Uzbekistan’s young grandmaster Abdusattorov Nodirbek emerged sole leader.© FIDE
Uzbekistan’s young grandmaster Abdusattorov Nodirbek emerged sole leader in the open section of the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid tournament on Wednesday. Abdusattorov scored 2.5 points out of a possible three, securing victories over talented German Vincent Keymer in round two and India’s R Praggnanandhaa in round three, while drawing his opening game with Daniil Dubov. Magnus Carlsen, the World No 1, had a solid start, drawing his first two games against India’s Praggnanandhaa and Nihal Sarin before finishing the day with a win over Vidit Gujrathi, placing him in joint second position with two points.
Carlsen shares this slot with India’s S.L. Narayanan, who also logged 2 points with a win against Keymer in round one and two draws against Wesley So and Arjun Erigaisi.
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.
Vantika achieved a significant victory over Valentina Gunina in the opening round and followed it 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.
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