Goldmoney Asian Rapid Day 2: Arjun Erigaisi continues to impress

by Shahid Ahmed - 28/06/2021

Arjun Erigaisi continued his fantastic momentum on the second day of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour Goldmoney Asian Rapid. He beat Vidit, Hou Yifan and drew with Firouzja, taking his score to 5.5/10, just a half point behind Carlsen and Giri. Gukesh also had a great day as he beat Vidit and Hou Yifan, drew with So and Arjun. Vidit had a tough day as he lost two consecutive games but he made draws against Ding Liren, Aronian and Firouzja. Adhiban registered his first victory of the event against Salem Saleh. If Arjun continues his form, he is very likely to advance to the Quarter-Finals. Round 11 starts today at 4:30 p.m. IST.

Giri's almost immortal against Carlsen

For the second consecutive day, Giri made a queen sacrifice. Once again he was completely winning but this time he missed a beautiful combination and Carlsen managed to escape with a draw. The world champion once again started the day with a loss against the eventual leader Aronian. Both Aronian and Ding Liren are still unbeaten and leading the prelims 7.0/10 each respectively.

Arjun Erigaisi continues his fantastic momentum | Photo: Champions Chess Tour

Round 6: Aronian beats Carlsen

Vidit held Ding Liren to a draw. Gukesh and Arjun made a draw with each other.

Aronian - Carlsen: 1-0

Aronian made a fantastic positional squeeze which became more effective due to Carlsen's inaccuracies.

Position after 28...Bb5

Black needed to play 28...Be2 and force a bishop exchange. 28...Bb5 only allowed White to consolidate on the queenside 29.b4 with a4 to follow. Black's dark square bishop is stranded on the wrong side of the board, away from the action. Aronian masterfully converted his advantage into a full point because he thrives in these type of positional advantage.

Levon Aronian: "The game against Magnus was good!" | Video: chess24

Ding Liren - Vidit: 0.5-0.5

Vidit made a solid draw with Ding Liren.

Gukesh - Arjun: 0.5-0.5

Gukesh and Arjun had a well-fought draw.

Round 7: Gukesh beats Vidit

Gukesh scored a fantastic win over India no.3. Arjun Erigaisi and Adhiban lost to Aronian and Hou Yifan respectively.

Arjun - Aronian: 1-0

Arjun held his own very well against Aronian.

Position after 33...Rc8

White could have gone 34.Bb7 Rc4 35.Bxa6 Ra4 36.Bxb5 Rxa2 37.f5. The idea is to eliminate the possibility of a pawn breakthrough by Black and hold the position which should not be too difficult for White to make a draw. However, Arjun played ambitiously as he wanted to win, and it eventually cost him the game. It is a good sign that Arjun is trying to make the most of his opportunities instead of taking a draw which wouldn't have been a bad practical decision.

Position after 43...a4

White is still very much in the game and can make a draw. How? White blundered 44.h5 and it was over for White.

Vidit - Gukesh: 0-1

Vidit had a momentary lapse in concentration and just blundered a piece in one move.

Position after 32...Rexb6

Here White blundered the knight 33.Ng3. After 33...Qxg3 it's completely winning for Black as White has no compensation for it. 33.Re2 or Ng5 are perfectly okay continuation for White.

Hou Yifan - Adhiban: 1-0

Adhiban at one point in the middlegame had a very promising position against Hou Yifan.

Position after 29.Qc2

Black played a strange 29...Qb8 which cost him the e5-pawn after 30.Ra8 Qc7 31.Rxf8+ Kxf8 32.Nxe5. Now White gained the upper hand. Instead Adhiban needed to play more actively 29...Qf6 could have turned things in his favor.

Carlsen - Giri: 0.5-0.5

Game of the round and arguably the game of the day was between Carlsen and Giri.

Position after 20.Ng3

Giri made a pretty bold decision to sacrifice his queen 20...exf3 21.Rxe8 Raxe8. Just like the previous day against So, Giri once sacrificed his queen and this time also he had all the right reasons to do so.

Position after 23.h3

On a regular day, moving the g4-knight seem to be the first thing that strike in our mind, but this position is a volatile one for the white king, so why not make things more exciting? Giri took 23...fxg2. White cannot take on g4 with either of the pieces as it is tactically defended.

Position after 24.Re2

Giri missed a golden opportunity to score a beautiful combination. Try to find out what he missed.

Position after 26.Be3

Black can still win this in the above diagram. Carlsen finally managed to escape with a draw by getting a perpetual check.

"They think I am a family man!" - Anish Giri on his queen sac vs Carlsen | Video: ChessBase India

Giri disappointed with himself for not converting after playing such a beautiful game | Photo: chess24 live stream

Round 8: Arjun beats Vidit

Arjun Erigaisi scored the sole victory among the Indian contingent, against compatriot Vidit, who suffered his second consecutive loss of the day.

Adhiban - So: 0-1

Adhiban somehow managed to get out of a difficult position in the middlegame against So.

Position after 24.exd4

Find out the best continuation for Black in the above diagram.

Position after 44...Be5

White can still salvage the game. How? Also find out why 45.gxf5+ is a blunder for White.

Gukesh - Firouzja: 0-1

Gukesh went wrong early in the opening against Firouzja and that decided the fate of the game.

Position after 9.a7

White needed to play 9.Nd2 or Bd2 to try for an equilibrium in the position but after 9.a7 Nxe4 10.axb8=Q Rxb8, it was all over for White.

Arjun - Vidit: 1-0

Vidit made an incorrect recapture which left his king stranded and vulnerable at the center of the board.

Position after 23...fxe6

Black needed to play 23...Rxe6 and forget about the a4-pawn.

Position after 35...Qb3

Arjun missed an immediate victory here, probably due to time scramble. Find out what did White miss.

Round 9: Gukesh beat Hou Yifan

Vidit and Arjun drew with Aronian and Firouzja respectively. Gukesh defeated the current world no.1 among women, Hou Yifan.

Vidit - Aronian: 0.5-0.5

After suffering two consecutive losses, Vidit made a good recovery and drew with Aronian.

Firouzja - Arjun: 0.5-0.5

Arjun Erigaisi made a solid draw with Firouzja.

Hou Yifan - Gukesh: 0-1

How sound is Gukesh in understanding the position? Let's take a look.

Position after 22.Qxd5

Generally the first thing that comes to mind here is to take the b2-pawn, however it is important to displace the white king first. So 22...Rb5 23.Qc6 Ba5+ is that much more effective than taking the pawn directly. Not only White loses the castling rights, the f2-pawn also remains vulnerable which means the king is in dire straits.