IMAGE: Wesley So aggregated 12 factors for the title. {Photograph}: Form Courtesy Saint Louis Chess Membership, Lennart Ootes
American Grandmaster Wesley So confirmed exceptional consistency to clinch the title within the Open class with a spherical to spare, whereas India’s Nihal Sarin ended as runner-up within the Tata Metal Chess India Blitz chess match in Kolkata on Sunday.
The Girls’s part additionally ended with an exhilarating playoff that noticed one other American Carissa Yip maintain her nerve to raise the trophy. India’s Vantika Agarwal completed runner-up.
The closing rounds of the match delivered relentless stress, late twists, and becoming champions in each sections.
Within the Open occasion, Wesley So aggregated 12 factors for the title whereas Sarin ended with 11 factors. One other Indian, Arjun Erigaisi ended at third spot, additionally with 11 factors.
Wesley So capitalised when Vidit Gujrathi blundered a complete rook in a double rook endgame.
Wei Yi outplayed Viswanathan Anand, who ended at eighth with eight factors, by calmly consolidating an additional alternate, whereas R Praggnanandhaa opened traces for his rook and established a strong knight outpost to defeat Hans Niemann.
Sarin additionally struck with a key win over Anand, whereas Wesley held Wei Yi to keep up management of the standings.
Because the end line approached, Erigaisi scored a notable win by stopping Anand from castling, however Wesley stayed simply forward regardless of a number of tense endgames, together with a draw the place he blundered again an alternate towards Aravindh Chithambaram.
A protected draw towards Hans ensured Wesley’s title, although he misplaced within the last spherical.
The Girls’s part was equally gripping. Vaishali Rameshbabu scored a convincing win over Stavroula Tsolakidou, who ultimately ended at third place, whereas Aleksandra Goryachkina surged late, together with a exceptional sport that includes 4 queens on the board towards Nana Dzagnidze.
Vantika Agrawal produced a shocking comeback by profitable her final 4 video games, together with an important victory over Yip, to power a playoff.
Within the tiebreak, Vantika misplaced first, Carissa held agency in a protracted and exhausting endgame within the second sport to safe the draw she wanted and seal the Girls’s Blitz title.
