After a nail-biting finish that went all the way to armageddon, GM Levon Aronian won the Tata Steel Chess India blitz tournament on Sunday. The playoff was necessary after he had finished in a tie with GM Arjun Erigaisi, who impressed once again after winning the rapid tournament on Friday.
You can find the games of the Tata Steel Chess India blitz tournament here.
The blitz tournament was played over two days, with nine rounds on Saturday and another nine on Sunday. It was once again Erigaisi who was in the sole lead halfway through the tournament, having scored an undefeated plus-four.
At the closing ceremony, tournament ambassador GM Vishy Anand said that Erigaisi’s win over GM Sam Shankland had made a strong impression on him:
One of the main goals of the tournament was to give the young Indian talents a chance to play against top grandmasters. The youngsters did quite well and went toe to toe, as you can see from the final standings.
One of the exponents of the new generation is GM Nihal Sarin, who “won” the second half of the blitz, scoring a wild 6.5/9 on Sunday that included just one draw. One of his victims was Erigaisi, in the 10th round:
Nihal was doing so well that he was in fact leading the tournament with 11/17, with one round to go. A blunder in the opening in his final game with GM Parham Maghsoodloo ended his dream:
This way, Aronian and Erigaisi had the chance to overtake Nihal and both did, which led to the following final standings.
Tata Steel India Blitz 2021 | Final Standings
# | Fed | Name | Rtg | Perf | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | Pts |
1 | Erigaisi | 2616 | 2712 | ½1 | ½0 | ½0 | 10 | ½1 | ½½ | 1½ | 11 | 11 | 11.5 | ||
2 | Aronian | 2767 | 2697 | ½0 | 0½ | ½½ | ½1 | ½1 | 11 | 10 | 1½ | 11 | 11.5 | ||
3 | Maghsoodloo | 2601 | 2693 | ½1 | 1½ | 01 | 10 | 01 | 00 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 11 | ||
4 | Nihal | 2667 | 2686 | ½1 | ½½ | 10 | 01 | ½0 | 01 | 11 | 01 | 11 | 11 | ||
5 | Gukesh | 2376 | 2679 | 01 | ½0 | 01 | 10 | 11 | 00 | ½1 | 11 | ½½ | 10 | ||
6 | Le | 2774 | 2577 | ½0 | ½0 | 10 | ½1 | 00 | 10 | 0½ | 1½ | 11 | 8.5 | ||
7 | Sadhwani | 2517 | 2585 | ½½ | 00 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 01 | 00 | 00 | 01 | 8 | ||
8 | Shankland | 2660 | 2571 | 0½ | 01 | 00 | 00 | ½0 | 1½ | 11 | 11 | ½0 | 8 | ||
9 | Vidit | 2739 | 2501 | 00 | 0½ | 01 | 10 | 00 | 0½ | 11 | 00 | 1½ | 6.5 | ||
10 | Harika | 2422 | 2418 | 00 | 00 | 00 | 00 | ½½ | 00 | 10 | ½1 | 0½ | 4 |
A two-game playoff followed, with Erigaisi having great chances in both games, but which both ended in draws. Here’s the second game, where there was a clear win earlier on for White (“Levon has had the luck of the devil today!” – Anand) but even in the opposite-colored bishop endgame at the very end:
Erigaisi won the toss and chose to play black in the armageddon, meaning he got four minutes on the clock (vs. five for Aronian) with draw odds. At the closing ceremony, Aronian was humble and stated he had been lucky: “I think today I played one good game. It was the armageddon.”
And indeed, Aronian’s reaction to Erigaisi’s interesting knight sacrifice (“This is how Arjun plays for a draw!” – Anand) was excellent.
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