Indian teenage grandmasters Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa advanced to the quarter-finals after finishing second and fourth respectively in the preliminary round of the Julius Baer Generation Cup online rapid chess tournament early on Thursday.
While world champion Magnus Carlsen finished with 34 points, well ahead of second-placed Erigaisi, who had 25 points, American Hans Niemann took third place with 24 points.
Praggnanandhaa, who got off to a strong start with three wins on Day 1, finished with 23 points. His tally included five wins, eight draws and two losses. Carlsen was in prodigious form, winning his last five games including three on the final day of the prelims to finish with 10 wins. His only loss was to Niemann, against whom he quit after making a single move.
Erigaisi, 19, had a bad final day, losing to Vincent Keymer (Germany) and Dutch GM Anish Giri after starting with a draw against Radoslaw Wojtaszek of Poland.
But despite an unforgettable day, the Indian GM managed to finish second. He scored seven wins, four draws and four losses.
Praggnanandhaa, 17, started the day with a loss to American Levon Aronian before settling for a draw against Giri. His victory over the Croatian Ivan Saric in the 15th and final lap allowed him to finish a point behind Niemann on the 23rd with Keymer.
Baskaran Adhiban, the third Indian in the tournament, finished 16th and last with a solitary win to go with seven draws and an equal number of losses. He got 10 points.
The quarter-finals should be played on Thursday evening. The Julius Baer Generation Cup is part of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour and features 16 players across three generations and takes place in a round-robin-cum-knockout format.
(This story has not been edited by the Devdiscourse team and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)