Report by Colin McGourty for chess.com
"Today couldn't have gone better!" said GM Magnus Carlsen as he powered to wins over GMs Narayanan S.L., Wesley So, and Arjun Erigaisi to take the sole lead after day two of the 2024 Tata Steel Chess India Open Rapid. GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov is just half a point behind, however, and has White vs. Carlsen in the final round.
GM Aleksandra Goryachkina matched Carlsen's perfect 3/3 and is also the sole leader of the 2024 Tata Steel Chess India Women's Rapid with the same score of 5/6. Her closest pursuer, GM Nana Dzagnidze, is a full point behind.
Day three starts on Friday, November 15, at 3:30 a.m. ET/09:30 CET/2 p.m. IST.
Tata Steel Chess India Rapid Open: Standings After Day 2
Tata Steel Chess India Rapid Women: Standings After Day 2
Open Rapid: Magnus Carlsen Takes Over
Carlsen, despite topping the world rankings for 13 years, is known as a slow starter, and we saw some signs of rust in the two draws with which he began the event. That was potentially a problem since, unlike the Grand Chess Tour events, scores for rapid and blitz in Kolkata aren't combined—the first champions will already be crowned after the next day.
The rust had well and truly been shaken off on day two, however, as Carlsen powered to three wins, making it four wins in a row.
He smoothly outplayed one of the players he started the day tied with, Narayanan, later telling IM Sagar Shah, "I kind of played old man’s chess in that game—no long variations, just positional chess, and I think he made a couple of crucial positional mistakes and then it was very, very difficult for him."
I kind of played old man's chess in that game.
—Carlsen on his win vs. Narayanan
That saw him catch Abdusattorov in the lead, but they were also joined by So, who played a brilliant game that finally proved that there are some holes even Arjun can't dig himself out of.
