Indian Grandmasters Arjun Erigaisi and R. Praggnanandhaa advanced to the quarterfinals of the Julius Baer Generation Cup online rapid chess tournament after finishing second and fourth, respectively, in the preliminary phase on Thursday.
Arjun finished with 25 points to qualify for the knockout stages, while his compatriot Praggnanandhaa ended with 23 in the prelims rounds to cruise ahead in the tournament. World Champion Magnus Carlsen finished with 34 points, and American Hans Niemann took third place with 24 points.
After cruising along well in the tournament, Erigaisi did not have a great day in the office and, after a draw in the opening game against Radoslaw Wojtaszek of Poland, he went down to Vincent Keymer of Germany and Dutch GM Anish Giri. He ended the preliminary stages with seven wins, four draws, and as many losses.
The 17-year old Praggnanandhaa also did not have the best of starts and lost to the USA’s Levon Aronian before earning a draw against Giri. He needed a win in the final round to stay afloat in the tournament. He maintained his calm to beat Croatia’s Ivan Saric and stay afloat in the tournament.
The quarter-finals are scheduled to be played late on Thursday.
The Julius Baer Generation Cup is a part of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour and features 16 players spanning three generations and is being held in a round-robin-cum-knockout format.