Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Nana Dzagnidze led the men’s and women’s fields, respectively, at the end of Day I of the Tata Steel Chess India on Tuesday.
In the men’s Rapid format, GM Arjun Erigaisi started his title defence in style with a win over the GM Abdusattarov Nodirebek in the opening round. The other decisive result in Round 1 was in the matchup between Shakhriyar and home favourite D. Gukesh where the game ended in favour of the Azerbaijan player.
Gukesh, the fighter, struck back with a nice victory against Iranian GM Parham Maghsoodloo with the black pieces in the second round.
Shakhriyar brought up his second victory in as many games, this time against GM SP Sethuraman.
The third round saw a rematch of the recently concluded exhibition ‘Death Match 2.0’ between Erigaisi and Gukesh. The rook-endgame ended in a draw on move 78.
Shakhriyar’s third win came against Wesley So with the black pieces.
Similarly, Georgian Nana had a great day leading with a perfect 3/3. In the third round, Nana kept pressing against Kiolbassa Oliwia. Nana finally pulled it off when the Polish IM on move 40 lost a pawn in the endgame.
