Article by Anthony Levin on chess.com
GM Nihal Sarin won the 2026 Tata Steel Chess India Open Rapid tournament with 6.5 points out of nine games on Friday. It’s his second time winning the tournament, the first being in 2022, and he earns $10,000. He dedicated his victory to his recently deceased grandfather, who taught him how to play chess.
Undefeated GM Kateryna Lagno, who took the lead yesterday, won Women’s 2026 Tata Steel Chess India with a round to spare and a final score of 6.5 points. She earns $10,000 as well as her first Rapid title, though she won the Blitz in 2024.
There are two days of blitz next. Day one is on Saturday, January 10, starting at 4:30 a.m. ET / 10:30 CET / 3 p.m. IST.
Open Rapid: Nihal Earns 2nd Title
Nihal took sole first, while GM Viswanathan Anand finished second, and we had a tie between GMs Arjun Erigaisi, Wesley So, and Hans Niemann in third-fifth. It is a third tournament in a row where Arjun has finished in third place.
Open Standings After Round 9
Nihal did the heavy-lifting on day two of this tournament, when he won all three games to catch Anand in the lead. He told IM Tania Sachdev, “As they say, all that matters in chess is who makes the last blunder. Luckily, in those games it was not me!”
What was the secret sauce? Well, he said he prepared for five minutes for day one—and on day two he “did not even do that.”
As they say, all that matters in chess is who makes the last blunder.
—Nihal Sarin
On day three, his win over So in the penultimate round was what pushed him a half-point ahead of Anand, who made three draws.
Round seven for Nihal, the first of the day, was a 99% accurate draw with Praggnanandhaa, but in round eight, So’s aggressive attempt in the opening gave Nihal the chance he needed. It was a Vienna Opening gone terribly wrong for White, and Nihal in fact won without ever developing the rook or bishop from the queenside—or the pawns!
GM Rafael Leitao analyzes the Game of the Day below, and it was just 23 moves. It was after this win that Nihal said he “now had a chance for first.”
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