Chess: Played without expectations after first-round loss, says Aravindh

CHENNAI: Aravindh Chithambaram finished fourth at the Aeroflot Open which concluded in Moscow on Thursday night. Aravindh ended on 6.5 points and was tied for the top spot along with Aydin Suleymanli, Rinat Jumabayev and Mamedov Rauf. Aydin was eventually crowned the champion thanks to a better tie-break score.
Aravindh, who gained 11 ELO points with his performance, started the event poorly by losing the opening round to compatriot NR Visakh.
“Once I lost my first round, I thought I will play fearlessly. I felt I had nothing to lose and played without any expectations in the subsequent rounds,” Aravindh told TOI.
Aravindh’s ploy of playing sans expectations paid dividends as the tournament progressed. He was able to piece together some crucial victories and bagged 6.5 points from the remaining eight rounds.
“Once I won a few games, I settled down nicely. My game got better as the tournament went on. Overall, I am satisfied with the way I came back after going down in the first round,” assessed Aravindh. In the 9th and final round, Aravindh defeated Sanan Sjugirov.
His city-mate B Adhiban ended well with 7th in the tournament.
It was an eventful tournament for Bharath Subramaniyam and M Pranesh. While Bharath bagged his maiden Grandmaster norm thanks to his splendid performances, Pranesh went on to become India’s latest International Master (IM). Bharath came 11th in the tournament with 5.5 points. Pranesh, on the other hand, ended with 4 points in his kitty.