Vidit, Adhiban, Gukesh and Arjun in elite field

With one-fourth of the 16-player field comprising Indians, the Goldmoney Asian Rapid online chess tournament promises to trigger unprecedented interest amongst the country’s chess lovers when action commences on Saturday.

Vidit Gujrathi, B. Adhiban, D. Gukesh and Arjun Erigaisi will also be trying to break the ‘hoodoo’ and enter the quarterfinals of this elite competition.

Meanwhile, World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen will be eyeing a third straight title in the $1.5 million Champions Chess Tour. The maiden presence of four-time women’s World champion HouYifan, currently the top-ranked female player, has added to the interest.

Eighth seed Vidit faces Anish Giri (Nederlands), Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Poland), Daniil Dubov, Vladilslav Artemiev (both Russia) and Adhiban on the first day. Interestingly, Adhiban plays the other three Indians on the opening day after taking on Levon Aronian (Armenia) and Ding Liren (China).

Gukesh, the youngest in the field, plays Arjun and Vidit in the first two rounds on Saturday, when Arjun is due to face Vidit in the eighth round.

The preliminary stage involves a three-day round-robin league after which the top-eight players advance to the knockout stage. The rapid time-control is 15 minutes for each player plus a 10-second increment for every move made.

The players: Magnus Carlsen (Nor), Ding Liren (Chn), Levon Aronian (Arm), Anish Giri (Ned), Wesley So (USA), Alireza Firouzja (FIDE), Jan-Krzysztof Duda (Pol), Vidit Gujrathi, Daniil Dubov (Rus), Peter Svidler (Rus), Vladislav Artemiev (Rus), Salem Saleh (UAE), B. Adhiban, Hou Yifan (Chn), D. Gukesh, and Arjun Erigaisi.