Tata Steel Rapid R1-3: Abdusattorov gains early sole lead, S L Narayanan makes a great start

by Shahid Ahmed - 13/11/2024

Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) has emerged early sole leader scoring 2.5/3 at Tata Steel Chess India 2024 Men Rapid. He drew with Daniil Dubov, scored a lucky win against Vincent Keymer (GER) who made a one-move blunder at the end. The Germany no.1 was winning before that. He defeated R Praggnanandhaa in the third round after the latter made consecutive error. Earlier, Praggnanandhaa missed a great opportunity against Magnus Carlsen (NOR) in the first round. It was not an easy one especially in time trouble. S L Narayanan, Wesley So (USA) and Magnus are at 2/3. Narayanan defeated Keymer, drew with So and then drew with Arjun Erigaisi, after missing a win. Round 4 starts tomorrow at 2 p.m. IST. Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Praggnanandhaa misses a good chance

The first day of Men's event at Tata Steel India Rapid had a lot of exciting games. Magnus Carlsen had a slightly shaky finish against R Praggnanandhaa. S L Narayanan turned out to be the top Indian performer on the first day.

S L Narayanan made a great start | Photo: Shahid Ahmed

Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz 2024 logo | Photo: Official site

Round 1: Carlsen - Praggnanandhaa: 0.5-0.5

The sole Rapid Rating game played in this year between Magnus Carlsen (NOR, 2825) and R Praggnanandhaa (2676) had ended in a draw a few months ago in Warsaw, Poland. Praggnanandhaa had an extra pawn and the upperhand in the rook and minor piece endgame.

Position after 32.Ke1?

32.Ke1? created a winning opportunity for Black. 32...Kf5 needed to be played 33.Rxb7 Nc5 34.Nxd4+ Kxf4 would have made things challenging for the World no.1. Black missed his opportunity when he went 32...Ra7 33.Kf2 Ra2 34.Bf1 Ra7 35.Bg2 Ra2 and the game ended in a draw via repetition.

Magnus Carlsen - R Praggnanandhaaa, Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

R Praggnanandhaa missed a great opportunity against Magnus Carlsen | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Chanakya Chaudhary, Vice President, Tata Steel made the ceremonial first move on Magnus Carlsen and R Praggnanandhaa's board in presence of Nitin Narang, AICF President | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Narayanan - Keymer: 1-0

This was the first time S L Narayanan (2579) faced Vincent Keymer (GER, 2642) in a rated game. The Germany had a substantial advantage for the better part of the game. Only in the endgame, he did what the position needed him to do but unfortunately it was not enough to yield him a full point.

Position after 46...Rxb3

Black had to play 46...Rxb3 as there is no good way to defend the d3-pawn. 47.Nxb3 Rxb3 48.Bd2 Nxc4 49.Rc1 Nxd2 50.Rxc5 Bd6 51.Rc6 Nc4 52.Rxc4 Bb4 53.Rc6+ Kf7 54.Ra1 d2 55.Rh1 Bxa5?? 56.Rh7+ Kg8 57.Rd7 and the tables turned completely in White's favor.

S L Narayanan capitalized on Vincent Keymer's blunder in the endgame | Photo: Kartik Krishnan

Round 2: Vidit - Arjun: 0.5-0.5

Vidit Gujrathi (2661) had his second chance to beat Arjun Erigaisi (2706) this month, but this time he did not completely mess it up.

Position after 24...Nc8??

24...Nc8?? allowed White an opportunity to go 25.h3 securing his backrank issues Bf8 26.Qc3 and Black would have been in serious trouble. 24...Rb8 is what Black needed to play. 25.g3 Nxc4? 26.Qd3 soon White sacrificed his queen to threaten checkmate on Black's backrank. The game ended in a draw via perpetual check.

Nihal - Carlsen: 0.5-0.5

This was the second time Nihal Sarin (2679) was facing Magnus Carlsen (NOR, 2825) this year after World Rapid Team. It was a solid draw.

Nihal Sarin vs Magnus Carlsen, Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

Keymer - Abdusattorov: 0-1

Vincent Keymer (GER, 2642) had a decisive advantage in the endgame against Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB, 2742). He lost it. Then he made a one-move blunder at the end. It cost him the game.

Magnus Carlsen vs Vidit Gujrathi, Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

Dubov - Nihal, Round 3

Position after 42...Ba1??

Nihal Sarin misplaced his bishop at the corner of the board 42...Ba1?? He needed to play 42...Bg5. The game continued 43.Bb3 Qd8 44.Qe6 Qf8 45.f4 Bf6 46.e5 Be7 47.g4 a4 48.Bd5 a3 49.Ba2 Bg5! 50.f5 gxf5 51.gxf5 Qd8 52.Kh3 Qd3+ 53.Kg4 Qe4+ 54.Kxg5 Qh4+ 55.Kxh4 stalemate. A nice save by Nihal which could have ended in a worse result for him.

