Karthik Venkataraman was the sole Indian to win his third-round Rapid tie-break in the FIDE World Cup on Sunday.
Credit: FIDE
The spate of upsets continued on the third-round tie-break day of the FIDE World Cup at Resort Rio. Another Indian stalwart Vidit Gujrathi, also an Elo 2700-plus player, was eliminated by Sam Shankland of the USA, losing in the second set of the Rapid tie-break after drawing the first set.
Three Indians fought in the tie-breaks on the day and only Karthik Venkataraman advanced. SL Narayanan, another talented Indian, was eliminated by Yu Yangyi (0.5-1.5), losing the first game of the Rapid tie-break and then having to settle for a draw in the second game. Narayanan, who was playing black, suffered a reversal in another marathon game that lasted 125 moves.
Karthik was in fine form through both the Rapid tie-break games played on the day and though he let slip a victory in the first game against Daniel Deac Bogdan, he managed to romp home the victory in the very next game. Karthik has been the most impressive amongst the Indians, enjoying an Elo 2600-plus rating.
“The Classical game against Deac didn’t go too well but I somehow managed to defend," said Karthik. "But in both the rapid games I played well. I don’t know if I was objectively winning in the first game but I was clearly better. The second game was also smooth.
“Chess players are not used to playing this kind of format. Normally, it is Swiss or round robin and one can relax a bit. But here you are always under pressure that you can be eliminated and that pressure is a lot to handle.”
Vidit, meanwhile, started the tiebreaker with a full point in the opening rapid game against Shankland, beating the American in 75 moves. In the second game, Vidit made a mistake with a queen exchange under time pressure and lost the game in 49 moves, taking the match into a second set of rapid games. He then lost the sixth game with white pieces in 61 moves and was knocked out.
Meanwhile, Frenchman Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was severely tested by Vladislav Artemiev before prevailing in the Armageddon to enter the fourth round after a gruelling five-set tie-break. It was also curtains for 14-year-old Turkish GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, who lost to higher-rated and reputed Richard Rapport of Hungary in the first set of the Rapid tie-break.
Among the 2700-plus-rated players in fray, the third round was the most brutal with Gukesh, Vidit, Anish Giri, Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov being knocked out of the event by less fancied opponents. Incidentally, only four of the top ten-rated players have advanced to the fourth round. Monday is a much-needed rest day scheduled after nine days of intense matches.
Round 3 tie-break results (India only): GM Yangyi Yu (CHN) bt GM SL Narayanan; GM Vidit Gujrathi lt to GM Sam Shankland (USA); GM Bogdan-Daniel Deac (ROU) lt to GM Karthik Venkataraman