Sports News | Chithambaram Finishes Joint First in Rapid Section

Warsaw (Poland), Apr 29 (PTI) Delivering under pressure, Indian Grandmaster Aravindh Chithambaram put it across Frenchman Alireza Firouzja in the final game to finish joint first with 11 points after the end of the rapid section of Superbet Rapid and Blitz tournament, a part of the Grand Chess Tour.

The Indian wild card entrant needed to match Firouzja and Slovenian Vladimir Fedoseev on points, and he got a little lucky after wild complications as the Frenchman lost on time from what could have been a drawn rook and pawns endgame.

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Star performer R Praggnanandhaa bounced back in the event and jumped to joint fourth spot, scoring crucial victories over Romanian David Gavrilescu and Duda respectively in the last two rounds.

The Indian shares the fourth spot along with American Levon Aronian on 10 points.

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With 18 blitz games still remaining in the first tournament of the Tour, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France is not far behind on nine points, a full point ahead of Deac Bogdan Daniel of Romania and Duda.

Gavrilescu stands ninth in the ten-player tournament on seven points, a couple of points more than former world champion Veselin Topalov who is in last spot.

Aravindh started the day with a victory over Duda who was outdone in the complexities arising out of an early piece sacrifice by the Indian.

The middle game offered chances for Duda but it was never easy to find precise moves in a jungle of variations that had to be navigated. Aravindh eventually won a rook back and the resulting position offered little resistance.

In the eighth round Aravindh lost to Vachier-Lagrave but that did not let his hopes down and a final victory over Firouzja ensured that the Indian would top the list in rapid section that offered two points for a win and one for a draw.

The scoring system will be back to normal in blitz section as the winning side will get a full point. However, with so many games still to come, it could be anyone's overall victory.

Praggnanandhaa found himself back on track after an indifferent start that had given him just five points in the first six games. The Indian played out a draw with Fedoseev and then the wins in last games ensured that remains within striking distance of the leading trio.

Standings after Rapid:

1-3 Aravindh Chithamabaran (Ind), Vladimir Fedoseev (Slo), Firoujza Alireza (Fra) 11 each.

4-5: R Pragnanandhaa (Ind) Levon Aronian (Usa) 10 each

6: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra) 9.

7-8: Duda Jan-Kryzsztof (Pol), Deac Bogdan-Daniel (Rou) 8 each.

9: David Gavrilescu (Rou) 7.

10. Veselin Topalov (Bul) 5.

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