India Open Chess: Magnus Carlsen leads despite going down to Arjun Erigaisi

KOLKATA: World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen suffered his first defeat in the Tata Steel India Open Rapid and Blitz tournament here on Saturday, but that could not deny him from finishing on top of the points table after Day One of the blitz meet.

After winning the rapid category on Friday, Carlsen was again on a roll winning five and drawing two matches till Indian youngster Arjun Erigaisi stunned him in a spectacular fashion with black in just 20 moves in the eighth round. The loss perhaps dented Carlsen's momentum who drew with Vidit Gujarathi in the ninth and last round of the day to end with 6.5 points out of a possible 9.

Following him just half-a-point behind was R Praggnanandhaa who staged a remarkable recovery to register six consecutive wins after losing his first three games of the day. Both Arjun and Vidit stayed in the hunt with 5.5 and 5 points respectively.

German youngster Vincent Keymer, who turned 20 on Friday, had a forgettable day to be placed at the bottom of the table with two points.

In the women's section, three-time World Women's Blitz champion Kateryna Lagno occupied the top spot with seven points, maintaining an undefeated streak with five wins and four draws. Valentina Gunina trailed her by a single point at second place, while Aleksandra Goryachkina, who won the rapid title on Friday, is in third place.


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