Chennai Grand Masters: Nihal Sarin outwits Arjun Erigaisi in slow-burn duel
A fan of rapid and blitz, Indian shows his mettle in classical
CHENNAI: Long known as a 'speed demon' for his exploits in rapid and blitz, Nihal Sarin decided last year to change lanes and focus on classical chess. With blue-ribbon events like the FIDE Grand Swiss and the FIDE World Cup on the horizon, he sought out Vishnu Prasanna, world champion D Gukesh's former coach.
And, the results began to show when he claimed silver at the Asian Continental Chess Championship in May.
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But at the Chennai Grand Masters, he had a difficult start: a first-round loss to Vincent Keymer, a hard-fought draw with Anish Giri, and a tough setback against Vidit Gujrathi. However, on Sunday in the fourth round, Nihal broke through and eked out his first win of the tournament against the top seed, Arjun Erigaisi in a humdinger.
Poll
Which player do you believe has the best chance of winning the Chennai Grand Masters?
Vincent Keymer
Arjun Erigaisi
Anish Giri
'He has a great passion for rapid and blitz. But he feels that he has stagnated and is underrated in the classical format. So that's something that has been bothering him. We started working together in March this year. He approached me at the closing ceremony of the Global Chess League last year, but we only picked it up around five months later,' Vishnu told TOI.
For someone trying to slow himself down to the pace of classical chess, the 21-year-old from Thrissur couldn't quite resist the occasional yawns and strolls during his games here.
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'Classical games are very long… all my games went about for almost four hours,' Nihal said with a smile.
'I was not happy with how it (the tournament) was going. But in general, I'm happy with the way I'm playing. I'm just trying to play some exciting chess. Trying to not think too much about the result. Obviously, losing hurts. It was quite hard for me after yesterday's game. I just tried my best to somehow find the motivation to keep playing.
And, today Arjun defended like an absolute machine, but I think I did get quite lucky.
'
Despite the defeat, Arjun (2.5 points) remains second in the standings, right behind Vincent Keymer (3.5 points) who split the point with Anish Giri.
Vincent is the favourite: Anand
For a brief moment, the focus shifted away from the games to Viswanathan Anand, as he walked into the venue. The five-time world champion sized up the tournament favourite: 'Vincent is obviously the favourite.
Until today (Sunday), Arjun was placed just as well. But his defeat today means Vincent now leads by a whole point. While Arjun can definitely score, a point is a point,' Anand told TOI.
W
hen asked what advice he would give young players to stay at the top, Anand joked, referring to his own five titles: 'I think 'Mere Paas Panch Hai' (I have five) is a good starting point. I think he (Gukesh in this context) knows what to do.'
He went on to add: 'In general, sport is evolving very fast...new formats, new things. The only thing I can do is, if they ask, describe how I face a certain situation, and then it's their job to convert that.'
Results (Round 4):
Masters:
Murali Karthikeyan bt Jordan van Foreest; Ray Robson drew with Liang Awonder; Nihal Sarin bt Arjun Erigaisi; V Pranav drew with Vidit Gujrathi; Vincent Keymer drew with Anish Giri.
Challengers:
Diptayan Ghosh bt GB Harshvardhan; Pa Iniyan bt Aryan Chopra; B Adhiban drew with M Pranesh; Leon Mendonca bt D Harika; Abhinmanyu Puranik bt R Vaishali.
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