Nov 16, 2024 08:51 PM IST
The Norwegian is half-a-point ahead of R Praggnanandhaa after 9 rounds; Kateryna Lagno heads women’s field
Kolkata: The Tata Steel Chess tournament has been nothing short of a roller coaster ride for Arjun Erigaisi, the latest entrant to the 2800-rating club. Barely two days earlier, Magnus Carlsen had picked his game against the Indian as the one he enjoyed the most in the rapid round even though defeat was inflicted in just 40 moves. Cut to Saturday and it was Erigaisi’s turn to taste victory when he won in 20 moves in the blitz round.
Carlsen losing is a rare event. Even more so when someone forces him to give in after just 20 moves. Such has been this tournament for the 33-year-old Norwegian that he has often been pushed to a corner — particularly by Uzbekistan’s Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the rapid round— although he had not been broken. Playing with black pieces, Erigaisi finally earned that honour by breaking through Carlsen’s defence with an accuracy of over 98%, according to the live chess engines. Carlsen’s was 80%.
That blip apart, there was no stopping Carlsen as he expectedly topped the blitz standings on the first day with 6.5 points after nine rounds, signing off the day with a draw against Vidit Gujrathi.
R Praggnanandhaa was in second place with six points after a remarkable turnaround that saw him register six consecutive wins after losing his first three games. Erigaisi and Russia’s Daniil Dubov are tied third with 5.5 points each. Gujrathi is on 5, Abdusattorov on 4 and Wesley So on 3.5. Level with So are GMs SL Narayanan and Nihal Sarin, the latter scoring wins against Vincent Keymer and Gujrathi.
In the women’s section, Russia’s Kateryna Lagno leads the field with 7 points, maintaining an undefeated streak with five wins and four draws. Valentina Gunina trails her by a point in second place while rapid champion Aleksandra Goryachkina is third with 5 points. Goryachkina had a strong start with three consecutive wins but managed only four draws in the remaining six games.
Standings in blitz (after 9 rounds):
Open section: Magnus Carlsen (6.5); R Praggnanandhaa (6); Arjun Erigaisi (5.5); Daniil Dubov (5.5); Vidit Gujrathi (5); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (4); Wesley So (3.5); SL Narayanan (3.5); Nihal Sarin (3.5), Vincent Keymer (2).
Women’s section: Kateryna Lagno (7); Valentina Gunina (6); Aleksandra Goryachkina (5); Divya Deshmukh (4.5); Vantika Agrawal (4.5); Koneru Humpy (4.5); Harika Dronavalli (4); Alexandra Kosteniuk (4); Vaishali R (3.5), Nana Dzagnidze (2).
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