Chennai Grandmasters 2024: Arjun Erigaisi takes sole lead after beating Amin Tabatabaei in round four
Arjun Erigaisi beat Iranian Amin Tabatabaei in the fourth round to get into sole lead with 3.5 points in the second edition of the Chennai Grandmasters classical chess tournament at the Anna Centenary Library here on Friday.
Aravindh Chithambaram, who drew with Levon Aronian, said he’s not happy with his overall performance in the tournament. He’s drawn all his games so far.
“I’m not happy about my play. I had three whites and one black. I drew all of those (games), which is not a good sign. I never got into a winning position in any of the games,” he said.
Vidit Gujrathi, who drew with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, is yet to win too. He’s had two losses, followed by two draws.
In the Challengers section, Pranav Venkatesh clinched his fourth straight win, defeating Vaishali Rameshbabu.
“I don’t know, I’m just in good form this tournament,” said Pranav, trying to explain away his winning streak.
Speaking about the game, he said, “She misplayed it and I got a better position from the opening. But I did not play precisely there, and I think it came down close to a draw. Then, she got into an unpleasant position and with less time it became very difficult (for her).”
Karthikeyan Murali got to his first win, beating Harika Dronavalli.
“I think she made a mistake. Even after that, she could have defended well, but she was under time pressure. I think she was collapsing mentally,” he said.
The results (fourth round, Indians unless mentioned):
Masters: Amin Tabatabaei (Irn, 2.5) lost to Arjun Erigaisi (3.5); Parham Maghsoodloo (Irn, 1.5) drew with Alexey Sarana (Ser, 1); Aravindh Chithambaram (2) drew with Levon Aronian (US, 2.5); Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (Fra, 2) drew with Vidit Gujrathi (1).
Challengers: Leon Luke Mendonca (3) drew with Abhimanyu Puranik (2); Karthikeyan Murali (1.5) bt Harika Dronavalli (0.5); Vaishali Rameshbabu (0.5) lost to V. Pranav (4); Raunak Sadhwani (2.5) drew with M. Pranesh (2).