Tata Steel Chess: Deshmukh, Agarwal share top spot after first day

Deshmukh, who replaced R Vaishali, began by beating GM Harika Dronavall, held world champion Ju Wenjun of China before beating Nino Batsiashvili.

Divya Deshmukh, who said on Wednesday that being a last-minute replacement at the Tata Steel Chess meant she was going in with no expectations, shared the top spot after the first day of the women’s rapid event with Vantika Agarwal. Both have 2.5 points after three rounds.

Divya Deshmukh shared the top spot after the first day of the women’s rapid event (PTI)

Deshmukh, who replaced R Vaishali, began by beating GM Harika Dronavall with black, held world champion Ju Wenjun of China before beating Nino Batsiashvili with the black pieces. Agarwal beat defending rapid champion GM Anna Ushenina in the second round, GM Koneru Humpy in the third after opening with a draw against WGM Savitha Shri.

Wenjun and Humpy played out a draw in the first round but the Indian ace lost to American GM Irina Krush. Krush could not maintain the tempo and lost to Wenjun in the final round of the day. Georgian GM Nino Batsiashvili, the 2022 Olympiad individual gold medallist, beat Russian IM Shuvalova Polina in the first round making the most of her superior attacking instincts.