Anand, Niemann share lead after first day
Anand scored over Wesley So and Aravindh Chithambaram to surge to the lead with Hans Niemann on day 1 of the rapid event
Kolkata: Viswanathan Anand and Hans Niemann shared the top spot on 2.5 points and Carissa Yip emerged sole leader in the women’s competition after the first day of rapid competition in the seventh Tata Steel Chess India here on Wednesday.
Against Wesley So, Anand gradually increased pressure until the position collapsed. Vidit Gujrathi made a strong statement with the black pieces, dominating Arjun Erigaisi and sealing the win with a rare knight-and-bishop checkmate. Niemann won his first game with an adventurous king walk against Volodar Murzin.
The second round saw R Praggnanandhaa control both wings before breaking through on the kingside to defeat Arjun. So entertained spectators with a daring king march to h6, outplaying Volodar and Nihal Sarin beat Aravindh Chithambaram with a precise forcing combination. Anand drew with Wei Yi.
In the day’s final round, Anand again showed his class, using clever rook play to defeat Aravindh with black. So prevailed against Wei Yi, Arjun capitalised on an error by Nihal, and Niemann wrapped up a quick win featuring a timely bishop sacrifice against Praggnanandhaa.
Yip emerged sole leader with 2.5 in the women’s section. Among the Indian players, Vantika Agrawal has impressed the most so far, scoring 2 out of 3.
The event began with a dramatic 114 move marathon draw between Harika Dronavalli and Divya Deshmukh. Vantika Agrawal showed excellent endgame technique in Round 1, converting a material advantage to defeat R Vaishali.
Round 2 featured three decisive games, highlighted by Stavroula Tsolakidou’s victory over Deshmukh in a complex struggle. Kateryna Lagno outplayed Agrawal in a knight-versus-bishop endgame, while Aleksandra Goryachkina took advantage of an exposed king to register her first win, against Vaishali.
In Round 3, Yip claimed the lead by calmly converting an early exchange advantage against Goryachkina. Nana Dzagnidze prevailed in a dramatic queen endgame against Stavraula Tsolakidou and Agrawal beat Harika. Rakshitta Ravi is the only Indian player to remain unbeaten with three draws.
