Nodirbek Abdusattorov got off to the best start at the Tata Steel Chess Rapid and Blitz tournament, which opened on Wednesday in Kolkata with the first day of rapid chess. The Uzbek grandmaster began with a draw against Daniil Dubov.
Nodirbek Abdusattorov | Photo: Lennart Ootes
In round 2, he faced Vincent Keymer with black. The game was balanced for a long time in the Tarrasch variation of the Queen's Gambit. After a mistake by Abdusattorov, Keymer had good winning chances but was unable to capitalise on them. In the end, the game was decided by a gross mistake.
| Keymer, Vincent2733 | 0–1 | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek2777 | |||||||||||||||||||||
 | Tata Steel India Open Rapid 2024 Kolkata13.11.2024[Schulz,A] | | |||||||||||||||||||||
In the third round, Abdusattorov also won, as he defeated Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu.
The playing hall | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Magnus Carlsen started with two draws against the Indian youngsters Praggnanandhaa and Nihal Sarin. Against Praggnanandhaa, the Norwegian lost a pawn out of a Reti opening during the transition to the endgame. His young opponent, however, was satisfied shortly afterwards with a triple repetition and a draw.
Magnus Carlsen | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Carlsen had a better position with the black pieces against Nihal, but his advantage evaporated in the course of exchange operations. In round three, the world nunmber one then scored his first full point against Vidit Gujrathi.
Narayanan also recorded two draws and a win. Narayanan had already clinched victory in round 1 against Vincent Keymer. In this game, too, Keymer had the better position for a long time before the tide turned.
Vincent Keymer | Photo: Lennart Ootes
After the two defeats, Keymer drew against Wesley So. The US grandmaster is the third player with one win and two draws.
Apart from Keymer, Vidit also had to settle for a single draw on the first day. Keymer and Vidit share last place in the tournament table.
The #TataSteelChessIndia 2024 tournament was inaugurated today at Kolkata’s Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium.
— Tata Steel (@TataSteelLtd) November 13, 2024
On day one, Magnus Carlsen and S.L. Narayanan, and Vantika Agrawal with Aleksandra Goryachkina and Kateryna Lagno, emerged as leaders in the Men's and Women's rounds… pic.twitter.com/v6UmuLo0D4
Standings after round 3
All games
Aleksandra Goryachkina, Kateryna Lagno and Vantika Agrawal have taken the lead in the women's tournament after the first day of rapid, all three with 2 points after scoring one win and two draws.
Alexandra Kosteniuk, Vaishali Rameshbaby and Valentina Gunina are in the bottom third of the table after one defeat and two draws each. The draw ratio in the women's tournament was unusually high on this first day.
Standings after round 3
All games
