Shankland: 1-0

Jorden van Foreest gained an isolated center pawn in the middlegame. It became a crucial passed pawn which eventually helped him score a victory over Sam Shankland.

Position after 53...Ra5

53...Ra5 actually helped White to secure a victory. Find out why and what Black should have done instead.

'I am really exhausted after this game' - Jorden van Foreest | Video: Tata Steel Chess Tournament

Jorden van Foreest scored his fifth win of the event in the final round | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit/Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022

Nils Grandelius and Jan-Krzysztof Duda had an exciting draw | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit/Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022
Nils Grandelius concludes his decent tournament with a draw against Jan-Krzysztof Duda | Video: Tata Steel Chess Tournament

2nd Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 8.0/13 | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022

3rd Richard Rapport 8.0/13 | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022
Anish Giri plays a quick draw against Richard Rapport in the last round of the tournament | Video: Tata Steel Chess Tournament

Maurizzi - Arjun: 0-1

Arjun Erigaisi lived up to his words as he pushed for a win against France's youngest GM Marc Andria Maurizzi.

Position after 54.a5

White was already in grave danger. 54.a5 did not help his case. 54...bxa5 55.g3 hxg3 56.Rxg3 Nd5 57.Bxa5 Rc5 58.Ka4 e3 and Black is completely winning.

Arjun Erigaisi finished two points ahead of the competition 10.5/13 | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit/Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022
Closing ceremony of Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022 | Video: Tata Steel Chess Tournament
Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022 is a wrap! | Video: Tata Steel Chess Tournament
Tata Steel Chess 2022 Round 13 Live Commentary by IM Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal | Video: ChessBase India
The super coach | GM Srinath speaks about Arjun Erigaisi's phenomenal performance | Video: ChessBase India
"Oh, I am aiming for 10.5!" - The whatsapp chat between Arjun Erigaisi and his trainer Srinath | Video: ChessBase India

Some tweets by the players

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov

Sergey Karjakin

Sam Shankland

Surya Sekhar Ganguly

Replay Round 13 Masters games

Replay Round 13 Challengers games

Round 13 results

Jorden, Praggnanandhaa and Karjakin finished the event with a win in Round 13 of the Masters section | Photo: Tata Steel Chess

Murzin, Erwin, Arjun and Dardha were the winners in Round 13 of the Challengers section | Photo: Tata Steel Chess

Final standings after Round 13

Magnus Carlsen finished 1.5 points ahead of the competition | Photo: Official site

Arjun Erigaisi finished two points ahead of the field 10.5/13 | Photo: Official site

Schedule

Starting from Saturday 15th January, all round starts at 6:30 p.m. IST, only Sunday 30th January, the final round will start at 4:30 p.m. IST. Rest days are - 19th, 24th and 27th January.

Time Control

100 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for 20 moves, then 15 minutes for the remaining moves with 30 seconds cumulative increment for each move starting from the first move.

Links

Official site

Tournament regulations

Tie-break rules


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