Article by Anthony Levin on chess.com
Both day-one leaders built on their momentum to earn maiden titles on day two. GM Wesley So won 2026 Tata Steel Chess India Open Blitz, his first time winning the title after six attempts. He finished in sole first with 12/18, while GMs Nihal Sarin and Arjun Erigaisi tied in second-third, a full point behind.
Debutant IM Carissa Yip won 2026 Tata Steel Chess India Women’s Blitz in playoffs against IM Vantika Agrawal with a score of 1.5-0.5. Both Yip and Agrawal finished the double round-robin with 10.5 points, and IM Stavroula Tsolakidou finished in third with 10/18.
Open Blitz: Sixth Time’s The Charm
So finished a full point ahead of the field, losing just two games across the 18 rounds.
Final Open Blitz Standings After 18 Rounds
With the exception of 2021 and 2023, So has played in every edition of Tata Steel Chess India since it began in 2018. But until this year, he had never won a title in either the Rapid or the Blitz. He told Chess.com’s IM Rakesh Kulkarni that it was a “great start to the year” and that “I think in general I play very decently in India.”
Owing to his performance on the previous day, So started under great circumstances. He was in the sole lead, a half-point ahead of Arjun, who himself was a point ahead of Nihal. It was a matter of following up on a job well done in the final nine rounds, and So’s wins against GMs Vidit Gujrathi and Volodar Murzin, in the first two rounds of the day, fit the bill.
Time was a critical factor in the rook endgame where Vidit had just eight seconds against 29. 40…g3? was a mistake that gave Black some advantage, but within a few moves So lopped an entire rook off the board.
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