Nihal Sarin clinches Tata Steel Rapid 2026 with a 2839 performance, Anand second and Arjun Erigaisi third
Nihal Sarin scored 6.5/9 to clinch Tata Steel Chess India Rapid 2026 with a 2839 and finished a half point ahead of the competition. The 21-year-old from Kerala started the day with a well-contested draw against R Praggnanandhaa. Then, he crushed Wesley So (USA). He finished the event with a draw against Vishy Anand who was the only player who could surpass him in the final round. The maestro started the day with a draw against Vidit Gujrathi, then he drew with Praggnanandhaa. Arjun Erigaisi scored 5/9 to finish third on tie-breaks. He edged past So and Hans Niemann (USA). GM Divya Deshmukh scored 2.5/3 on the final day to finish third scoring 50%, 4.5/9. Nine rounds of Blitz games will be played tomorrow. Blitz Round 1 starts tomorrow at 2 p.m. IST. Photo: Lennart Ootes
Nihal delivers an encore performance of 2022, A good last day fetches Divya third place in Women
They say the more the things change, they stay the same. Back in 2022, Nihal won the tournament with a round to spare. Even then his sole loss was against Arjun Erigaisi. The entire podium in the Men's event was claimed by the Indians. This time, runner-up is Vishy Anand and Arjun Erigaisi moved from second to third place. Nihal also joined a unique club with Magnus Carlsen who is the only other player to have won this event twice in 2019 and 2024 since its inception. It means four out of the seven editions are won by two players - Carlsen and Nihal.
Personally Nihal had a tough time as his maternal grandfather passed away yesterday. It was very tough for him as his grandfather taught him chess. Nihal got a last minute opportunity as the World Champion, D Gukesh pulled out of the event. It just shows that good and kind people do not necessarily always come last, sometimes they wait for their opportunity with bated breath and seize them. It goes without saying that the partnership between GM Vishnu Prasanna and Nihal is really working well.
GM Kateryna Lagno won the Women's event scoring an unbeaten 6.5/9. World Rapid Women 2025 champion, GM Aleksandra Goryachkina claimed second place scoring 5/9. FIDE Women's World Cup 2025 winner, GM Divya Deshmukh scored 4.5/9 and finished third, due to her tie-breaks being better than the remaining four players at 4.5/9 including GM Harika Dronavalli and GM R Vaishali. Harika and Vaishali secured fourth and fifth place respectively.
Round 7: Praggnanandhaa - Nihal: 0.5-0.5
R Praggnanandhaa (2662) and Nihal Sarin (2660) played three Rapid rated games against each other. Praggnanandhaa won two and Nihal drew one. This time they played a well contested draw.
Arjun - So: 0.5-0.5
Arjun Erigaisi (2746) and Wesley So (USA, 2705) played four Rated rapid games against each other. Two of them occurred at the very same Tata Steel India Rapid in 2022 and 2024. In total, So won two and the remaining two ended in draws. Arjun had a great opportunity to register his first win in Rapid against his opponent in a rated game.
41...Rxa4+? was a mistake. 42.Kd3+- Bxc3 43.Kxc3 Rb4 44.Rb7 Kg7 45.b6 Kg6 46.Kd3?? instead 46.Rb8 would have maintained the decisive advantage for White.
Round 8: So - Nihal: 0-1
It might be difficult to believe but as per my research, So and Nihal played rated Rapid games only at this event - 2018, 2022 and 2024. So won the first one and the next two ended in draws. So got crushed by Nihal.
13.f4? Bxg1 14.Rxg1 Qb6 15.0-0-0 Qxg1 and White lost the game in eight more moves.
Round 9: Nihal - Anand: 0.5-0.5
The only time Nihal Sarin and Vishy Anand played a rated game in any format was over seven years at the very same event in the inaugural edition. It ended in a draw and the result was once again the same. Anand was the only player who had a mathematical chance of surpassing Nihal's score as he was trailing by a half point at 5.5/8 while Nihal was at 6/8. Maybe at some corner in his mind or heart, he felt that it would not be nice to push hard for a win against the youngster who is the present and future.
