Carlsen, Goryachkina Win Tata Steel India Rapid With Round To Spare
World number-one Magnus Carlsen was on fire as he completed 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 tie for second place with So.
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.
This is a flash report—come back later for analysis, player quotes, and photos!
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 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
The crucial win for Carlsen was against 20-year-old birthday boy Keymer, who seemed to win the opening battle. A draw began to seem likely, but the world number-one sacrificed two pawns for a passed pawn, and eventually managed to win an endgame thriller.
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.
Carlsen led by 1.5 points with two rounds to go and needed a win to guarantee tournament victory whatever happened elsewhere—he managed, despite facing Dubov, who was on a seven-game drawing streak.
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
Women's Rapid: Goryachkina Triumps After Dzagnidze Heartbreaker
The Women's title was also decided in the penultimate round. First Goryachkina pounced on a blunder by Divya...
A huge win for Goryachkina — Divya's 35...Rxg3+? would draw if Goryachkina took the piece, but after 36.Kh1! White was winning! https://t.co/VWa40wvPxe pic.twitter.com/KI5NNwnr6X
— chess24 (@chess24com) November 15, 2024
...and then Dzagnidze lost a game she had been pushing to win when she blundered against Gunina.
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
A draw and Dzagnidze would still have had an outside chance of forcing a playoff, but as it was Goryachkina had clinched the title.
Come back later for the full report!
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.
Previous Coverage
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.
