India's R. Praggnanandhaa clinched yet another victory against world number one Magnus Carlsen of Norway and maintained his position in the Superbet rapid and blitz chess tournament which is part of the Grand Chess Tour. With nine rounds remaining in the blitz event, Wei Yi has amassed 20.5 points with seven wins on the first day. His stunning performance indicates he is on track to secure victory in the first leg of the Grand Chess Tour.
I think my nervous system just collapsed: Carlsen
Carlsen trails behind with 18 points due to his losses to Praggnanandhaa. However, Praggnanandhaa, who is far behind the leaders with 14.5 points, has made his mark by defeating the world number one in rapid chess. After his loss, Carlsen said he experienced a collapse in his nervous system after losing to Praggnanandhaa in the second round. Despite a commendable result of six points out of nine, his loss to Abdusattorov further affected his performance.
“I just didn’t have it today. I felt good from the start, but then I think my nervous system just collapsed during or after the game against Pragg, and after that I just sucked, honestly. The score was still half-decent, but obviously if Wei Yi continues to win then it doesn’t matter,” Carlsen said in the post-match presentation.
Meanwhile, Arjun Erigaisi occupies the fourth position with 14 points, followed closely by Duda Jan-Krzysztof of Poland with 13 points. Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan holds the sixth spot with 12.5 points, while Vincent Keymer of Germany trails behind him. Kirill Shevchenko of Romania currently holds the eighth position with 11 points.
Tough day for Gukesh
Anish Giri of Holland has improved slightly to ninth place with 10.5 points. However, D. Gukesh, the world championship challenger, faces challenges and is at the bottom of the leaderboard with 9.5 points in the USD 1,75,000 prize money tournament.
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Wei Yi, despite starting the day with a loss against Gukesh, quickly recovered and conceded only a draw to Carlsen while securing victories in the rest of his seven games.
Arjun Erigaisi managed to stay competitive for a podium finish with wins over Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh, despite losses to Wei Yi and Carlsen. He scored five wins and two draws in his other games and remains optimistic for the final day of the event.
In the final results for the rapid section, Wei Yi leads with 20.5 points, followed by Magnus Carlsen with 18 points and R. Praggnanandhaa with 14.5 points.
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