Carlsen bounces back with win to stay in title hunt

World No 1 Magnus Carlsen bounced back from his defeat in the second round as he outplayed India’s Muthaiah A L at the Qatar Masters Open Chess Championship on Friday.
The Norwegian, who had confessed he was “completely crushed” by 327-point-lower-rated Alisher Suleymenov of Kazakhstan, was back in form in the third round. He had blamed his failure to concentrate on his opponent wearing a watch in contravention of the usual anti-cheating rules. On Friday, the players were banned from wearing watches at the Lusail Multipurpose Hall and Carlsen, a winner of Qatar Masters in its previous edition held in 2015, was back to his best. The 2839-elo rated star, wrapped up his win after 53 moves playing with white pieces against Muthaiah, who has 2470 rating points.
Meanwhile, American Hikaru Nakamura, ranked third in the world, drew with Uzbek Shamsiddin Vokhidov, ranked 28th in the tournament. The result dropped Nakamura to sixth place in the tournament’s points table.
Nakamura said that it was still early to predict the tournament’s winner, with six rounds remaining. “My main goal is to participate and winning the title is a top priority for me,” Nakamura said. Nakamura also shared his delight in participating in the tournament, his second time in Qatar after the 2016 World Championship.
Meanwhile, World No 7 GM Anish Giri also played out a draw against his 17-year-old Indian opponent Aditya Mittal, ranked 30th. Mittal managed to create slight pressure with the black pieces, both in the clock and the position. But Giri held solid to draw the game.
GMs S L Narayanan and Arjun Erigaisi are the only two Indians with a perfect 3/3 points. Narayanan won a very nice game with the white pieces against ‘Carlsen slayer’ Suleymenov, while Erigaisi took down GM Vugar Rasulov with the black pieces. Erigaisi, expressed his satisfaction with his performance, and said he is hoping to continue his winning streak in the upcoming six rounds.
The 17-year old Javokhir Sindarov of Uzbekistan also has a perfect score in the tournament after he defeated US GM Gregory Kaidanov for his third win. Kazakh Rinat Jomabiev also secured his third point by defeating German Robert Baskin, ranked 72nd to jump to the fourth spot in the points table. Dutchman Robby Kevlishvili, who beat Khazakh Jakhongir Vakhidov in another contest between GMs, completed the top five at the conclusion of three rounds. Nakamura is sixth, while the five-time world champion Carlsen is down at 21st spot following Thursday’s stunning loss.
Qatar’s sole competitor in the main event, International Master Husain Aziz, on Friday achieved his first victory in the tournament by defeating India’s Aayush Bhattacherjee, ranked 77th in the tournament.
Meanwhile, in the Qatar Masters B Championship, 14-year-old Erfan Mohamad Firdaus of Qatar clinched his first win on Friday. He defeated India’s Nikhilesh Karthick. Qatar’s Fahad al-Mansouri (beat Kuwait’s Nasser al-Subaie), Kholoud al-Khelaifi (beat compatriot Ahmed Ali al-Khanji), Layan al-Qassabi (beat Qatar’s Asma al-Hammadi) and Hamad al-Kuwari (beat India’s Sendhil Parmesh) were also among the winners on Day 3.