Arjun Erigaisi (photo by FIDE/Lennart Ootes) NEW DELHI: India had a proud moment at the World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship when Arjun Erigaisi produced a double medal in Doha, Qatar on Tuesday.The 22-year-old chess star won bronze medals in both the Rapid and Blitz events. With the medals, he also became the first Indian player to record a podium finish in both events since Viswanathan Anand won the Rapid section and finished third in the Blitz in 2017.
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This happened after he won bronze in the Rapid section earlier in the tournament. To win medals in both formats at the same championship is very rare and shows a player’s consistency. However, the result could have been even better for the Telangana-born grandmaster. On Tuesday, Arjun took on Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the semifinals of the World Blitz Championship. Abdusattorov won the first two games, while the third game ended in a draw. As a result, Arjun had to settle for a bronze medal, while five-time world champion and top-ranked chess player Magnus Carlsen and Abdusattorov progressed to the final, where Carlsen’s clever late-game maneuvers eventually earned him the coveted win over Abdusattorov with a score of 2.5-1.5. Subsequently, Carlsen took Blitz gold here as well after becoming champion in the Rapid section on Sunday. Bibisara Assaubayeva from Kazakhstan, on the other hand, became the world champion in the women’s blitz.Despite the disappointment at the end, Arjun’s overall performance in the Blitz Championship was impressive. In both cases, Arjun was very close to reaching the finals and fighting for the championship title.He came out on top in the Swiss segment of the blitz tournament with a strong score of 15 points out of 19. But perhaps his luck was not on his side.Nevertheless, the overall picture remains very positive. Arjun Erigaisi finished third in the Blitz event and added another bronze medal, meaning he ended his last event of the year, the World Rapid and Blitz Championships, with two bronze medals.Although the ending was painful for him and his fans as the result could have been better, Arjun’s performance showed that he is among the world’s best.READ ALSO: World Champion at age 7 at her first international event; ‘nervous’ to meet PM Modi: How Pragnika Lakshmi became a chess prodigy
