Meltwater Champions Tour: Indian GMs Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi lose in opening round

R Praggnanandhaa/file pic

Indian Grandmasters R Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi suffered defeats in the opening round of the Meltwater Champions Tour Finals early on Tuesday.

While the 17-year old Praggnanandhaa went down 1.5-2.5 to Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan, Erigasi lost to Poland's Jan-Krzysztof Duda 0.5-2.5.

World No.1 Magnus Carlsen began his campaign with a 2.5-1.5 win over American Wesley So and Dutch GM Anish Giri edged out Vietnam's Liem Quang Le 3.5-2.5 via the tie-breaks after four straight draws.

The Praggnanandhaa-Mamedyarov tie saw the Azerbaijan player take the lead, winning the opening game in 46 moves. A draw followed in the next, before the Indian levelled the match with a 37-move victory.

Also read: India's Praggnanandhaa, Nandhidhaa win Asian Chess Championship titles

Mamedyarov, however, turned the tables on the teenaged GM, who has been in good form in 2022, by winning the fourth game to seal the tie 2.5-1.5.

Meanwhile, Duda dominated against Erigiasi, winning the first and third games to go with a draw in the second to secure a 2.5-0.5 victory.

Carlsen plays Erigaisi on the second day (Wednesday), Liem faces So, Mamedyarov is up against Duda and Praggnanandhaa takes on Giri.

The eight players will play a round-robin tournament. The winner will be the player who accrues the most points and cash overall.

Eight players qualified for the Finals after a series of events in the Meltwater Champions Tour. The total prize fund for the Tour finals is USD 210,000. Each win in the round-robin earns the player USD 7,500.

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