Atreyo Mukhopadhyay in Goa
Blitz is a format in chess played under extremely short time control. Players have to make their moves at lightning speed. In the ongoing FIDE World Cup, this is deployed in the later stages of the tie-breakers. What Arjun Erigaisi produced in the first game of the quarterfinals against Wei Yi of China could be described as an exhibition of blitz in the classical or the longest format. It was a draw in just under an hour with black pieces for the Indian, who will have white in tomorrow’s return leg.
To add perspective, the other three games took well over three hours. Nodirbek Yakubboev was the only to post a win. The players involved in these were fighting it out and struggling to find ways to wear each other down. Erigaisi, clearly, didn’t have such plans. There isn’t much of a difference between him and his opponent. The Indian is ranked seventh in the world and the Chinese 11th. Erigaisi made his moves in a flash and soon reached a position which was regarded as drawn by the experts doing live commentary from the venue. The point was split after 27 moves. So many moves in 59 minutes don’t happen very often.
The 21-year-old from Andhra Pradesh was making his moves and leaving the board to take a look at how things were unfolding in the other games. Wei was in deep thought at times, especially after his opponent played bishop to E6. The experts reckoned that this was a rarity with black pieces in such a situation. Among the top players, they added, it’s not even played by world No. 1 Magnus Carlsen. That caught Wei by surprise and he spent about 20 minutes to ponder over his response. Just to give an indication of how much time they spent to think, Wei had about 58 minutes left on his clock and Erigaisi an hour and 33 minutes when they agreed to call it a day.
Wei is a steely customer. The 26-year-old shows no expression on his face while playing. No matter what the opposition does, he keeps staring at the board without betraying emotions. When he thought about that move in reply to bishop to E6, it was no different. Players generally avoid eye contact with each other during games. Wei cuts out all sorts of contact. Nobody can understand what he is going through. It remained like that until he and Erigaisi agreed to the draw.
What does it mean? It does give a feeling that the Indian has something up his sleeves which he wants to display tomorrow with white. The experts were of the view that he is extremely well prepared, which is why he could make his moves in such quick time, while others took longer. He is the only Indian remaining in this competition and that might add some pressure. However, if this game was an indication, he is ready for the battle, confident in the homework that he has done.
For More Sports Related News: Follow RevSportz