IT’S A TOUGH BATTLE AMONG THE GRANDMASTERS AT THE END OF 1ST DAY OF OPEN TOURNAMNET OF TATA STEEL CHESS INDIA RAPID 2023

– 4 GM’s tops the point table chart with 2 points


Kolkata: After an exhilarating 5 days of the Women’s championship, the Tata Steel Chess India 2023 moves towards the Open section. A mouth-watering line up of young talents – the likes of D Gukesh, R Praggnanandhaa, Arjun Erigaisi, Vincent Keymar and Nodirbek Abdusattarov, will fight it out to be crowned the rapid and blitz champions. Former World Blitz Champions, Alexander Grischuk, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and experienced campaigners, GM Harikrishna Pentala, Vidit Gujrathi, and Teimour Radjabov make this an incredibly strong event.

At the end of day with after 3 rounds the standings are as below
GM Teimour Radjabov with 2 points
GM maxime Vachier Lagrave with 2 points
GM Vincent Keymer with 2 points
GM D Gukesh with 2 points

Closely followed by 3 GM’s – R Praggnanandhaa; Alexander Grischuk and Nodirbek Abdusattorov with 1.5 points

Round 1:
GM R Praggnanandhaa, who is undoubtedly at the peak of his nascent career, started proceedings with a convincing victory over GM Teimour Radjabov with the black pieces. German prodigy GM Vincent Keymar kicked off his maiden Tata Steel event in India with a victory over reigning rapid champion, GM Arjun Erigaisi. The battle between GM Gukesh D and GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov ended in a draw after the Uzbek youngster seemed to have an advantage in the middlegame. Gukesh fought tooth and nail finding one right move after the other to equalize.

Round 2:
A wild game between GM Gukesh and GM Harikrishna Pentala had fans go crazy about it, with Gukesh went on to win the game. GM Arjun Erigaisi suffered his second loss of the event, losing to GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov. GM Teimour Radjabov struck back with a win in round 2 over GM Vincent Keymar. GM R Praggnanandhaa drew against GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in a battle of equals where no side had winning chances. GM Vidit Gujrathi’s game against GM Alexander Grischuk also ended in a fighting draw after both sides tried their best to force the issue.

Round 3:
GM Arjun Erigaisi closed the day on a high with a win over GM Harikrishna Pentala. GM Vincent Keymar scored a huge win over GM R Praggnanandhaa with the black pieces. GM Vidit Gujrathi fumbled in a winning position, conceding the game against GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. GM Teimour Radjabov, who started the event with a loss, bounced back with two consecutive victories to join the lead. Radjabov scored a thumping victory against GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov. GM Gukesh and GM Alexander Grischuk’s eventful game ended in a marathon 97-move draw.

With that, both Gukesh and Grischuk go into day 2 as the only undefeated players