CHENNAI: World champion D Gukesh drew with GM Dmitry Andreikin in the third round of the ongoing Quantbox Chennai Grand Masters, Classical chess tournament here on Friday. Arjun Erigaisi, meanwhile, became the first Indian player to win a game in the tournament so far as he beat Hans Niemann of USA.
Having played out draws in the opening two matches, Arjun kept the pressure going over Niemann after gaining the advantage in the middle game and tightened the noose around his opponent's King, forcing him to resign after 43 moves.
Arjun's win took him to the second position in the standings with two points, half a point behind leader GM Alireza Firouzja. The Frenchman, who had won the first two rounds, survived some anxious movements before holding GM Nihal Sarin to a draw with black pieces in 53 moves. M Pranesh also split the points against GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov after just 27 moves by repetition after it was clear that he had little chance for a win. It was a creditable display by Pranesh against Nodirbek, who is ranked No 6 in the world.
Despite the draw, Nodirbek appeared to be cheerful and said that he is enjoying the tournament. "I was prepared for that opening. Up to this point, when he played Bc4, I knew the first game. Bc4 is a tricky move. It gives Ng4, but Ng4 is very sharp, so I opted for Bg4. After Bg4, Ng2, I briefly saw that it's possible. Ng4 was giving Ng2 as a possibility, but I thought it should be good for black," said Nodirbek.
"But yeah, Rc8, Re1, I think Rc4 is good, Bc8, Qd4. And here, I think, after the game, he told me that Qa6 was the main move, after which the position is very complicated and equal according to the engine, but it's very sharp and black can overtake the initiative. So yeah, maybe I had to play Qa6," he added.
Nodirbek said that he has been enjoying his run so far and he hopes to do better in the upcoming rounds.
"Yes (have been enjoying), all the games were very sharp. I struggled in the first two rounds with white pieces. In the first game, he tricked me. In the second game, Arjun came with a very ambitious opening choice. He played very creatively with Bd6, f5, and he quickly got a good position. But then, in both of these first two games, I managed to stay in the game and hoped for my chances. Actually, yesterday (Friday) I had good chances at the end, but it ended in a draw. In general, I'm feeling good, except for the opening problems that I'm having in this tournament. If I get good positions, hopefully things will go better," he said.
The 21-year-old felt that the field is strong and said that anybody can cause an upset.
"Yeah, I mean, this field is incredibly strong. It's very young, everyone is well prepared. There are no weak spots or weak players here. It's also a very short tournament, seven rounds. I think in these short tournaments, you should take more risks. Because at some point, you have to score a point to compete for first place. As we see it in this tournament, others have already won two games. So yeah, I think high risks, high rewards, as they say," he said, adding that he is looking for a big fight with Gukesh on Sunday.
Results: Round 3: Arjun Erigaisi (2) bt Hans Niemann (1); M Pranesh (1) drew with Nodirbek Abdusattorov (1.5); D Gukesh (1) drew with Dmitry Andreikin (1.5); Nihal Sarin (1.5) drew with Alireza Firouzja (2.5).