Tata Steel Chess: Nihal Sarin holds firm, pips Viswanathan Anand for title

KOLKATA: Nihal Sarin tried hard to control his emotions at the post-match press conference. Sharing the lead with Viswanathan Anand at the end of Day II on Thursday, the youngster got the news of the passing away of his grandfather last night. “It was he (grandfather AA Ummar) who had introduced me to chess and has been a great support all through my career,” Nihal said with a heavy heart.Nihal was not on the initial players’ list here for the Tata Steel India Rapid event, but got a late entry after D Gukesh pulled out of the event. He grabbed the opportunity with both hands and dedicated the win to his grandfather.It went all the way down to the wire when Nihal met his teacher Anand in the ninth and last round of the event. While the 21-year-old Kerala boy needed a draw, Anand had to beat him to claim the title.However, Nihal managed to hold fort to be crowned champion with 6.5 points, his second such title after his success here in 2022. Five-time World champion Anand, returning to the board in India after six years, ended half-a-point behind while Arjun Erigaisi (5) completed the podium.“I just tried to keep my nerves in the last round,” Nihal said. Anand too preferred not to take any big risks and soon they shook hands.Russia’s Katernya Lagno clinched the women’s title with a round to spare, finishing with 6.5 points and 1.5 points ahead of Aleksandra Goryachkina, who had won the title last year.Arjun made amends for his poor first day show with a win and draw on Friday to end with five points along with Americans Wesley So and Hans Niemann.Aravindh Chithambaram failed to score a single win managing only 1.5 points, Rakshitta Ravi, in spite of making a good start, fizzled out to end with just 3.5 points.