World No.1 Magnus Carlsen showed his endgame brilliance once again, bagging a record-extending ninth World Blitz title after his Rapid gold medal win two days prior. Meanwhile, Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi experienced a major setback in the semifinal, earning bronze in the World Blitz Championship on Tuesday.
Carlsen declined a draw during the title match against young Uzbek GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov, executing an unexpected pawn move in the fourth game to win 2.5-1.5, thereby extending his dominance in Blitz.
After three games, both players were tied at 1.5 points each.
The victory was especially gratifying for the Norwegian after a series of losses in the qualifying (Swiss round), where he struggled to secure a spot in the knockout semifinals.
A draw in Round 19 against Abdusattorov ensured that both Carlsen (13.5 points) and the Uzbek (13 points) secured the final two slots in the semifinals on Tuesday, behind sole leader Erigaisi (15 points) and American GM Fabiano Caruana (14 points).
Carlsen then defeated Caruana 3-1 to reach the final, while a flawless Abdusattorov delivered a crushing 2.5-0.5 semifinal defeat to Erigaisi, causing the Indian to settle for bronze once again, after taking the third-podium spot in Rapid on Sunday.
Despite this, Erigaisi’s two bronze medals mark a significant accomplishment for the 22-year-old, who will return home with greater determination. Additionally, Erigaisi becomes only the second Indian male player after the legendary Viswanathan Anand to win a World Blitz medal in the ‘Open category’.
Earlier, Erigaisi emerged as the sole leader with 10 points from 13 games, stunning players like Carlsen and Abdusattorov. He continued through the remaining six rounds on Tuesday with unwavering resolve, winning four and drawing two to maintain his lead with 15 points, securing a place in the semifinals.
The Indian faced 2021 World Rapid champion Abdusattorov, who narrowly secured a semifinal spot by edging Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave to fifth place on the ‘best tie-break’ rule, after both Grandmasters ended on 13 points each.
With Erigaisi in impressive form and having defeated Abdusattorov on Monday, expectations were high for the Indian to perform strongly. However, the situation took a challenging turn for Erigaisi.
He failed to capitalise on his advantage with white in the first game, losing in 47 moves and falling 0-1 behind.
A resilient Abdusattorov decisively shifted the momentum in the second game by playing Rc5 on the 75th move and winning in 83 moves. Needing only half a point to reach the final, Abdusattorov opted for a quick draw with black pieces after just 33 moves, despite being in a winning position, making the fourth game redundant.
(With PTI Inputs)
