Sports News | St Louis Rapid Online Chess: Harikrishna in Joint Lead After 3 Rounds
Get latest articles and stories on Sports at LatestLY. Indian Grandmaster P Harikrishna claimed a share of the top position with Armenian GM Levon Aronian after posting two wins and a draw in three rounds of rapid competition in the St Louis Rapid and Blitz online chess tournament.
Chennai, Sep 16 (PTI) Indian Grandmaster P Harikrishna claimed a share of the top position with Armenian GM Levon Aronian after posting two wins and a draw in three rounds of rapid competition in the St Louis Rapid and Blitz online chess tournament.
The India no.2 started with a win over US Grandmaster Leinier Dominiguez, before settling for a draw with Iranian prodigy Alireza Firouzja in games played late on Tuesday.
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In the third round, Harikrishna pulled off a victory over experienced Russian Alexander Grischuk in 41 moves.
World champion Magnus Carlsen, the favourite to win the title, was fifth with three points.
After a win over Hikaru Nakamura in his opener, the Norwegian went down to Russia's Ian Nepomniachtchi in the second round. A draw with Wesley So in the third left the world no.1 in fifth spot.
Harikrishna, coming from a good showing in FIDE Online Olympiad, outwitted the American in 51 moves with black pieces, to begin his campaign in the elite 10-player event.
The Indian ace will face Nepomniachtchi in the fourth round, followed by games against Aronian and Carlsen late on Wednesday.
In each rapid game, a win is worth 2 points, and a draw is worth 1 point, while in the blitz game, a win is worth 1 point and a draw fetches half a point.
The 10 players are competing for a USD 250,000 prize fund in nine rapid games and eighteen blitz games over five days of play.
The tournament hosted by US-based St Louis Chess Club concludes on September 19.
Standings after three rounds:
1. Lev Aronian and Harikrishna 5 pts; 3. Ian Nepomniachtchi and Wesley So 4 pts; 5. Magnus Carlsen 3 pts; 6. Hikaru Nakamura, Leinier Dominiguez, Alireza Firouzja, Jeffery Xiong 2 pts; 10. Alexander Grischuk 1 point.
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)