Nihal Sarin was going through a range of emotions. Last night (Thursday), he received news of his grandfather passing away. On Friday, he won the rapid title at Tata Steel Chess India in Kolkata. That he wouldn’t have even played this event had D Gukesh not pulled out at the last minute makes it memorable.
The reigning world champion’s late replacement finished with 6.5 points from nine rounds to edge Viswanathan Anand by half-a-point. These two faced each other in the last round, where Nihal needed a draw and Anand a win. After 21 moves in about 22 minutes, they decided to split the point.
There was a three-way tie for the third spot after Arjun Erigaisi, Hans Neimann and Wesley So all finished on five points. Erigaisi was adjudged third on better tie-break score to make it a rare 1-2-3 for India in the open section of this prestigious event featuring 10 players. R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi logged 4.5 points each. Aravindh Chithambaram was last on 1.5.
“I’m definitely very happy, but it’s also a very emotional moment for me because my grandfather, who introduced me to chess, passed away last night,” said Nihal. “He had been very ill and I got the news yesterday. He was the reason I got into chess. He supported me everywhere possible. I would love to dedicate this honor to him.”
The 21-year-old from Kerala was once mentioned in the same breath as Gukesh, Erigaisi and Praggnanandhaa. They are more or less the same age. While those three zoomed ahead, Nihal’s progress was slower in comparison. He regrouped last year, reached 2700 in classical ELO ratings and maintained that. He also won two tournaments and qualified for the FIDE World up, where he lost in the second round. Winning this means Nihal has started the new year on a high.
The youngster kept going back to his grandfather at his moment of triumph. “It was very tough (to concentrate on the game),” he said. “But you have to try your best when you’re playing and somehow try to distract and focus on the game. I was sure that this is what my grandfather would have wanted me to do. I thought the best way I could pay tribute to him would be by somehow trying my best to keep the focus on the tournament.”
Lagno wins, Divya finishes well
It was an open-and-shut case in the women’s section once Kateryna Lagno of Russia extended her lead to 1.5 points with two rounds to go. She finished with 6.5 points and won by that margin. Fellow Russian Aleksandra Goryachkina was second on five points.
Five players finished on 4.5, including Divya Deshmukh, D Harika and R Vaishali, in that order. So Divya finished fourth, Harika fifth and Vaishali sixth. It was a good comeback by Divya, who was at the bottom after six rounds with just two points. She won her seventh and eighth games before holding Lagno in the ninth.
Open standings
6.5: Nihal Sarin. 6: Viswanathan Anand. 5: Arjun Erigaisi, Hans Neimann (USA), Wesley So (USA). 4.5: R Praggnanandhaa, Vidit Gujrathi. 3.5: Wei Yi (China), Volodar Murzin (Russia). 1.5: Aravindh Chithambaram.
Women’s standings
6.5: Kateryna Lagno (Russia). 6: Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia). 5: Divya Deshmukh, D Harika, R Vaishali, Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia), Carissa Yip (USA). 4: Stavroula Tsolakidou (Greece). 3.5: Vantika Agarwal, Rakshitta Ravi.
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