Kolkata: Former World Champion Viswanathan Anand and American Hans Niemann finished opening day tied for the lead on 2.5 points, while Carissa Yip surged ahead in the women’s field at the seventh Tata Steel Chess India Rapid on Wednesday.
Anand opened his campaign with vintage precision, tightening the screws on Wesley So until the American position gave way. Vidit Gujrathi made headlines with the black pieces, steering a commanding game against Arjun Erigaisi and bringing it home with a rarely seen bishop-and-knight mate. Niemann began with a flamboyant win over Volodar Murzin, highlighted by a bold excursion with his king.
The next set of games featured R Praggnanandhaa, who methodically gained space across both flanks before landing the decisive blows against Arjun. So produced a crowd-pleaser, marching his king to h6 in an imaginative victory over Murzin, while Nihal Sarin downed Aravindh Chithambaram with crisp calculation. Anand split the point with Wei Yi.
In Round 3, Anand was back on the scoreboard, outfoxing Aravindh with tidy rook manoeuvres to win with black. So toppled Wei Yi, Arjun exploited a slip to outlast Nihal, and Niemann capped the day with a sharp triumph against Praggnanandhaa, sealed by a well-timed bishop sacrifice.
On the women’s boards, Carissa Yip emerged as the sole leader with 2.5 points. Among the home contenders, Vantika Agrawal stood out early, collecting 2 points from three rounds.
The section opened with a marathon 114-move draw between Harika Dronavalli and Divya Deshmukh. Agrawal began strongly, converting extra material against R Vaishali with a clean technique.
Round 2 brought three results: Stavroula Tsolakidou overcame Deshmukh in a tactical encounter, Kateryna Lagno squeezed out a win over Agrawal in a knight-versus-bishop ending, and Aleksandra Goryachkina opened her tally by punishing Vaishali’s exposed king.
In the final round of the day, Yip moved clear at the top by guiding home an early exchange win against Goryachkina. Nana Dzagnidze edged Tsolakidou in a tense queen ending, and Agrawal posted her second victory, beating Harika. Rakshitta Ravi closed the day as the only unbeaten Indian, drawing all three games.
