D. Gukesh managed to draw with Levon Aronian in the first round of the Chennai Grandmasters chess championship at The Leela Palace hotel here on Friday.
Aronian, who played with white, said he was disappointed with the result and that he felt jetlagged during the match.
“I remembered that I had planned something but during the game I mixed up some moves. I think I decided to play the safest way at some point. My opening choice was very bad. I was playing white and I had to look for my chances.
“The tournament is so tough. Everybody is going to try and win, so you have to push with white,” said Aronian.
Iran’s Parham Maghsoodloo, who’s ahead of all the other participants in terms of the rating points, lost to Ukrainian Pavel Eljanov.
P. Harikrishna, who beat Arjun Erigaisi, had a word of appreciation for his opponent. “I think Arjun defended really well to create chances.”
Hungary’s Sanan Sjugirov, who drew with Serbia’s Alexandr Predke, felt it was a tough game.
“It was a tough game. I think Alexandr outplayed me a little bit after his opening. My preparation was not so good. In the end game, I had this feeling that maybe I had some chances, but I was also in some trouble, and I couldn’t find anything. Maybe, it’s just a tougher game.”
The results (first round):
P. Harikrishna bt Arjun Erigaisi; Parham Maghsoodloo (Irn) lost to Pavel Eljanov (Ukr); Levon Aronian (USA) drew with D. Gukesh5; Sanan Sjugirov (Hun) drew with Alexandr Predke (Srb).
