Kolkata: Applause broke out as soon as Vidith Gujrathi and Magnus Carlsen shook hands, bringing an end to an eventful day where the World No 1 was held to a draw in his first two games but eventually showed his class in the final game of the day. A full point against Gujrathi helped Carlsen—who had won both the Rapid and Blitz formats the last time he had played here—finish the first day of the Tata Steel Chess India with two points, just half a point adrift of early leader Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
Day one saw thrilling matches across three rounds of rapid play, with Uzbek Grandmaster Abdusattorov securing victories over the talented German Vincent Keymer in round two and India’s R Praggnanandhaa in round three, while drawing his opening game with Daniil Dubov. Carlsen started the day on a shaky note against Praggnanandhaa in a Neo Catalan defense game where the Indian GM missed a checkmate move but the World No 1 bounced back from that juncture to force a draw with a 3-fold repetition.
Another draw with Sarin gave Carlsen a slow start but against Gujarathi, who played the Berlin, he kept pressing to find the point that propelled him joint second with Wesley So and India’s SL Narayanan, who also scored two points with a win against Keymer in round one and two draws with So and Arjun Erigaisi. Praggnanandhaa has one point after drawing against Dannil Dubov but losing to Abdusattorov in the third round.
In the women’s section, Indian talent Vantika Agrawal stood out, sharing the lead with Aleksandra Goryachkina and Kateryna Lagno, each scoring two points from three rounds. Agrawal achieved a significant victory over Valentina Gunina in the opening round and followed up with draws against Alexkandra Kosteniuk and Nana Dzagnidze. Meanwhile, India’s Koneru Humpy, Dronavalli Harika, and Divya Deshmukh each trail the leaders by half a point after drawing all three games on day one.
With six more rounds remaining in the Rapid event, the players have ample opportunity to make their mark before the Blitz rounds commence on Saturday.
Points (Rapid, Day 1)
Men: Nodirbek Abdusattarov 2.5, SL Narayanan 2, Wesley So 2, Magnus Carlsen 2, Nihal Sarin 1.5, Daniil Dubov 1.5, Arjun Erigaisi 1.5, R Praggnanandhaa 1, Vincent Keymer 0.5, Vidit Gujrathi 0.5.
Women: Aleksandra Goryachkina 2, Kateryna Lagno 2, Vantika Agarwal 2, Koneru Humpy 1.5, Harika Dronavalli 1.5, Nana Dzagnizde 1.5, Divya Deshmukh 1.5, Valentina Gunina 1, Alexsandra Kosteniuk 1, Vaishali R 1.