Leon Mendonca is the lone Indian in the reduced field of 16 players in the $15,000 Kramnik Challenge online rapid chess tournament, the third leg of the Julius Baer Challengers Tour beginning on Thursday.
The field, reduced from 20 players seen in the first two legs, is without the cream of the Indian talent — R. Praggnanandhaa and D. Gukesh, winners on the Tour so far, and Nihal Sarin.
The teams:
Team Polgar: Vincent Keymer (Ger), Awonder Liang (USA), Polina Shuvalova (Rus), Volodar Murzin (Rus), Sarasadat Khademalsharieh (Iri), Marc Andria Maurizzi (Fra), Zhu Jiner (Chn) and Balaji Daggupati (USA).
Team Kramnik: Nodirbek Abusattorov (Uzb), Jonas Bjerre (Den), Leon Mendonca (Ind), Lei Tingjie (Chn), Dinara Saduakassova (Kaz), Christopher Yoo (USA), Carissa Yip (USA) and Yahli Sokolovsky (Isr).
