Arjun Erigaisi secured the only win of the sixth round — versus Iran’s Parham Maghsoodloo — in the Chennai Grand Masters Chess Championship at The Leela Palace hotel on Wednesday.
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Arjun now has the chance of finishing only joint-first even if he wins in the final round, which means his qualification through the FIDE Circuit route for the 2024 Candidates tournament has taken a beating.
Speaking of Arjun’s game, ChessBase India’s Sagar Shah said on the commentary: “Arjun today has found the right opening for himself, and has played it well.”
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Anish Giri on commentary said that Maghsoodloo’s been trying too hard to win in this tournament.
“He’s trying very hard to win games here. It’s very obvious. He is very fighting and taking a lot of risks. But yes, he can’t force it. It’s only backfiring. Arjun just played a very good game.”
Gukesh, playing with white, only managed to draw with Ukraine’s Pavel Eljanov. Despite the draw, Gukesh is still the sole leader with 4 points.
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P. Harikrishna, who drew with Hungary’s Sanan Sjugirov, has 3.5 points and will face Gukesh in the final round on Thursday.
If Gukesh manages to draw, and Arjun and Eljanov either draw or lose, then Gukesh will win the tournament. If Gukesh wins, he wins the tournament.
Even if Gukesh draws and both or either of Arjun and Eljanov win, Gukesh will still finish joint-first.
So, all Gukesh has to do is avoid losing versus Harikrishna in the final round, and he will most likely secure the FIDE Circuit Candidates berth.
The results (sixth round): D. Gukesh (4) drew with Pavel Eljanov (Ukr, 3.5); Levon Aronian (USA, 3) drew with Alexandr Predke (Srb, 1.5); Parham Maghsoodloo (Irn, 2.5) lost to Arjun Erigaisi (3.5); Sanan Sjugirov (Hun, 2.5) drew with P. Harikrishna (3.5).