Carlsen, Goryachkina Win Tata Steel India Rapid With Round To Spare
World number-one Magnus Carlsen was on fire as he posted a six-game winning streak to win the 2024 Tata Steel Chess India Open Rapid with a round to spare. A thrilling battle against GM Vincent Keymer was followed by a grinding win against GM Daniil Dubov, while GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov fell away with two losses to GMs Wesley So and Arjun Erigaisi before missing a win against Carlsen in the final round. GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu scored 2.5/3 to catch So and take second place, though the players share the same prize money.
GM Aleksandra Goryachkina also won the 2024 Tata Steel Chess India Women's Rapid with a round to spare. A 12-move draw in the first round of the day looked like a potential miscalculation when GM Nana Dzagnidze won to close the gap to half a point, but Goryachkina's win over IM Divya Deshmukh in the next round sealed victory when Dzagnidze blundered in a drawn position against GM Valentina Gunina. Dzagnidze still took second, while IM Vantika Agrawal took third.
Day four, the first of Blitz, starts on Saturday, November 16, at 3:30 a.m. ET/09:30 CET/2 p.m. IST.
- Open Rapid: Carlsen Wins His 2nd Tata Steel Chess India Title
- Women's Rapid: Goryachkina Triumphs After Dzagnidze Heartbreaker
Both Carlsen and Goryachkina ultimately won by a full two points.
Tata Steel Chess India Rapid Open: Final Standings
Tata Steel Chess India Rapid Women: Final Standings
Open Rapid: Carlsen Wins His 2nd Tata Steel Chess India Title
Carlsen started the final day half a point ahead of Abdusattorov after what he would later call "one of the best days of chess I’ve had recently," adding, "one thing is to score 3/3, but I also felt the level of play was very high as well." Day three would be a bit bumpier, with Carlsen facing Keymer, who was celebrating his 20th birthday.
There are easier ways to celebrate than playing the world number-one with the black pieces, but the German grandmaster seemed to relish the challenge and played the opening fast and well. It became an intense strategic and then tactical battle, with Carlsen ultimately giving up a couple of pawns for a passed c-pawn. By the time we reached an endgame, the Norwegian had just one lonely d-pawn to his opponent's six...
...but, in the time scramble that followed, it was that lone d-pawn that would win the day!
Tania Sachdev: "The Magnus Touch in the endgame.... 5 pawns for a piece and he still makes it happen!" #TataSteelChessIndia pic.twitter.com/TOtW94LiT1
— chess24 (@chess24com) November 15, 2024
That's our Game of the Day, which has been annotated by GM Dejan Bojkov below.
The birthday would at least improve for Keymer, who got to deliver a pretty checkmate against GM Vidit Gujrathi in the next round before defeating Dubov in the last.
Meanwhile, Carlsen's win proved to be crucial since So soon seized the advantage against Abdusattorov and went on to win when his opponent finally stumbled into a mating net.
That left Carlsen with a 1.5-point lead over both So and Abdusattorov so that in the penultimate round, a win would guarantee him sole first place with a round to spare, while a draw would mean that—at worst—he would go into the final round with a one-point lead.
He was facing Dubov, who had drawn all seven games up to that point in Kolkata, and when Carlsen went for the infamously solid Maroczy Bind structure with pawns on c4 and e4, another draw looked likely.
Instead, the world number-one got a position where he could push at no risk and win a pawn, and though there were chances to put up much more resistance, Carlsen went on to win. 39.c5!, creating a passed a-pawn, was the start of the end.
Carlsen had clinched victory with a round to spare.
Magnus Carlsen won a 6th game in a row and ended Daniil Dubov's 7-game drawing streak as he clinched victory in the #TataSteelChessIndia Rapid with a round to spare! pic.twitter.com/sUw5Hd5X1T
— chess24 (@chess24com) November 15, 2024
In fact, it was overkill since a draw would have sufficed—So barely held with the white pieces against a resurgent Praggnanandhaa, while Abdusattorov fell to the first and only victory of Arjun in the rapid tournament.
Arjun Erigaisi is on the brink of his 1st win of #TataSteelChessIndia 2024! https://t.co/Va4EhMqLbw pic.twitter.com/KvcZTmdIxv
— chess24 (@chess24com) November 15, 2024
The point of Arjun's blow was that after the rook took on g6, the bishop on c5 was left defenseless and could be picked up with a fork of the black king and bishop.
The Abdusattorov-Carlsen showdown in the final round was no longer a title decider, but that posed its own problems for Carlsen as to how to approach it. He told the live commentary team:
"He wasn’t at his best after the first two games that he not only lost but also played quite poorly, so I didn’t really know what to expect, but I wasn’t feeling fantastic. I just thought, let’s play a game, and it became very interesting, but to be fair, I was just outplayed! My calculation was not crisp enough and he also evaluated better than I did."
To be fair, I was just outplayed!
