NAGPUR: Fide Master (FM)
Akash Thakur
made the most of his opening advantage to end his classical campaign with a win and qualify for the 16-player blitz playoff in the Hersonissos international online
chess
tournament on Sunday.
Eighth seed Akash, with white pieces, pocketed a point in the final round to claim the joint fourth position in the 10-day meet. Akash's nine-year-old son
Aarit Thakur
went down fighting with his black pieces.
On the ninth board, Akash outclassed lower-ranked England opponent
Neel Arjun Bhandari
in a 46-move contest to end the event at 5.5 points. "I started with the King Pawn move and he responded with a complicated four knights opening. He made a mistake in the seventh move by choosing the wrong bishop, which gave me the advantage. In long calculations, my position was winning, and after snatching his bishop in the 14th move, I easily converted that advantage to garner a point," said Akash on his relatively easy victory.
Akash will now play in the shortest format on Monday, where the 16 best players of the classical event will vie for the honours.
On the 20th board, unseeded Aarit failed to defend strongly with his black pieces, concluding his campaign on a losing note. He lost to higher-seed and compatriot Nimay Tejas Mavani in a marathon 65-move contest.
On Nimay's Queen Pawn opening, the city boy declined with a Queen's Gambit move and brought the position equal. In the middle game, Aarit was a pawn up, but he missed out on checking his opponent from a better position and lost a piece.
Eventually, Nimay's queen and knight prevailed against Aarit's queen as he suffered defeat in the 3 hour 45 minute-long contest.
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