Tata Steel Rapid 2026 R1-3: Vishy Anand and Hans Niemann make a great start
Vishy Anand and Hans Niemann (USA) have emerged early coleaders at Tata Steel India Rapid 2026. Both of them scored 2.5/3 on the first day. Anand defeated Wesley So (USA) and Aravindh Chithambaram, drew against Wei Yi (CHN). Hans on the other hand, won against former World Rapid champion, Volodar Murzin and R Praggnanandhaa, drew against Vidit Gujrathi. Arjun Erigaisi started the event with two losses. Vidit Gujrathi scored an unbeaten 2/3. Nihal Sarin and Praggnanandhaa scored 1.5/3 each. In the Women's event, IM Vantika Agrawal scored 2/3 including wins over GM R Vaishali and GM Harika Dronavalli. WGM Rakshitta Ravi drew all three of her games, although she was winning against the new World Rapid Women's 2025 champion, GM Aleksandra Goryachkina. Round 4 starts tomorrow at 2 p.m. IST. Photo: IA NI Vivek Sohani
Women: Goryachkina escapes jaws of defeat against Rakshitta
Round 1: Anand - So: 1-0
The last time Vishy Anand (2721) and Wesley So (USA, 2705) faced each other in Rapid was over two years ago at Amsterdam Levitov Rapid in 2023. They traded wins there, both times with white pieces.
So's overambitious approach 33...g4?? backfired 34.gxf4+- Nxf4 35.Qf5 Nh3+ 36.Kf1 Rh8 37.e6+ Kh6 38.Be3+ Ng5 39.h4 Kg7 40.hxg5 and White won.
Arjun - Vidit: 0-1
Arjun Erigaisi had (2746) never lost a game against Vidit Gujrathi (2632) at Tata Steel India Rapid until this game. Previously three games ended in draws and Arjun won one.
White needed to play 29.Nxe4. Instead, he played 29.Rxe4? Nb6-+ and White's position started falling apart.
Rakshitta - Goryachkina
WGM Rakshitta Ravi (2148) found herself getting a decisive advantage after the newly crowned World Rapid Women's champion, GM Aleksandra Goryachkina (2512) made the mistake of retreating her king 44...Kg7? to a wrong square. Rakshitta found the correct move 45.Rb7+- However she could not follow through completely and allowed her opponent to escape with a draw via perpetual check.
Round 2: Praggnanandhaa - Arjun: 1-0
R Praggnanandhaa (2662) has defeated Arjun Erigaisi (2746) in every single time they faced each other at this event. All three wins back in 2021, 2023 and 2024 occurred with the white pieces. This time also Praggnanandhaa had the white pieces and the result was the same. Arjun's pieces got tied up early in the King's Indian Defence and he could not recover for the rest of the game.
Nihal - Aravindh: 1-0
The only time Nihal Sarin (2660) faced India's first and only triple crown champion, Aravindh Chithambaram (2603) at a Rapid rated game was at World Rapid 2023. Nihal won that encounter. This time also the result was the same.
Round 3: Hans - Praggnanandhaa: 1-0
IM Vantika Agrawal (2325) got the better of GM Harika Dronavalli (2416).
WGM Rakshitta Ravi (2148) held the FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 winner, GM Divya Deshmukh (2442) to a draw.
Replay live stream
Format
There will be two tournaments: a men's and a women's event. The tournaments will be played in two formats - Rapid and Blitz. For the second time, both Men's and Women's event will take place simultaneously. Three rounds of Rapid games will be played on the first three days, followed by nine rounds of Blitz per day on the remaining two days of each event. The time control is 15 minutes for the entire game with an increment of 10 seconds from move no.1. For Blitz, the time control is 3 minutes with an increment of 2 seconds from move no.1.
Venue
Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium in Kolkata, West Bengal. The tournament is open to all spectators and entry is free for all.
