Tata Steel Chess 2024: Carlsen overtakes Abdusattorov, Goryachkina maintains lead in women’s section on Day 2

Starting the day half a point behind Abdusattorov, Carlsen was a blend of explosiveness and precision, beating S.L. Narayanan, Wesley So, and Arjun Erigaisi for a three-out-of-three score.

Magnus Carlsen in action during the the sixth round at the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid in Kolkata. | Photo Credit: Debasish Bhaduri/The Hindu

Chess may feel routine and boring to Magnus Carlsen now, but the thrill of winning certainly doesn’t.

The five-time world champion unleashed his trademark style on Day 2 of the Tata Steel Chess India 2024, steamrolling his opponents one by one to overtake overnight leader Nodirbek Abdusattorov at Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium here on Thursday.

Starting the day half a point behind Abdusattorov, Carlsen was a blend of explosiveness and precision, handing losses to S.L. Narayanan, Wesley So, and Arjun Erigaisi for a perfect three-out-of-three score, putting him in sole lead after six rapid rounds.

Narayanan mistimed his b-pawn push in the 20th move, passing the definitive edge to Carlsen, who went on to convert the game by just the 45th move as the Indian resigned.

In the fifth round, it was USA’s Wesley who then tried to stop Carlsen’s force by opting for Petrov’s Defence with the dark pieces. However, with the queen trade in just nine moves, Carlsen manoeuvred his pieces for a queen-side attack with vacant space for his minor pieces, forcing the Filipino-US GM to fold within 39 moves.

Wesley admitted his over-ambitious move in a failed attempt to surprise Carlsen. “After he played e4, I thought of sticking to my main opening but I decided to play this line which I hoped would surprise Magnus.

“I played the same opening against Hans Niemann two weeks ago at the US Championship and was hoping that just maybe Magnus would not be prepared for this or at the very least, I would survive the endgame but turned out he was prepared and knew almost everything in this line so it wasn’t very good approach and it gave me no chances,” said Wesley after the match.

Arjun, who recently came very close to Carlsen’s classical rating, wasn’t much of a threat to the latter either, as the Norwegian chose to play a rare line of the Taimanov Sicilian with black pieces to end the day on a perfect note.

Nodirbek follows Carlsen closely with 4.5/6 after holding Vidit Gujrathi and Nihal Sarin to a draw while also vanquishing Narayanan with the dark pieces.

In the fifth round, it was the Chennai lad who ended up on the winning side against the latter in the all-Indian clash between R. Praggnanandhaa and Nihal Sarin.

In the Women’s section, Russia’s Aleksandra Goryachkina (5.0/6) was the pick of the players. She also had a perfect day with three wins in as many rounds and has a whole-point lead over second-placed Nana Dzagnidze.

Fresh off a dominant win at the Shymkent FIDE Women’s Grand Prix, Goryachkina dispatched joint-overnight leader Vantika Agrawal, defending champion Divya Deshmukh, and her compatriot Kateryna Lagno with ease.

Vantika and Harika Dronavalli are joint third with 3.5 points each, while Vaishali’s poor run saw her losing all three rounds today as she sits last with just one point.

Standings after six rapid rounds:

Open Section: Magnus Carlsen (5); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (4.5); Wesley So (3.5); Daniil Dubov (3); R Praggnanandhaa (3); S L Narayanan (2.5); Vincent Keymer (2.5); Arjun Erigaisi (2); Nihal Sarin (2); Vidit Gujrathi (2)

Women’s Section: Aleksandra Goryachkina (5); Nana Dzagnidze (4); Vantika Agrawal (3.5); Harika Dronavalli (3.5); Valentina Gunina (3.5); Kateryna Lagno (3); Divya Deshmukh (2.5); Koneru Humpy (2); Alexandra Kosteniuk (2); Vaishali R (1)