While young Indian GM Gukesh D forced an Armageddon decider with Russian IM Murzin Volodar, both Nihal and Rakshitta ruled the roost with a thumping 1.5-0.5 triumph over Armenian GM Sargsyan Shant and Chinese WIM Song Yuxin respectively.
After playing out a first round draw in the summit clash, both Nihal and Rakshitta registered victories in contrasting fashion in the second essay.
In the first round of U-18 Open section, Nihal defended well with his black pieces to split the points in 46 moves before he lived up to his billing to get the better of 4th seed Shant while utilizing the opening advantage with the whites. Nihal took 58 moves to win the second round and claim yet another world crown.
In…