Nodirbek Abdusattorov is a world rapid champion for a reason. While it’s the Indians who often steal the show, with consistent performances, the Uzbekistani has been a big force in the world of chess.
The World No. 6 beat two big names — Germany’s Vincent Keymar and India’s R. Praggnanandhaa to move into the sole lead after the first three rapid rounds of Tata Steel Chess India 2024 at the picturesque venue of Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium here on Wednesday.
After holding Daniil Dubov to a draw, who once looked to tighten the noose on the 20-year-old with white pieces, Abdusattorov found himself full of luck against Keymar with dark pieces in the Neo-Catalan English Opening game.
The win in the second round set him up to share the joint lead with S.L. Narayanan and USA’s Wesley So before he surged ahead with a win over an otherwise very solid Praggnanandhaa in the third round.
In another English game in the third round, the equality was maintained in the game until the 24 moves before Praggnanandhaa misplaced his knight to g6, allowing Abdusattorov to chop off his pawn on b5. The Chennai GM further slumped after making back-to-back inaccurate moves and finally resigned on the 36th move.
The talk of the town, Magnus Carlsen, is in a three-way tie for second place with Wesley and Narayanan (all 2.0/3) after the end of the first day. Slippery customer Carlsen — who was pushed on the backfoot by Praggnanandhaa in the first round — drew his first two rounds before beating an out-of-form Vidit Gujrathi in a King-Pawn ending.
Narayanan and Wesley could have been the joint leaders however both players squandered a better position to draw their respective third-round games.
Narayanan started with a win against Keymer, turning around his fortunes in the 85-move match. After having an inferior position for the majority of the game, the Trivandrum GM punished Keymer for his over-ambitious bishop-takes-pawn on a5 in the 55th move. Narayanan uses his rook pair to convert a straight-forward endgame afterwards.
Speed chess specialist Nihal Sarin, alongside Arjun and Dubov, drew all of their games, maintaining middle-table positions, while Praggnanandhaa, Keymer, and Vidit lagged behind.
In the Women’s section, Vantika Agrawal impressed with one win and two draws but missed opportunities to convert advantageous positions against Alexandra Kosteniuk and Valentina Gunina, allowing Aleksandra Goryachkina and Kateryna Lagno to catch up in a three-way tie for the lead. Gunina, though enduring two losses, rebounded with a win over R. Vaishali, positioning them alongside Kosteniuk in the bottom three with 1.0/3
Defending Rapid champion Divya Deshmukh was rock-solid with three draws, alongside Harika Dronavalli, Koneru Humpy, and Nana Dzagnidze, maintaining the competitive intensity as the tournament progresses.
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