Asian Games 2023: Vidit Gujrathi Stumbles Against China’s Wei Yi; In Joint Second Place

Third-seeded Indian Grandmaster Vidit Gujrathi went down to top-ranked Chinese player Wei Yi in the seventh round of the men’s individual chess event in the 19th Asian Games on Tuesday. Despite the defeat, the 28-year old Indian is in joint second place with 5 points from 7 rounds, half-a-point behind Yi. Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov is sharing the second place with Gujrathi. Arjun Erigaisi, the other Indian in the fray, beat Indonesia’s Novendra Priasmoro in the seventh round to reach 4.5 points. He shares the joint third spot with three other players.

Earlier, Gujrathi beat Iran’s Parham Maghsoudloo in the fifth round and shocked in-form Uzbekistan star Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the sixth.

With those two wins, Gujrathi had jumped to the top of the standings with five points after 6 rounds before slipping against his Chinese rival.

The 20-year old Erigaisi drew with Javokhir Sindarov (Uzbekistan) and lost to Mongolia’s GM Bilguun Sumiya in the fifth and sixth rounds respectively.

In the women’s event, Koneru Humpy and D Harika posted wins in the fifth round after a below par showing on the second day of the competition on Monday.

While Humpy beat Nilufar Yakubbaeva (Uzbekistan), Harika put it across Vietnam’s Vo Thi Kim Phung.

The Indian players drew their sixth-round matches — Humpy held by Indonesia’s Medina Wara Aulia and Harika shared the point with Zhansaya Abdumalik (Kazakhstan).

In the seventh round, the Indian players were again forced to share points with their respective opponents.

Humpy drew Mongolia’s Munkzhul Turmunh and Harika was held by Abdumalik.

Both Humpy and Harika have 4.5 points each and are half a point behind third placed Hou Yifan (China) and Bibissara Assaubayeva (Kazakhstan).

Zhu Jiner is on top with six points from 7 rounds.

Two more rounds remain to be played in the individual events (men and women).

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