Arjun Erigaisi continued to impress the chess world by beating Levon Aronian once before the Armenian hit back to make it 2-2 in the first set of the quarterfinals in the Goldmoney Asian Rapid online rapid chess tournament on Tuesday.
In the most-followed match of the day, Magnus Carlsen scored twice over Wesley So before taking the first set 2.5-1.5.
Carlsen’s victory came after Russia’s Vladislav Artmiev destroyed Anish Giri 3-0 with surprising ease.
Poland’s Jan-Krzysztof Duda appeared to be breaking the sequence of three draws, but under time-pressure,chose to repeat the moves for a fourth draw against Chinese No. 1 Ding Liren.
Superb finish
Having escaped with a draw in the first game, 17-year-old Arjun came up with a brilliant finish in the second. He was ready to capture Aronian’s queen when the game ended.
A little earlier, Arjun missed a fine tactical sequence where he could have sealed the game by catching Aronian’s queen with a knight ‘fork’. Eventually, this missed opportunity did not hurt Arjun.
Aronian hit back in the third game to draw level and the fourth game proved an equal draw.
The results: Quarterfinals: Set One: Arjun Erigaisi drew with Levon Aronian (Arm) 2-2; Magnus Carlsen (Nor) bt Wesley So (USA) 2.5-1.5; Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Pol) drew with Ding Liren (Chn) 2-2; Vladislav Artemiev (Rus) bt Anish Giri (Ned) 3-0.