Replay Round 1-3 Men games
Replay Round 1-3 Women games
Round 1-3 Men results
| Round 1 on 2026/01/07 at 15:00 hrs | ||||||||||
| Bo. | FED | Rtg | White | Result | Black | FED | Rtg | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IND | 2721 | GM | Anand, Viswanathan | 1 - 0 | GM | So, Wesley | USA | 2705 | |
| 2 | CHN | 2746 | GM | Wei, Yi | ½ - ½ | GM | Nihal, Sarin | IND | 2660 | |
| 3 | IND | 2603 | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. | ½ - ½ | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | IND | 2662 | |
| 4 | IND | 2746 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | 0 - 1 | GM | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | IND | 2632 | |
| 5 | USA | 2636 | GM | Niemann, Hans Moke | 1 - 0 | GM | Murzin, Volodar | FID | 2603 | |
| Round 2 on 2026/01/07 at 16:15 hrs | ||||||||||
| Bo. | FED | Rtg | White | Result | Black | FED | Rtg | |||
| 1 | USA | 2705 | GM | So, Wesley | 1 - 0 | GM | Murzin, Volodar | FID | 2603 | |
| 2 | IND | 2632 | GM | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | ½ - ½ | GM | Niemann, Hans Moke | USA | 2636 | |
| 3 | IND | 2662 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | 1 - 0 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | IND | 2746 | |
| 4 | IND | 2660 | GM | Nihal, Sarin | 1 - 0 | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. | IND | 2603 | |
| 5 | IND | 2721 | GM | Anand, Viswanathan | ½ - ½ | GM | Wei, Yi | CHN | 2746 | |
| Round 3 on 2026/01/07 at 17:30 hrs | ||||||||||
| Bo. | FED | Rtg | White | Result | Black | FED | Rtg | |||
| 1 | CHN | 2746 | GM | Wei, Yi | 0 - 1 | GM | So, Wesley | USA | 2705 | |
| 2 | IND | 2603 | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. | 0 - 1 | GM | Anand, Viswanathan | IND | 2721 | |
| 3 | IND | 2746 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | 1 - 0 | GM | Nihal, Sarin | IND | 2660 | |
| 4 | USA | 2636 | GM | Niemann, Hans Moke | 1 - 0 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | IND | 2662 | |
| 5 | FID | 2603 | GM | Murzin, Volodar | ½ - ½ | GM | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | IND | 2632 | |
Standings after Round 3
Round 4 pairings
| Bo. | FED | Rtg | White | Result | Black | FED | Rtg | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | USA | 2705 | GM | So, Wesley | GM | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | IND | 2632 | ||
| 2 | IND | 2662 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | GM | Murzin, Volodar | FID | 2603 | ||
| 3 | IND | 2660 | GM | Nihal, Sarin | GM | Niemann, Hans Moke | USA | 2636 | ||
| 4 | IND | 2721 | GM | Anand, Viswanathan | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | IND | 2746 | ||
| 5 | CHN | 2746 | GM | Wei, Yi | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. | IND | 2603 |
Round 1-3 Women results
| Round 1 on 2026/01/07 at 15:00 hrs | ||||||||||||
| Bo. | FED | Rtg | White | Result | Black | FED | Rtg | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IND | 2148 | WGM | Rakshitta, Ravi | ½ - ½ | GM | Goryachkina, Aleksandra | FID | 2512 | |||
| 2 | USA | 2347 | IM | Yip, Carissa | 1 - 0 | IM | Tsolakidou, Stavroula | GRE | 2347 | |||
| 3 | IND | 2422 | GM | Divya, Deshmukh | ½ - ½ | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | IND | 2416 | |||
| 4 | GEO | 2393 | GM | Dzagnidze, Nana | ½ - ½ | GM | Lagno, Kateryna | RUS | 2421 | |||
| 5 | IND | 2325 | IM | Vantika, Agrawal | 1 - 0 | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | IND | 2392 | |||
| Round 2 on 2026/01/07 at 16:15 hrs | ||||||||||||
| Bo. | FED | Rtg | White | Result | Black | FED | Rtg | |||||
| 1 | FID | 2512 | GM | Goryachkina, Aleksandra | 1 - 0 | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | IND | 2392 | |||
| 2 | RUS | 2421 | GM | Lagno, Kateryna | 1 - 0 | IM | Vantika, Agrawal | IND | 2325 | |||
| 3 | IND | 2416 | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | ½ - ½ | GM | Dzagnidze, Nana | GEO | 2393 | |||
| 4 | GRE | 2347 | IM | Tsolakidou, Stavroula | 1 - 0 | GM | Divya, Deshmukh | IND | 2422 | |||
| 5 | IND | 2148 | WGM | Rakshitta, Ravi | ½ - ½ | IM | Yip, Carissa | USA | 2347 | |||
| Round 3 on 2026/01/07 at 17:30 hrs | ||||||||||||
| Bo. | FED | Rtg | White | Result | Black | FED | Rtg | |||||
| 1 | USA | 2347 | IM | Yip, Carissa | 1 - 0 | GM | Goryachkina, Aleksandra | FID | 2512 | |||
| 2 | IND | 2422 | GM | Divya, Deshmukh | ½ - ½ | WGM | Rakshitta, Ravi | IND | 2148 | |||
| 3 | GEO | 2393 | GM | Dzagnidze, Nana | 1 - 0 | IM | Tsolakidou, Stavroula | GRE | 2347 | |||
| 4 | IND | 2325 | IM | Vantika, Agrawal | 1 - 0 | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | IND | 2416 | |||
| 5 | IND | 2392 | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | ½ - ½ | GM | Lagno, Kateryna | RUS | 2421 | |||
Standings after Round 3
Round 4 pairings
| Bo. | FED | Rtg | White | Result | Black | FED | Rtg | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | FID | 2512 | GM | Goryachkina, Aleksandra | GM | Lagno, Kateryna | RUS | 2421 | ||||
| 2 | IND | 2416 | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | IND | 2392 | ||||
| 3 | GRE | 2347 | IM | Tsolakidou, Stavroula | IM | Vantika, Agrawal | IND | 2325 | ||||
| 4 | IND | 2148 | WGM | Rakshitta, Ravi | GM | Dzagnidze, Nana | GEO | 2393 | ||||
| 5 | USA | 2347 | IM | Yip, Carissa | GM | Divya, Deshmukh | IND | 2422 |
Schedule
Everyday round starts at 3 p.m. IST. The Rapid event will take place from 7th to 9th January, followed by the Blitz event on 10th and 11th January.
Prize
The total prize fund remains the same as the previous two editions - US$ 41500. The top three prizes in the Rapid are - $10000, $6000 and $3000. For Blitz they are - $7500, $4000 and $2500. Most importantly, the prizes remain equal in both Open and Womens events.
Links
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