India win 3 gold, 1 bronze in World Cadets and Youth Rapid Chess C'ships

India’s junior Grandmasters (GM) Nihal Sarin, D Gukesh and Women International Master (WIM) Rakshitta Ravi clinched a gold medal each in the Fide Online World Cadets and Youth Rapid chess championships on Tuesday.

The young Gukesh registered a thrilling triumph in an Armageddon decider against Russian IM Murzin Volodar. Both Gukesh and his Russian rival Volodar failed to utilize their opening advantage with the white pieces to play out a draw each in the two regular rounds. In the armageddon match, Gukesh registered a 62-move triumph to claim the third yellow metal for the Country.

Nihal and Rakshitta won convincingly 1.5-0.5 over Armenian GM Sargsyan Shant and Chinese WIM Song Yuxin, respectively. After playing out a first-round draw in the summit clash, both Nihal and Rakshitta won in the second essay. Unseeded Mrinmoy Rajkhowa pocketed a bronze medal in the U-10 Open group.

In the first round of U-18 Open section final, Nihal defended well with his black pieces to split the points in 46 moves before living up to his billing to beat the fourth seed Shant while utilizing the opening advantage with the whites. Nihal took 58 moves to win the second round and claim yet another world crown.

Seeded No. 6 Rakshitta held Chinese fourth-seed Song in a 39-move opening round while defending with black pieces. In the second round, Rakshitta started with the regular King pawn opening and utilized advantage with the white pieces well. After winning an extra piece in the mid-game, Rakshitta laid a trap to register a facile 35-move win.

In an exciting U-14 summit clash, both Gukesh and his Russian rival Volodar failed to utilize their opening advantage with the white pieces to play out a draw each in the two regular rounds. To decide the winner, the tie-breaking Armageddon game was played where Gukesh chose white. In a thrilling decider, Gukesh carved out a clinical 62-move triumph to claim the third yellow metal for the Country. “I am happy to win my second world title. The format was interesting and tense with knockouts by mini-matches. Glad that I kept my nerves intact and finished on top,” Gukesh said.

In the U-10 Open group, unseeded Mrinmoy Rajkhowa scored an upset win over higher-ranked American Woodward Andy. Both Mrinmoy and Woodward registered a victory each with their white pieces and enforced the deciding clash.

In the Armageddon decider, Mrinmoy took 57 moves to surprise his American opponent and clinch his first world medal, a bronze.

In a tweet, the World Chess Federation (Fide) said "that the confirmed results will be available tomorrow after all the anti-cheating controls."