Carlsen wins Tata Steel Chess Blitz title too; Malayali mini battle ends all square
Nihal Sarin and S L Narayanan won a game each between them in the Blitz tournament.
Nihal Sarin and S L Narayanan won a game each between them in the Blitz tournament.
Nihal Sarin and S L Narayanan won a game each between them in the Blitz tournament.
Magnus Carlsen made a clean sweep at the Tata Steel Chess India tournament by winning the Blitz title to his Rapid crown in Kolkata on Sunday.
The World No. 1 finished the 18-round double-round-robin Blitz event on 13 points. American Wesley So finished second on 11 points, while Erigaisi took the third place on 10.5 points.
Russian GM Kateryna Lagno (11.5) edged her compatriot Valentina Gunina (11) to take the Blitz title in the women's section.
Poetic as it may sound, Norwegian Super GM Carlsen defeated India No. 1 Arjun Erigaisi in their reverse fixture in round 17 to seal the title. Erigaisi had crushed Carlsen in just 20 moves when they met in the eighth round, which was the former World Champion's only loss in the whole event.
Nihal Sarin and S L Narayanan, two Kerala-based GMs in the 10-player field, finished eighth and ninth on 7 and 6.5 points, respectively. The two Malayalis won a game apiece in their meetings in the Blitz event. Interestingly, both players won their mini-battles with black pieces.