Magnus Carlsen was on a roll. Three consecutive victories on Day 2 of the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid Tournament saw him take the sole lead in the Open section.
In the Women’s section, Aleksandra Goryachkina was similarly dominant, securing three wins on the spin to move to 5 points, and firmly in the lead. It was a day of some top-class chess action.
Carlsen started the day half-a-point behind overnight leader Nodirbek Abdusattorov. First, he got the better of SL Narayanan followed by a win over Wesley So and then he outsmarted Arjun Erigaisi. The Norwegian grandmaster raced to 5 points out of a possible 6 and on top of the leaderboard. A master was at work.
Abdusattorov, with 4.5 points, is snapping at Carlsen’s heels. The Uzbek prodigy drew with Nihal Sarin and Vidit Gujrathi in rounds 4 and 5 respectively before ending the day with a win over Narayanan. He is nicely placed to challenge Carlsen on the final day of the Rapid event.
As for Goryachkina, her back-to-back wins against India’s Vantika Agrawal and Vaishali R helped her get into the groove before she rounded off the day with a victory over Kateryna Lagno. Georgian Grandmaster Nana Dzagnidze is in the second position with 4 points. She won against Vaishali and Humpy Koneru, and drew with Lagno.
Standings at the end of Day 2
MEN:
MAGNUS CARLSEN – 5
NODIRBEK ABDUSATTOROV – 4.5
WESLEY SO – 3.5
DANIIL DUBOV – 3
R PRAGGNANANDHAA – 3
S L NARAYANAN – 2.5
VINCENT KEYMER – 2.5
ARJUN ERIGAISI – 2
NIHAL SARIN – 2
VIDIT GUJRATHI – 2
WOMEN:
ALEKSANDRA GORYACHKINA – 5
NANA DZAGNIDZE – 4
VANTIKA AGARWAL – 3.5
HARIKA DRONAVALLI – 3.5
VALENTINA GUNINA – 3.5
KATERYNA LAGNO – 3
DIVYA DESHMUKH – 2.5
KONERU HUMPY – 2
ALEXANDRA KOSTENIUK – 2
VAISHALI R – 1