Article by Anthony Levin for chess.com
GMs Viswanathan Anand and Hans Niemann lead 2026 Tata Steel Chess India with 2.5 points out of the first three games. Anand scored wins against GMs Wesley So and Aravindh Chithambaram, while Niemann scored his against 2024 Rapid World Champion Volodar Murzin and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu.
There’s just one leader in the Women’s 2026 Tata Steel Chess India, IM Carissa Yip, who also scored 2.5 points on the first day. Critically, she defeated 2024 Rapid winner and 2025 Rapid World Champion GM Aleksandra Goryachkina in round three.
Day two starts on Thursday, January 8, from 4:30 a.m. ET / 10:30 CET / 3 p.m. IST.
Anand’s Back
Tata Steel Chess India returns for its seventh edition to the Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium in Kolkata, India. The event takes place over five days, from January 7 to 11, and features three days of rapid ($10,000 first prize) followed by two days of blitz ($7,500 first prize). The previous time control of 25+10 has been shortened to 15+10, but the blitz is the same at 3+2.
There are two sections, the Open and the Women’s, each with 10 players. Half of the players represent India’s top talents and the other half arrive from China, the U.S., Russia, Georgia, and Greece.
The headliner, of course, is 56-year-old five-time World Champion Anand, who participates for the first time since 2019. Reigning World Champion GM Gukesh Dommaraju withdrew for personal reasons and was replaced by 2022 Rapid winner GM Nihal Sarin. Just last week, GM Arjun Erigaisi—who won the Rapid in 2021—finished with bronze in both the World Rapid and Blitz, and among the star-studded field we also see 2024 Rapid World Champion Murzin.
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