World No.1 Magnus Carlsen got off to a decent start in the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid & Blitz tournament at the Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium here on Wednesday.
On the opening day of the competition, Carlsen drew his first couple of games against R. Praggnanandhaa and Nihal Sarin before capping off the day with a win over Vidit Gujrathi. The Norwegian is currently in joint second place with two points.
Carlsen, taking part in the competition for the first time since 2019, shares his position with SL Narayanan, who also scored two points with a win against Vincent Keymar in Round I alongside playing out draws against Wesley So and Arjun Erigaisi.
A “different brand of chess” and taking on the younger generation are on Carlsen’s checklist. “It’s very interesting to see a little bit of different brand of chess. A lot of the older players of my generation are not going to surprise you in a Major and where they stand, but with the younger generation, it’s also about trying to understand their game,” Carlsen had said ahead of the draw on Tuesday.
“Besides, I love chess history and I love learning from the players past and present.”
The opening day also saw thrilling matches across three rounds of rapid play, with young Uzbek Grandmaster Abdusattorov Nodirbek emerging as the early leader in the open section.
Nodirbek scored 2.5 points out of a possible three, securing victories over the talented German Keymer in Round II and Praggnanandhaa in the third round. He drew his opening game with Daniil Dubov.
As for Praggnanandhaa, he is currently at one point, with Keymer and Gujrathi behind him at 0.5 points apiece.
In the women’s section, Indian talent Vantika Agrawal stood out, sharing the lead with Aleksandra Goryachkina and Kateryna Lagno, with each of them 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 Alexandra Kosteniuk and Nana Dzagnidze.
On the other hand, the Indian trio of Koneru Humpy, Dronavalli Harika and Divya Deshmukh trail the leaders by half a point after drawing all three games.
With six more rounds left in the rapid event, the players still have a fair amount of opportunity to make their mark before the blitz rounds start on Saturday.
