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Home  » Sports » Shorts: Harikrishna slips to 10th spot at Champions Chess

Shorts: Harikrishna slips to 10th spot at Champions Chess

December 28, 2020 20:11 IST
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P Harikrishna went down in round five to Dutch GM Anish Giri and then shared honours in the other three matches on Sunday night.

IMAGE: P Harikrishna went down in round five to Dutch GM Anish Giri and then shared honours in the other three matches on Sunday night. Photograph: Tata Steel Chess India/Twitter

Indian Grandmaster P Harikrishna slipped to 10th spot after managing just one win and three draws on day two of the Champions Chess Tour Airthings Masters online chess championship.

World champion Magnus Carlsen bounced back to the top.

Harikrishna, who had drawn all his four games on the opening day Saturday, went down in round five to Dutch GM Anish Giri and then shared honours in the other three matches on Sunday night.

 

He drew with Alexander Grischuk and Hikaru Nakamura. In the final round of the day, Harikrishna had a chance to push for a win against Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi but settled for a draw.

The India number two now has 3.5 points and has three more games to attempt to finish in the top eight and qualify for the knockout phase.

Harikrishna has matches against Lev Aronian, Wesely So and Teimour Radjabov.

World number one Carlsen who was held to draws in all four games on day one, bounced back with a victory over Daniil Dubov in round five. He then drew the other three games (against David Anton Guijjaro, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Anish Giri) to join the leaders.

Six players -- Dubov, Nakamura, Aronian, Carlsen, Radjabov and So -- share the lead with 4.5 points after eight rounds.

The top eight from the preliminary rounds qualify for the quarterfinals.

The 12-player tournament runs until January 3 and has a prize fund of USD 200,000 with the winner picking up US$60,000.

In the preliminary stage, the players play each other once over 11 rounds at rapid chess, before the top 8 players go forward to the knockout.

In the knockout stage, each match would be played over two days, with four rapid games each day. If the match score is 1:1 after the second day the players switch to two 5+3 blitz games followed, if needed, by Armageddon (sudden death tie-break).

New AIBA chief Kremlev eyes six-month reform programme

Umar Kremlev, the new president of the International Boxing Association (AIBA), plans to implement reforms over the next six months that could help restore its status with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), he told Reuters in an interview.

Elected to head amateur boxing's governing body earlier this month, Kremlev has the task of implementing sweeping reforms in order for it to be recognised by the IOC in time for the Paris Olympics in 2024.

The IOC suspended AIBA last year, stripping it of any involvement in Olympic qualifiers and the tournament at the Tokyo Games over a string of governance, finance and ethical issues.

"I have planned that it would take around six or seven months to implement the reforms," said Kremlev, who also serves as secretary general of the Russian Boxing Federation.

"It's an ambitious plan. This will not be easy to do."

Kremlev, named chairman of the AIBA Marketing Commission last year, has pledged to attract $50 million over the next two years to rebuild AIBA.

He said he was holding talks with international companies -- the names of which he would not disclose -- to secure potential advertisement and sponsorship deals.

"I think we will soon announce our sponsors and make the signing of any deals public," he said.

The IOC has said the status of AIBA would be reviewed after the 2020 Tokyo Games, which were postponed to next year because of the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Kremlev said he also hoped to bring transparency to the organisation before the 2024 Olympics.

"The AIBA we see now has debts and practically no interaction with the federations," he said.

"By the 2024 Olympic Games, you will see an independent AIBA able to attract funds ... and help national federations hold tournaments. By 2024 we need to make AIBA the cleanest organisation, make it transparent for it to shine."

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