India continues to produce a talented bunch of youngsters in the game of chess, which is soon gaining traction in the country again following Vishwanathan Anand’s meteoric rise in the sport.
17-year-old Chess International Master N R Vignesh is yet another glorious addition to this ever growing list of talents.At the ongoing Qatar Masters Tournament, billed as Asia’s strongest and most difficult, N R Vignesh has been the cynosure of all eyes following a strong start to the tournament. As a result of his impressive performance so far, the youngster is now at joint second amongst a big list of 148 other players, with a score of 3 out of 4.The International Master, who has a FIDE Rating of 2422, has played 4 Grandmasters (GMs) in the 4 rounds so far, and remarkably, has not conceeded defeat in any of them. In fact, he has managed to beat two strong GMs, who are rated 200 and 300 ELO points above him respectively.In his first round, he drew as white with Vietnamese GM NTS Nguyen, who is rated 2642, starting with the Ruy-Lopez opening. In the second round, playing black, he once again forced his opponent, American prodigy Samuel Shankland, to a draw. Shankland is rated 2646 on FIDE.In Vignesh’s third game, playing white, he defeated Polish GM Mateusz Bartel, who is rated nearly 200 ELO points above the Indian. The match, which witnessed the Reti opening, saw Bartel surrender on move 54, thanks to some solid positional play by the 17-year old.The fourth round saw his best performance of the tournament so far, as he stunned 16-year old Chinese GM Yi Wei, who is rated 308 ELO points above him, in another Ruy-Lopez opening.
It meant that he maintained his undefeated streak, and is nicely placed in the joint-second position in the tournament, alongside 11 other top players, and the top Indian in the list.If he is able to consistently outdo himself with strong performances, it won’t be long before Vignesh upsets other top ranked GMs and consolidates his position in the Qatar Masters Chess tournament. With the GM norm on sight, his performances – both draws and wins, will immensely benefit his ELO ratings, and might soon cross the golden barrier of 2500.
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