December 31st 2024.
In an exhilarating display of skill, Indian Grandmaster R Vaishali dominated the women's qualifier at the World Blitz Championship in New York. After witnessing Koneru Humpy's impressive triumph and her subsequent gold medal and USD 60,000 prize, it was now Vaishali's turn to shine. And she did not disappoint, scoring an exceptional 9.5 points and only drawing in three of her 11 games.
While Russian player Kateryna Lagno put up a valiant effort with 8.5 points, it was Vaishali who emerged as the clear winner. The remaining six qualifiers also put on a strong performance, each scoring 8 points. Sadly, despite meeting the points criteria, Humpy was unable to advance due to a poor tiebreaker, placing ninth overall.
In the open section, ten players, including world number one Magnus Carlsen, tied for first place. Despite drawing in six of his 13 games, Carlsen was still among the top contenders at the end of the qualifiers. Ultimately, Russian player Ian Nepomniachtchi secured the top spot with 9.5 points and a better tiebreaker, followed by Fabiano Caruana of the United States and Carlsen in third place.
It was a surprising turn of events for the Indian players, as none of them made it to the top eight despite some early promising performances. Erigaisi Arjun started off strong with five consecutive wins, but ultimately finished with a disappointing seven points. R Praggnanandhaa was the best-performing Indian player with 8.5 points, but a loss in the final round to Russian player Daniil Dubov cost him a spot in the quarterfinals.
In the upcoming quarterfinals, Vaishali will face off against Chinese Grandmaster Zhu Jiner. Her back-to-back victories against Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia and Valentina Gunina of Russia in rounds 7 and 8 gave her the necessary edge to secure the top spot in the event.
In the open standings, R Praggnanandhaa placed 23rd, followed by Raunak Sadhwani at 46th, Arjun Erigaisi at 64th, Aravindh Chithambaram at 68th, and V Pranav at 67th. Among the women, R Vaishali was at the top with a ranking of 1, followed by K Humpy at 9th, Divya Deshmukh at 18th, Vantika Agarwal at 19th, and D Harika at 22nd.
The final standings for the qualifiers were: Open - 1st to 8th place: Ian Nepomniachtchi, Volodar Murzin, Fabiano Caruana, Hans Niemann Moke, Wesley So, Magnus Carlsen, Duda Jan-Kryzsztof, and Alireza Firoujza. Women - 1st to 8th place: R Vaishali, Lei Tingjie, Wenjun Ju, Zhu Jiner, Kateryna Lagno, Valentina Gunina, Carissa Yip, and Bibisara Assaubayeva.
It was an intense and highly competitive event, filled with unexpected twists and turns. Congratulations to all the players for their incredible performances, and best of luck to Vaishali in the upcoming quarterfinals.
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