After an incredible run, S.L. Narayanan fell on the threshold of a title-clash against Magnus Carlsen in the Banter Blitz Cup late on Friday night.
Narayanan, who gatecrashed into the semifinals with wins over some better-known names, lost to Iranian Alireza Firouzja 9-6, while Carlsen reached the final beating Russia’s Sanan Sjugirov 9-0.
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‘Horrible’ blunder
“I think it (the margin) should have been much closer,” said Narayanan, who saw the checkmate coming in the final game, even before his rival could make the rook-move. “Horrible,” was how the country’s 10th-ranked player described his blunder in the final game where he was clearly better.
Even after the painful finish, the soft-spoken GM from Thiruvanathapuram remained gracious. “This is my favourite time-control (three minutes for a player, for a game, with no increment) and I’m thankful to Chess24.com for giving me the opportunity to play against some of the best.”
Indeed, Narayanan gained the respect of the chess world by pulling off some sensational victories in the 128-player $50,000 knockout tournament, that offers $14,000 to the winner.
In ensuring $4,000 by performing beyond his rating of 2618, Narayanan defeated Spain’s Ivan Salgado Lopez (2584) 8.5-0.5, Egypt’s Bassem Amin (2686) 8.5-4.5, Carlsen’s ‘second’ Norway’s Jon Ludvig Hammer (2608) 8.5-2.5 and Germany’s Alexander Donchenko (2646) 8.5-6.5 to reach the quarterfinals.
He beat Venezuela’s Eduardo Hurrzaga Bonelli (2607) 8.5-6.5 in a tough quarterfinal before facing the formidable Firouzja, rated 2728.
The online event began on September 25 with no fixed schedule as matches were played at times convenient for both players.
The other Indians in the fray were Nihal Sarin (lost in the third round), Vaibhav Suri, R. Praggnanandhaa (second round), S.P. Sethuraman, Abhijit Gupta and Surya Shekhar Ganguly (first round).
