R Praggnanandhaa's victory over compatriot Arjun Erigaisi in the third round of the Tata Steel Masters at Wijk aan Zee in the Netherlands early Tuesday morning was unique in the manner in which it ended.

Praggnanandhaa checkmated India No. 1 Erigaisi in the 60th move. The ending was strange, considering checkmates rarely happen in the top level of classical chess unless the players are involved in a time scramble.

Arjun Erigaisi. File photo: AFP
Arjun Erigaisi. File photo: AFP
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Checkmates are common in blitz and rapid events where players must move faster. World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen was checkmated by Hans Niemann in their quarterfinal clash in the recent World Blitz Chess Championship in New York. Carlsen managed to recover and win their mini-match 2.5-1.5 and went on to famously share first place with Ian Nepomniachtchi.

However, both players had sufficient time in the game between Pragg and Erigaisi. In fact, Erigaisi had more than 35 minutes left on the clock when a rook check left his King with no escape.

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Usually, in classical chess, where the time control is more than an hour (it is 100 minutes per player, with a 30-second increment per move in the Tata Steel Masters), players simply resign when they realise that the position is lost, thereby saving themselves the ignominy of getting checkmated.

But Erigaisi seemed immersed in his game, and he realised the game was over when it was over in the literal sense.

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Five Indians are among the 14 competitors in the Masters event. World Chess Champion D Gukesh, Pentala Harikrishna and Leon Luke Mendonca are the other Indians in action. Both Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa were unbeaten in the event after three rounds.

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