Fide Master Arjun Erigaisi of India came up with a good performance to defeat Grand Master Raset Ziatedinov of USA in a second-round match of the Mumbai Mayor’s Cup International Open Chess Tournament on Monday.
Playing with black, the 15-year-old Arjun was in a weak position initially, but a faulty move of F4 by Raset gave the Indian just the opening he required to stage a comeback. Arjun, a bright prospect in Indian chess, won the game in 43 moves.
In another encounter, India’s top-ranked player GM Sandipan Chanda managed to brush past both his compatriots Manigandan SS and Candidate Master Kushagra Mohan with ease. In the second round, International Master Navin Kanna lost to GM Amanatov Farrukh of Tajikistan.
Playing with white, Navin opted for a Queen pawn opening and faced Kings Indian Defence. The position was equal till the 18th move but then an incorrect move of the rook gave a slight advantage to Farrukh, who easily converted that into a win.
In first-round matches, top seed GM Kravtsiv Martyn of Ukraine had a rather easy outing against Mumbai’s local lad FM Sauravh Khherdekar. Sauravh was facing a French Defence, a rarely played opening. On the 17th move, he played a bishop, which gave a slight advantage to Kravtsiv, who then placed his knight on D6 square.
On the 27th move, Kravtsiv got a passed pawn, which helped him to gain a rook for a knight and the game was decided in the favour of Kravtsiv in 45 moves. The top seed met FM Mitrabha Guha in the second round and defeated him without much ado.
Mumbai’s upcoming player and President’s award winner CM Aditya Mittal held GM Mozharov Mikhail of Russia for a draw in an English opening game. Both players tried to make the most of the limited options, but after 64 moves decided to settle for a draw in the first round.
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