Chess
Prague Chess: Aravindh takes a sole lead; Overtakes Anand in FIDE Ratings
Aravindh Chithambaram secured a notable victory against Anish Giri, propelling him to the highest world ranking of his career.
Aravindh Chithambaram in action during a chess tournament.
Indian Grandmaster Aravindh Chithambaram continued his scintillating form at the Prague International Chess Festival. He got the better of the Dutch GM Anish Giri to take a sole lead in Czechia on Wednesday.
Aravindh, with this brilliant win, overtaken the veteran Indian GM Viswanathan Anand in the live FIDE Ratings to enter in the top 15 in the world rankings. He is currently ranked 14th in the world.
He is also now India's no. 4 in classical ratings, having his career best rating of 2745.1 after the seven rounds of Prague Masters, gaining a massive 14.1 rating points from the tournament so far.
Playing with black pieces, Aravindh showed a brilliant attacking game to overcome the challenge of Anish, who made a couple of mistakes in the middle game.
Aravindh registered an important win in just 39 moves to take a sole lead in the competition, overtaking compatriot Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, who played a marathon 61-move draw against Wei Yi of China.
After round 7, Aravindh is on the top of the ladder with 5/8 points, while R Praggnanandhaa, half a point behind the leader, dropped to the second position but still has a 1-point gap from the chasing pack.
Pragg, aiming to catch Aravindh on the top, will be trying for a win in the next round against Liem Le of Vietnam, while Aravindh, hoping to maintain his lead, will be up against David Navara of Czechia.
