Chess: Carlsen crushes Praggnanandhaa; Erigaisi wins

Teenaged Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi scored a fine win over speed game specialist Quang Liem Le but his compatriot Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa was outplayed by World No 1 Magnus Carlsen in the penultimate round of the Meltwater Champions Tour Finals in San Francisco, on Sunday.

Erigaisi moved up to fourth place with the 2.5-0.5 win over his Vietnamese opponent while Praggnanandhaa slipped to seventh after the sixth round.

Meanwhile, Carlsen with the 2.5-0.5 demolition of the 17-year old Indian GM, won the Tour Finals with a round to spare. The Norwegian superstar has 17 points and is five points clear of the rest of the field.

American Wesley So outclassed Polish GM Jan-Krzyszstof Duda 3-0 to rise to second in the standings with 12 points. Erigaisi has nine points.

In the day's other match, Azerbaijan's Shakhriyar Mamedyarov beat Anish Giri of the Netherlands 2.5-0.5.

Mamedyarov and Giri are in sixth and eighth spots respectively.

It has been some comeback from Erigaisi, who suffered defeats in the first three rounds and has since won three straight matches.

In his match against Liem Le, the 19-year old Erigaisi won the first game with black pieces in 66 moves and then took the next in 46 moves. The third game was a 24-move draw and it was enough for the Indian to wrap up the match.

Carlsen, who has been dominant in the event, won the opening game in 55 moves with black pieces to take the lead. The next game was a 74-move affair with the world champion coming out on top. The third was a draw and enabled the Norwegian to win the match 2.5-0.5 to maintain his unbeaten run.

In the final round on Monday, Erigaisi and Praggnanandhaa take on each other.

Eight players qualified for the Finals after a series of events in the Meltwater Champions Tour. The total prize fund for the Tour finals is USD 210,000. Each win in the round-robin earns the player USD 7,500.

The winner is the player with the most wins and maximum prize money.