Kerala's SL Narayanan bows out of Chess World Cup after 125-move battle with Chinese Super GM

Kerala GM S L Narayanan bowed out of the FIDE Chess World Cup in Goa after putting up a brave fight in the third round tie-breakers against Yu Yangyi of China on Sunday.

Narayanan forced a lengthy endgame with the former World No. 10 in their first Rapid tie-breaker. Their second game ended in a quick draw, sealing the tie, 2.5-1.5, in favour of the 2720-rated Chinese. The duo had played out successive draws in their classical battle over the last two days.

In the first tie-breaker game, Yangyi, playing white, held the upper hand going into a queen endgame. Thiruvananthapuram native Narayanan played smartly to equalise the position after more than 90 moves, but an extra pawn on Yangyi's King-side proved decisive.

Narayanan conceded defeat only after 125 moves. In the second game of their match-up, needing a win with white, Narayanan was aggressive from the start, but Yangyi successfully claimed a draw.

Narayanan and Thrissur native Nihal Sarin were the two Kerala-based GMs in the World Cup. Nihal was defeated by Greek GM Stamatis Kourkoulos-Arditis in Round 2. India's World Champion D Gukesh was knocked out by German GM Frederik Svane before the tie-breakers.