Indian GM Arjun Erigaisi has won Division III of CrunchLabs Masters 2024 played online. He won this event by beating Evgeny Alekseev of Russia with a score of 2-5-0.5, with a game to spare.
The world number four eased past Evgeny by not losing a single game in the Grand Final. Arjun executed a clever combination of trading a knight for three pawns. The resulting position proved so difficult for Alekseev to counter that he ran out of time, despite the engine indicating that the position was still close to equal.
Arjun made a remarkable comeback after facing a series of setbacks in the early stages of the tournament. He missed out on Division I by losing the final two rounds despite having a strong start with 5.5/7 in the Play-in. His fortunes didn’t improve in Division Play either when he was defeated 2-0 by his compatriot GM Abhimanyu Puranik, preventing him from advancing to Division II.
However, Arjun returned to his winning ways, dominating Division III including the finals without losing a single match. He defeated Benjamin Bok 2.5-0.5, beat David Paravyan 2.5-1.5, and overcame Daniil Dubov 2.5-1.5. With his victory, he has earned $7500, 30 tour points, and a spot in Round 2 of the Division I event.
Arjun Erigaisi does a fine job at the Division III of the CrunchLabs Masters 2024 of the Champions Chess Tour. He won the event by beating Evgeny Alekseev with a score of 2.5-0.5. The event is played online on https://t.co/vMRJZJo2fL
Arjun showed why he is considered one of the… pic.twitter.com/T166dHPYZv
— ChessBase India (@ChessbaseIndia) July 24, 2024
Vidit Gujarati falls short in Division II final
GM Vidit Gujarati lost to Alexander Grischuk of Russia by 2-3 in Division II of the CrunchLabs Masters 2024. Although Vidit had earlier defeated Grischuk in the tournament, he was unable to capitalize on his early lead. However, not all is over for Vidit in the tournament as he earns $10,000, 40 tour points, and a spot in Division I Placement Round 2 of the next event.