Magnus Carlsen on his game vs. Nodirbek Abdusattorov
Carlsen was resigned to his fate, pointing out, "It doesn’t matter that much, but it’s never nice to finish with a loss—I didn’t have a lot of hope." There was an amnesty, however, as Abdusattorov spoiled the win with the queen sacrifice 38.Qxe8??, a move his opponent called "pure insanity," adding, "I'd seen from afar this is not even remotely dangerous for me."
"I feel like I didn’t actually do anything, he just gave it to me, but I’ll take it, of course!" said Carlsen, who, with a draw, ended on what he called "a great score," 7.5/9. He's not playing much classical chess nowadays, but when he does play any kind of chess, he tends to do well!
This is Carlsen's 9th tournament victory in 2024:
— Tarjei J. Svensen (@TarjeiJS) November 15, 2024
🏆Tata Steel Chess India Rapid
🏆Julius Baer Generation Cup
🏆Speed Chess Championship
🏆Norway Chess
🏆Casablanca Chess
🏆Grenke Classic
🏆Warszaw GCT
🏆Freestyle Chess
🏆Chessable Masters https://t.co/9zy07kk5dO
Looking back at the tournament, Carlsen pointed to his win over Arjun on day two (our Game of the Day):
"I was very happy with the way I handled the game against Arjun. It wasn’t the most technically perfect game, but it always gives me a lot of satisfaction when I can play well in these really complicated Sicilian type of positions, especially against the kids, who are supposed to be really good at calculating. When I can hang with them in those situations that makes me very happy!"
The one kid who emerged from the pack at the end was Praggnanandhaa, who defeated Arjun in crushing style in the final round to reach 5.5/9 and catch So, who had made a quick Berlin draw against Nihal. In fact, Praggnanandhaa took second place, but prize money was shared ($4,500 each), while Carlsen took $10,000 for first place.
There are now 18 rounds of 3+2 blitz on Saturday and Sunday, with Carlsen noting he's used to the rapid and blitz being combined, as in the Grand Chess Tour, and having to play catch-up in blitz. What's he aiming for? "Blitz generally is better for me than rapid, and I’ve never put a Grand Chess Tour event together where I’ve played really well in both the rapid and the blitz, so maybe I can do this here—that would be my goal!"
It sounds ominous.
Women's Rapid: Goryachkina Triumps After Dzagnidze Heartbreaker
The Women's title initially promised less drama since Goryachkina began the day with a full-point lead over Dzagnidze, but the leader made a 12-move draw against GM Koneru Humpy, while Dzagnidze survived a lost position against Divya to win and cut the gap to half a point. Once again, everything would be decided in the penultimate round.
Divya was slightly better in a complex position against Goryachkina before one very plausible move, which would have been strong a move earlier, lost on the spot: 35...Rxg3+?.
That left Dzagnidze needing a win to keep the gap at half a point or a draw to stay within a point and keep some hopes alive for the final round. Briefly, the Georgian star was winning, but then her game against Gunina looked sure to end in a draw. A moment of horror would follow, however, as just as the commentators were wondering why White couldn't take the pawn on d5, Dzagnidze did just that, and it was the losing blunder!
GM Sahaj Grover was just wondering why Nana Dzagnidze couldn't take the pawn on d5, then realized it's a blunder... then Nana made the move! #TataSteelChessIndia pic.twitter.com/hry3IbJRBA
— chess24 (@chess24com) November 15, 2024
That meant Goryachkina had also won with a round to spare to take home the same $10,000 prize as Carlsen. She then went on to match the Norwegian's two-point gap to second place by defeating Gunina (who, this time, was the one to blunder horribly) in the final round.
The good news for Dzagnidze is that her blunder didn't prove overly costly—a shaky draw against GM Alexandra Kosteniuk, who missed a clear win near the end, gave her clear second place. Third was taken by Vantika, half a point behind, despite a last-round loss to Divya.
The balance of power in the Women's Blitz could easily look very different to the Rapid. For instance, GM Vaishali Rameshbabu had a miserable first two days but then scored 2.5/3, and almost 3/3, on the third. Everyone will start from scratch, and you don't want to miss it!
How to watch? Tata Steel Chess India
You can watch the event live on Twitch, as well as on our YouTube channel. The games can also be checked out on our dedicated Tata Steel Chess India events page.
The broadcast was hosted by IM Tania Sachdev and GM Sahaj Grover, with former World Champion Viswanathan Anand and IM Sagar Shah also joining.
Tata Steel Chess India 2024 is taking place in the Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium in Kolkata on November 13-17 and features an Open and a Women's section, each consisting of 10 players and with the same prize fund. The first three days of rapid chess (first prize $10,000) are a single round-robin with a 25-minute/game + 10-second increment/move time control. The last two days of blitz (first prize $7,500) are a double round-robin at a 3+2 time control.
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Colin McGourty led news at Chess24 from its launch until it merged with Chess.com a decade later. An amateur player, he got into chess writing when he set up the website Chess in Translation after previously studying Slavic languages and literature in St. Andrews, Odesa, Oxford, and Krakow.
