Breathing down Anand’s neck: Harikrishna’s chance to emerge highest-rated Indian
By R Srinivasa Raghavan Published: 24th May 2016 05:27 AM
CHENNAI: Pentala Harikrishna has been closing in on Viswanathan Anand’s rating for a while now. Just seven points separate him (2763) and Anand (2770) in Elo ratings with the India No 2 at 13th and the five-time world champion occupying the 11th spot in world rankings.
Harikrishna, who is taking part in the Gashimov Memorial, which gets underway in Azerbaijan on Thursday, has a realistic chance of becoming India No 1 if he strikes a purple patch in the nine-round, round-robin tournament.
The strong event has also attracted World No 2 and reigning US champion Fabiano Caruana, Candidates winner Sergei Karjakin, World No 4 Anish Giri, Ukraine No 1 Pavel Eljanov and Azerbaijan’s top two players, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Teimour Radjabov. Hou Yifan, who recently regained her women’s world title, will be looking to make an impact. Harikrishna’s performance in the Norway Chess (4.5/9), which included impressive wins over Giri and Li Chao, should spur the Indian to perform better. Importantly, he showed he could hold his own against world’s best.
“I looked at my opponents’ games and revised my openings,” said Harikrishna, when queried about his preparation for Gashimov Memorial. Asked how excited he is to compete with the likes of Caruana and Karjakin, he said, “I have played them a couple of times. All the players in Shamkir are interesting. I am looking forward to playing well.”
Harikrishna was also involved in an online three-hour blitz match with Hikaru Nakamura, where he fought well in the first two time controls (5 mins + 2 secs, 3 mins + 2 secs) but was outwitted in the fastest time control (1 min + 1 sec) as he lost in the quarterfinals 9-16. “It was fun. I was doing fine until the bullet section where I was very slow,” Harikrishna summed up the blitz experience.
Fresh from victory in the USA Championship, Caruana will start as favourite. He will face a stiff challenge from Karjakin, Giri and Mamedyarov. Karjakin struggled in the Russian Club Championship but will be hoping to make amends and fight for the title. Giri made a below-par score in Stavanger. Bouncing back strongly should be the Dutch No 1’s priority. If local favourite Mamedyarov strikes form, he will be a contender for the top spot.
Participants: Fabiano Caruana (USA), Anish Giri (Ned), Sergey Karjakin (Rus), Pavel Eljanov (Ukr), Pentala Harikrishna (Ind), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Aze), Teimour Radjabov (Aze), Eltaj Safarli (Aze), Hou Yifan (Chn), Rauf Mamedov (Aze).
Source: http://www.newindianexpress.com
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