Report by Colin McGourty for chess.com
GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov is the sole leader of the 2024 Tata Steel Chess India Open Rapid after beating GMs Vincent Keymer and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu on day one to score 2.5/3 in Kolkata. GMs Magnus Carlsen, Wesley So, and Narayanan S.L. are just half a point behind.
The 2024 Tata Steel Chess India Women's Rapid is led by GM Aleksandra Goryachkina, GM Kateryna Lagno, and IM Vantika Agrawal on 2/3, though things could have been very different since GM Alexandra Kosteniuk was winning the position she lost to Goryachkina, but escaped a lost position against Vantika.
Day two starts on Thursday, November 14 at 3:30 a.m. ET/09:30 CET/2 p.m. IST.
Magnus Carlsen Returns To Kolkata
Tata Steel Chess India has returned for its fifth edition in Kolkata, India, with a new venue this year, the Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium. Once again, there are two 10-player Open and Women's fields, with five Indian stars taking on five players from around the world.
India's importance in the chess world has grown immensely since the event was first held in 2018, with 15th World Champion Viswanathan Anand, who joined the live broadcast, commenting, "The tournament is growing in importance along with the importance of the players who are playing in it!"
The highlight this year, however, is a return for world number-one Carlsen, who played the event once, and won it, in 2019. His biggest rivals may be world numbers four and six, GMs Arjun Erigaisi and Abdusattorov.
At the opening ceremony, Carlsen talked about facing some of the leaders of the young generation:
"I always enjoy getting to test myself against a younger generation and I’m always very curious to see how much they’ve improved since the last time we’ve played. Usually it turns out they’ve improved a lot but not always enough, but apart from that I’m very much looking forward to seeing all the Indian chess fans. It’s quite chaotic, so that’s one of the reasons why I don’t do it every single year, but every time it happens it’s fun."
