30-04-2025
Chithambaram finishes joint first in rapid category
Warsaw (Poland: 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.
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.
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. (PTI)
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.
