US chess grandmaster Timur Gareyev misses car, forced to give walkover - Hindustan Times
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US chess grandmaster Timur Gareyev misses car, forced to give walkover

New Delhi | By
Jan 10, 2018 09:11 PM IST

Timur Gareyev, the US grandmaster of Uzbekistan origin, was forced to give a walkover, but still ended a victor.

Delhi’s peak hour traffic snarls bring the plans of hundreds of people to a standstill daily, and it was the turn of a chess grandmaster to be check-mated on Wednesday.

US chess grandmaster Timur Gareyev (L - standing) won the unofficial match he played after the walkover.(Getty images file photo)
US chess grandmaster Timur Gareyev (L - standing) won the unofficial match he played after the walkover.(Getty images file photo)

GM Timur Gareyev, a 29-year-old US player of Uzbekistan origin, chose the morning of his second round in the Delhi GM Open 2018 against 14-year-old Koustav Chatterjee to shift his hotel room.

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The result? Gareyev missed the official car that ferries players to the competition hall. The fourth seed with an elo rating of 2605 was hot favourite against young Chatterjee, with a modest rating of 2288.

Gareyev rushed to the venue, but had overshot the 30-minute walkover deadline by three minutes, and chief arbiter Vasanth BH awarded the point to Chatterjee.

However, Chatterjee wasn’t really thrilled with getting a full point for free. Playing an opponent with 2600-plus rating would have boosted his average in his bid to get a GM or IM norm.

Although, the walkover stood, the chief arbiter allowed Gareyev and Chatterjee to still play an ‘unofficial’ game. The US player won a keenly fought game, but the Indian player won’t benefit from playing a GM.

Gareyev explained his delay: “I was in the process of changing rooms in my hotel and hence was delayed. The kid played a nice game. It was probably drawish but he blundered in the end and lost.”

Top-seed GM Arkadij Naiditsch representing Azerbaijan, with an elo rating of 2701, was among the favourite players to win – he defeated Egypt’s Adham Kandil. Indian GM Abhijeet Gupta, the third-seed defeated Ankit Gajwa.

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