Meltwater Champions Tour Finals: Erigaisi posts first win, Praggnanandhaa loses

Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi posted his first win whereas compatriot R Praggnanandhaa misplaced within the fourth spherical of the Meltwater Champions Tour Finals on Friday.

Whereas Erigaisi beat Azerbaijan’s Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 3-1 for his first victory within the event, Praggnanandhaa went down 1-2 to American GM Wesley So.

In the meantime, world No.1 Magnus Carlsen of Norway continued his imperious kind, to thrash Dutch GM Anish Giri 3-0 whereas Quang Liem Le (Vietnam) halted the profitable run of Polish GM Jan-Krzyszstof Duda, handing him a 3-1 loss.

Erigaisi, who had been struggling to hit kind, confirmed his class with a powerful show towards the skilled Mamedyarov.

After a draw within the opening recreation, he went forward by taking the second in 58 strikes. The 2 gamers then shared honours within the third earlier than the Indian outlasted the Azerbaijan opponent in 71 strikes to attain his first win.

The Praggnanandhaa-So match noticed the gamers draw the primary two video games earlier than the American broke by way of within the third. So ensured victory by sharing honours within the fourth recreation.

Carlsen is on prime of the standings with an all-win report after 4 rounds and 12 factors. Duda is second with 9 factors adopted by Liem Le (7) and So (6). Praggnanandhaa has 4 factors and is sixth whereas Erigaisi (3 factors) is seventh.

Within the fifth spherical on Saturday, Erigaisi meets Giri and Praggnanandhaa takes on Duda.

The eight gamers will play a round-robin event. The winner would be the participant who accrues essentially the most factors and money total.

Eight gamers certified for the Finals after a series of occasions within the Meltwater Champions Tour. The whole prize fund for the Tour finals is USD 210,000. Every win within the round-robin earns a participant USD 7,500.