NEW DELHI: The Tata Steel Chess India Blitz 2024 tournament reached its midway point on Saturday, with World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen and three-time World Women's Blitz champion Kateryna Lagno occupying the top spots in their respective sections.
In the open category, Carlsen concluded the first nine rounds with an impressive score of 6.5 points out of a possible 9.
Despite a dominant start, his momentum was temporarily halted in round eight when he suffered a loss against Arjun Erigaisi in just 20 moves. Carlsen secured a draw against Vidit Gujarathi in the final round of the day.
Closely trailing Carlsen in second place is the young Indian prodigy, R Praggnanandhaa, with 6 points.
Praggnanandhaa showcased remarkable resilience by recovering from an initial setback of losing his first three games and subsequently registering six consecutive wins.
Arjun Erigaisi and Russia's Daniil Dubov are tied for third place with 5.5 points each.
In the women's section, Kateryna Lagno leads the field with 7 points, maintaining an undefeated streak with five wins and four draws. Valentina Gunina follows closely in second place, trailing Lagno by a single point.
The Rapid Champion, Aleksandra Goryachkina, occupies third place with 5 points. Goryachkina had a strong start with three consecutive wins but managed only four draws in the remaining six games.
Standings (Round 9): Open Section: Magnus Carlsen (6.5); R Praggnanandhaa (6); Arjun Erigaisi (5.5); Daniil Dubov (5.5); Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (5); Abdusattorov Nodirbek (4); Wesley So (3.5); Narayanan S L (3.5); Nihal Sarin (3.5) and Keymer Vincent (2)
Women's Section: Kateryna Lagno (7); Valentina Gunina (6); Aleksandra Goryachkina (5); Divya Deshmukh (4.5); Vantika Agrawal (4.5); Koneru Humpy (4.5); Harika Dronavalli (4); Alexandra Kosteniuk (4); Vaishali R (3.5) and Nana Dzagnidze (2).
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