Nihal Sarin makes a solid start | Video: ChessBase India

Nihal made a mistake in the end but managed to recover well and salvage a half point

Arjun - S L Narayanan

Position after 24.c4

24...Ne3! is what Narayanan needed to play. Afterward, no matter how White captures the knight, Black is winning. Instead, he played 24...Bxc4 25.Qxc4 Rxe4 26.Qxc6 Rxd4 Black's advantage dissipated. He got one more tiny opportunity in the end but missed that too and the game petered out to a draw.

Press Conference with Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Vantika Agrawal | Video: ChessBase India

Format

There will be two tournaments: a men's and a women's event. The tournaments will be played in two formats - Rapid and Blitz. For the first time, both Men's and Women's event will take place simultaneously. Three rounds of Rapid games will be played on the first three days, followed by nine rounds of Blitz per day on the remaining two days of each event. The time control is 25 minutes for the entire game with an increment of 10 seconds from move no.1. For Blitz, the time control is 3 minutes with an increment of 2 seconds from move no.1.

Venue

Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium in Kolkata, West Bengal. The tournament is open to spectators. Tickets will not be sold; passes will be available at the venue on first-come-first-serve basis on the days of the tournament.

Replay Round 1-3 games

Round 1-3 results

Round 1 on 2024/11/13 at 02.00 PM
Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.
1	1	2579	GM	Narayanan, S L	1 - 0	GM	Keymer, Vincent	2642	10
2	2	2735	GM	So, Wesley	1 - 0	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	2661	9
3	3	2706	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	½ - ½	GM	Nihal, Sarin	2679	8
4	4	2825	GM	Carlsen, Magnus	½ - ½	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R	2676	7
5	5	2686	GM	Dubov, Daniil	½ - ½	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	2742	6
Round 2 on 2024/11/13 at 03.30 PM
Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.
1	10	2642	GM	Keymer, Vincent	0 - 1	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	2742	6
2	7	2676	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R	½ - ½	GM	Dubov, Daniil	2686	5
3	8	2679	GM	Nihal, Sarin	½ - ½	GM	Carlsen, Magnus	2825	4
4	9	2661	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	½ - ½	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2706	3
5	1	2579	GM	Narayanan, S L	½ - ½	GM	So, Wesley	2735	2
Round 3 on 2024/11/13 at 05.00 PM
Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.
1	2	2735	GM	So, Wesley	½ - ½	GM	Keymer, Vincent	2642	10
2	3	2706	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	½ - ½	GM	Narayanan, S L	2579	1
3	4	2825	GM	Carlsen, Magnus	1 - 0	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	2661	9
4	5	2686	GM	Dubov, Daniil	½ - ½	GM	Nihal, Sarin	2679	8
5	6	2742	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	1 - 0	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R	2676	7

Details

Standings after Round 3

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4	n	w	we	w-we	K	rtg+/-
1	6	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	UZB	2742	2,5	0	2,25	2	1	3	2,5	1,81	0,69	10	6,9
2	1	GM	Narayanan, S L	IND	2579	2	0	2,25	1	0	3	2	1,03	0,97	10	9,7
3	2	GM	So, Wesley	USA	2735	2	0	1,75	1	0	3	2	1,94	0,06	10	0,6
	4	GM	Carlsen, Magnus	NOR	2825	2	0	1,75	1	0	3	2	2,12	-0,12	10	-1,2
5	5	GM	Dubov, Daniil	RUS	2686	1,5	0	2,50	0	0	3	1,5	1,44	0,06	10	0,6
	8	GM	Nihal, Sarin	IND	2679	1,5	0	2,50	0	0	3	1,5	1,25	0,25	10	2,5
7	3	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	IND	2706	1,5	0	2,00	0	0	3	1,5	1,77	-0,27	10	-2,7
8	7	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R	IND	2676	1	0	1,75	0	0	3	1	1,20	-0,20	10	-2
9	10	GM	Keymer, Vincent	GER	2642	0,5	0	1,00	0	0	3	0,5	1,32	-0,82	10	-8,2
10	9	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	IND	2661	0,5	0	0,75	0	0	3	0,5	1,12	-0,62	10	-6,2

Details

Round 4 pairings

Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.
1	3	2706	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun		GM	Keymer, Vincent	2642	10
2	4	2825	GM	Carlsen, Magnus		GM	So, Wesley	2735	2
3	5	2686	GM	Dubov, Daniil		GM	Narayanan, S L	2579	1
4	6	2742	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek		GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	2661	9
5	7	2676	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R		GM	Nihal, Sarin	2679	8

Details

Schedule

Everyday round starts at 2 p.m. IST. The Rapid event will take place from 13th to 15th November, followed by the Blitz event on 16th and 17th November.

Tata Steel Chess India 2024 Men and Women Rapid schedule | Source: Official site

Tata Steel Chess India 2024 Men and Women Blitz schedule | Source: Official site

Prize

The total prize fund remains the same as the previous two editions - US$ 41500. The top three prizes in the Rapid are - $10000, $6000 and $3000. For Blitz they are - $7500, $4000 and $2500. Most importantly, the prizes remain equal in both Open and Womens events.

Links

Official site

Information

Gameplan

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