Tata Steel Chess India: Blitz Day 1

All Photos: Lennart Ootes/ Tata Steel Chess India.

Thirteen-year-old Praggnanandhaa, who replaced Nihal Sarin in the blitz part, scored an impressive 3.5/9. He tasted success in round five when he defeated former World Championship Challenger Sergey Karjakin of Russia before outwitting local favourite Surya Sekhar Ganguly in the eighth round. Meanwhile, Hikaru Nakamura, who won the Rapid leg, stayed unbeaten to remain in sole lead position at the end of day one of the Tata Steel Chess India Blitz tournament.

Nakamura ended with a score of 6.5/9, registering four wins and five draws after nine rounds. He has good chances to take the first prize in the blitz part.

Five-time world champion Viswanathan Anand along with Pentala Harikrishna led the Indian challenge. After nine rounds, both compatriots amassed five points.

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Scoring 5/9, Pentala Harikrishna did pretty well. He defeated Levon Aronian with the white pieces in 41 moves.

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Praggnanandhaa can be very satisfied with his first day performance. He scored 3.5/9 which included two wins, game vs Ganguly and the following, against Karjakin

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Another nine rounds of blitz will be played today with the same pairings as yesterday but with reverse colours.

Blitz

Round 1:

Hikaru Nakamura – Surya Shekhar Ganguly 1-0
Pentala Harikrishna – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu 1-0
Levon Aronian – Santosh Gujrathi Vidit ½-½
Wesley So – Viswanathan Anand ½-½
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – Sergey Karjakin ½-½

Round 2:

Surya Shekhar Ganguly – Sergey Karjakin 1-0
Viswanathan Anand – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov ½-½
Santosh Gujrathi Vidit – Wesley So ½-½
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu – Levon Aronian 0-1
Hikaru Nakamura – Pentala Harikrishna 1-0

Round 3:

Pentala Harikrishna – Surya Shekhar Ganguly 1-0
Levon Aronian – Hikaru Nakamura ½-½
Wesley So – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu ½-½
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – Santosh Gujrathi Vidit 1-0
Sergey Karjakin – Viswanathan Anand 1-0

Round 4:

Surya Shekhar Ganguly – Viswanathan Anand 0-1
Santosh Gujrathi Vidit – Sergey Karjakin ½-½
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 0-1
Hikaru Nakamura – Wesley So 1-0
Pentala Harikrishna – Levon Aronian 1-0

Round 5:

Levon Aronian – Surya Shekhar Ganguly ½-½
Wesley So – Pentala Harikrishna 1-0
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – Hikaru Nakamura 0-1
Sergey Karjakin – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu 0-1
Viswanathan Anand – Santosh Gujrathi Vidit 1-0

Round 6:

Surya Shekhar Ganguly – Santosh Gujrathi Vidit 0-1
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu – Viswanathan Anand 0-1
Hikaru Nakamura – Sergey Karjakin ½-½
Pentala Harikrishna – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov ½-½
Levon Aronian – Wesley So ½-½

Round 7:

Wesley So – Surya Shekhar Ganguly 1-0
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – Levon Aronian ½-½
Sergey Karjakin – Pentala Harikrishna ½-½
Viswanathan Anand – Hikaru Nakamura ½-½
Santosh Gujrathi Vidit – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu ½-½

Round 8:

Surya Shekhar Ganguly – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu 0-1
Hikaru Nakamura – Santosh Gujrathi Vidit ½-½
Pentala Harikrishna – Viswanathan Anand ½-½
Levon Aronian – Sergey Karjakin 1-0
Wesley So – Shakhriyar Mamedyarov 1-0

Round 9:

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – Surya Shekhar Ganguly 0-1
Sergey Karjakin – Wesley So 0-1
Viswanathan Anand – Levon Aronian 0-1
Santosh Gujrathi Vidit – Pentala Harikrishna ½-½
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu – Hikaru Nakamura ½-½

Standings after round 9:

Rank		Points	Rating
1	Nakamura, Hikaru	6½	2893
2	So, Wesley	6	2771
3	Aronian, Levon	5½	2854
4	Anand, Viswanathan	5	2786
5	Harikrishna, Pentala	5	2706
6	Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar	4	2808
7	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	4	2727
8	Praggnanandhaa R	3½	2366
9	Karjakin, Sergey	3	2836
10	Ganguly, Surya Shekhar	2½	2547