Julius Baer Generation Cup: India's Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa sail to quarterfinals

Teend Indian Grandmasters Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa moved to quarterfinals after finishing second and fourth respectively in preliminary phase of Julius Baer Generation Cup online rapid chess tournament early on Thursday.

While World Champion Magnus Carlsen finished with 34 points, way ahe of second-placed Erigaisi, who h 25 points, American Hans Niemann took third spot with 24 points.

Praggnanandhaa, who me a strong start with three victories on day 1, ended up with 23 points. His tally included five wins, eight draws and two defeats.

Carlsen was in stupendous form, winning his last five games including three on final day of preliminaries to end with 10 victories.

His only loss was to Niemann, against whom he resigned after making only one move.

19-year-old Erigaisi endured a poor final day, losing to Vincent Keymer (Germany) and Dutch GM Anish Giri after beginning with a draw against Roslaw Wojtaszek of Poland.

But despite a forgettable day, Indian GM mand to finish second. He scored seven wins along with four draws and four losses.

17-year old Praggnanandhaa, on or hand, started day with a defeat at hands of USA's Levon Aronian before settling for a draw against Giri. His win over Croatia's Ivan Saric in 15th and final round enabled him to finish a point behind Niemann on 23 along with Keymer.

Baskaran hiban, third Indian in tournament, finished 16th and last with a solitary win to go with seven draws and an equal number of losses. He secured 10 points.

quarterfinals are scheduled to be played late on Thursday.

Julius Baer Generation Cup is a part of Meltwater Champions Chess Tour and features 16 players spanning three generations and is being held in a round-robin-cum-kckout format.