Underlining the growing superiority of Indian youngsters in global age-group competitions, the trio of Nihal Sarin (under-18), Rakshitta Ravi (girls’ u-16), and D. Gukesh (u-14) claimed gold medals and Mrinmoy Rajkhowa (u-10) added a bronze from the FIDE Online World cadets and youth rapid chess championship on Tuesday.
Nihal, seeded two, claimed his fourth title in three months to end the year on a high note. Having won the Junior Speed Chess, Capechecs Online Karpov Trophy and the Super Juniors Cup recently, Nihal was expected to add another title but eventually needed a slice of luck in both games to emerge as the worthy champion.
After winning his rescheduled semifinal earlier in the day, Nihal drew the first game against Armenia’s Shant Sargsyan after defending accurately with black.
In the second game, Nihal attained a winning position by the 40th move but three moves later, committed a serious blunder to slip into a grossly inferior position. But Sargsyan’s 49th move turned the tide back in Nihal’s favour and he went on to seal the gold in 54 moves with a 1.5-0.5 scoreline.
Gukesh battled all the way against Russian-lad Volodar Murzin before emerging stronger in the Armageddon game. After two drawn rapid games, Gukesh needed to win with white in the Armageddon game. He produced a dominating performance and sealed it when Murzin ran out of time.
Earlier, sixth seed Rakshitta was the first to ensure a gold for India. After a draw against fourth seeded Chinese Yuxin Song, Rakshitta won the second following a tactical blow on the 15th turn that earned her a knight and eventually a 1.5-0.5 verdict.
In the din of the gold rush, nine-year-old Mrinmoy Rajkhowa’s brilliant victory in the Armageddon game was pushed to the background. The youngster won the first game against higher-rated American Andy Woodward but lost the marathon second in 107 moves. In the Armageddon game, Mrinmoy played white and toyed with his rival for 57 moves for a 2-1 triumph.
