Nodirbek wins title, Gukesh finishes joint 8th

Wijk Aan Zee (The Netherlands):Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan clinched the Tata Steel Masters title with a black-piece victory against out-of-form Arjun Erigaisi while world chess champion D Gukesh emerged as the best Indian with a joint eighth finish as the tournament concluded here on Monday.

Gukesh drew with Vincent Keymer of Germany in the final round to end as the top performing Indian on 6.5 points. But, his fifty per cent score was below par and the Indian ace slipped below the 2750 rating mark.

R Praggnanadhaa also drew the last round with Jorden van Foreest of the Netherlands to end on 5.5 points and there are some lessons to be learnt for the Indian if the performance here is any indication ahead of the Candidates tournament.

Erigaisi had the biggest deficit in terms of rating as he lost a whopping 29 points to find himself out of top 10 in world rankings in a while.

In fact, Gukesh is the only Indian player ranked at number 10 on the live rating list and much to the surprise of the chess buffs, there is no Indian above 2750 ratings. Nodirbek scored a commendable nine points out of 13 games while his junior compatriot and World Cup winner Javokhir Sindarov made it an Uzbek domination by finishing second a half point behind.

Results Final round (Indians unless specified): R Praggnanandhaa (5.5) drew with Jorden van Foreeest (Ned, 7.5); Arjun Erigaisi (4.5) lost to Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 9); Vladimir Fedoseev (Slo, 6.5) beat Aravindh Chithambaram (4.5); Thai Dai Van Nguyen (Cze 3) lost to Javokhir Sindarov (Uzb, 8.5); D Gukesh (6.5) drew with Vincent Keymer (Ger, 7.5); Matthias Bluebaum (Ger, 7) drew with Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus (Tur, 7); Anish Giri (Ned, 6.5) drew with Hans Moke Niemann (Usa, 7.5).