Julius Baer Cup: World No.1 Magnus Carlsen beats Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi in final

Source: Twitter

Teenaged Indian Grandmaster Arjun Erigaisi went down against world no.1 Magnus Carlsen in the final of the Julius Baer Generation Cup online rapid chess tournament, losing the second match 0-2.

Having won the first match, the Norwegian had the advantage and he won the first two games of the second match to close out the finale early on Monday. Having won the first match, comprising four games, 2.5-0.5, Carlsen needed to only draw the second to take the top prize. He won two games of the second match and shut out Erigaisi.

The final was a two-match affair with each match consisting of four games. If the players had won a match each, a blitz tie-break would have been required to decide the winner.
Requiring to win the second match to have a chance to push the final to a tie-break, the 19-year old Indian player found himself in trouble against the world no.1 in red-hot form. Erigaisi resigned on move 48 and slipped into further trouble.

The second game was over in 52 moves as Carlsen dashed the Indian GM's hopes. Carlsen had been unstoppable in the preliminary phase and lost just one game, resigning after just two moves against Hans Niemann and subsequently dropping a game to Lev Aronian in the quarterfinals.

Carlsen's performance makes him the first player to hit the historic 2900 Tour Rating mark. Erigaisi, with a fine performance in the Julius Baer Cup, part of the Meltwater Chess Tour, has qualified for the eight-player tour final in San Francisco later this year.