As Magnus Carlsen beat Vidit Gujarathi, the audience at Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium broke into a big round of applause. A little later, at the auditorium entrance, a young girl, accompanied by her mother, gingerly walked up to a tournament official, with a request for a Carlsen autograph.
“Maybe, on Friday, when the Rapid round ends,” she was told. The young girl looked crestfallen. She bunked school to be present at the event to catch a glimpse of the Norwegian superstar. The Tata Steel Chess India Rapid & Blitz tournament commenced on Wednesday and obviously, the five-time world champion was the top attraction.
Carlsen has been a regular in this tournament, but he remains the pied piper. The celebrated annual event, featuring both Open and Women’s tournaments, has brought together some of the world’s top chess talents. But nobody oozes World No. 1 Carlsen’s charm.
He had a good start, drawing his first two games against India’s Praggnanandhaa R and Nihal Sarin before finishing the day with a win over Vidit. It placed him in joint second position with 2 points.
Day 1 saw some thrilling matches across three rounds of Rapid play, with Uzbekistan’s grandmaster, Abdusattorov Nodirbek emerging as the early leader in the Open section. He scored 2.5 points out of a possible 3, securing victories over talented German Vincent Keymer in round two and Praggnanandhaa in round three, while drawing his opening game with Daniil Dubov.
India’s SL Narayanan also scored 2 points with a win against Keymer in round one and two draws with 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 2 points from three rounds. Agrawal achieved a significant victory over Valentina Gunina in the opening round and followed it up with draws against Alexkandra Kosteniuk and Nana Dzagnidze.
India’s Koneru Humpy, Dronavalli Harika and Divya Deshmukh each trail the leaders by half-a-point after drawing all three games on Day 1.
Earlier, the tournament inauguration ceremony was graced by Chanakya Chaudhary, vice-president of Tata Steel, alongside Nitin Narang, president of the All India Chess Federation and Saurabh Runwal, associate director of Runwal Realty.
The Standings at the end of Day 1
MEN:
NODIRBEK ABDUSATTOROV – 2.5
S L 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 N- 1.5
NANA DZAGNIDZE – 1.5
DIVYA DESHMUKH – 1.5
VALENTINA GUNINA – 1
ALEXANDRA KOSTENIUK – 1
VAISHALI R – 1