Nihal Sarin stuns Jorge Cori in World Cup chess

Teen sensation Nihal Sarin pulled off a clinical win against Jorge Cori in 57 moves to take a 1-0 lead in the two-game Round One of the World Cup chess championship here on Tuesday.

P. Hari Krishna and B Adhiban were the other winners and need only a draw on Wednesday to move into the second round.

Vidit Gujrathi, M. Karthikeyan, Abhjeet Gupta and Aravindh Chithambaram were involved in drawn encounters. However, Surya Shekhar Ganguly, S. L. Narayanan and S. P Sethuraman lost their games.

Nihal, at 15, the youngest member of the Indian contingent, punished Cori for a series of sub-optimal moves after the Peruvian handed over the initiative on the 18th move. Leading to the 40th move, both players could not filter out the best available options but Nihal reinforced his grip. Eventually, Cori resigned when Nihal threatened to trade his rook for a bishop and polish off the queen-side pawns.

“I am pleased with how things went and also happy with the quality of the game. Will try to repeat that tomorrow,” said Nihal after the victory.

The Results

Round One - Game One:

Yuri Gonzalez Vidal (Cuba, 2552) lost to P. Hari Krishna (2746);

Vladimir Fedoseev (Russia, 2664) bt Surya Shekhar Ganguly (2658);

M. Karthikeyan (2617) drew with Ernesto Inarkiev (Russia, 2693);

Aravindh Chithambaram (2609) drew with Michael Adams (England, 2694);

David Anton Guijarro (Spain, 2674) bt S. L. Narayanan (2611);

Eduardo Iturrizaga Bonelli (Venezuela, 2626) lost to B. Adhiban (2639);

Alan Pichot (Argentina, 2600) drew with Vidit Gujarathi (2718);

Abhijeet Gupta (2609) drew with Anton Korobov (Ukraine, 2679);

Nihal Sarin (2610) bt Jorge Cori (Peru, 2676);

S. P. Sethuraman (2624) lost to Tamir Nabaty (Israel, 2658).