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 7-9 Men games
Replay Round 7-9 Women games
Round 7-9 Men results
| Round 7 on 2026/01/09 at 15:00 hrs | ||||||||||
| Bo. | FED | Rtg | White | Result | Black | FED | Rtg | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | IND | 2746 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | ½ - ½ | GM | So, Wesley | USA | 2705 | |
| 2 | USA | 2636 | GM | Niemann, Hans Moke | 1 - 0 | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. | IND | 2603 | |
| 3 | FID | 2603 | GM | Murzin, Volodar | 1 - 0 | GM | Wei, Yi | CHN | 2746 | |
| 4 | IND | 2632 | GM | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | ½ - ½ | GM | Anand, Viswanathan | IND | 2721 | |
| 5 | IND | 2662 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | ½ - ½ | GM | Nihal, Sarin | IND | 2660 | |
| Round 8 on 2026/01/09 at 16:15 hrs | ||||||||||
| Bo. | FED | Rtg | White | Result | Black | FED | Rtg | |||
| 1 | USA | 2705 | GM | So, Wesley | 0 - 1 | GM | Nihal, Sarin | IND | 2660 | |
| 2 | IND | 2721 | GM | Anand, Viswanathan | ½ - ½ | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | IND | 2662 | |
| 3 | CHN | 2746 | GM | Wei, Yi | ½ - ½ | GM | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | IND | 2632 | |
| 4 | IND | 2603 | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. | 0 - 1 | GM | Murzin, Volodar | FID | 2603 | |
| 5 | IND | 2746 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | 1 - 0 | GM | Niemann, Hans Moke | USA | 2636 | |
| Round 9 on 2026/01/09 at 17:30 hrs | ||||||||||
| Bo. | FED | Rtg | White | Result | Black | FED | Rtg | |||
| 1 | USA | 2636 | GM | Niemann, Hans Moke | ½ - ½ | GM | So, Wesley | USA | 2705 | |
| 2 | FID | 2603 | GM | Murzin, Volodar | 1 - 0 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | IND | 2746 | |
| 3 | IND | 2632 | GM | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | ½ - ½ | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. | IND | 2603 | |
| 4 | IND | 2662 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | 0 - 1 | GM | Wei, Yi | CHN | 2746 | |
| 5 | IND | 2660 | GM | Nihal, Sarin | ½ - ½ | GM | Anand, Viswanathan | IND | 2721 | |
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | RtgI | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | Rp | n | w | we | w-we | K | rtg+/- | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | GM | Nihal, Sarin | IND | 2660 | 6,5 | 0 | 26,5 | 5 | 2 | 2839 | 9 | 6,5 | 4,35 | 2,15 | 10 | 21,5 |
| 2 | 1 | GM | Anand, Viswanathan | IND | 2721 | 6 | 0 | 24,5 | 4 | 2 | 2791 | 9 | 6 | 5,18 | 0,82 | 10 | 8,2 |
| 3 | 4 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | IND | 2746 | 5 | 1 | 24,25 | 4 | 1 | 2706 | 9 | 5 | 5,52 | -0,52 | 10 | -5,2 |
| 4 | 10 | GM | So, Wesley | USA | 2705 | 5 | 2 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 2711 | 9 | 5 | 4,96 | 0,04 | 10 | 0,4 |
| 5 | 5 | GM | Niemann, Hans Moke | USA | 2636 | 5 | 3 | 17,75 | 4 | 1 | 2718 | 9 | 5 | 4,02 | 0,98 | 10 | 9,8 |
| 6 | 8 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | IND | 2662 | 4,5 | 0 | 20,25 | 2 | 0 | 2672 | 9 | 4,5 | 4,36 | 0,14 | 10 | 1,4 |
| 7 | 7 | GM | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | IND | 2632 | 4,5 | 0 | 19,5 | 1 | 1 | 2676 | 9 | 4,5 | 3,95 | 0,55 | 10 | 5,5 |
| 8 | 6 | GM | Murzin, Volodar | FID | 2603 | 3,5 | 1 | 12,25 | 3 | 1 | 2599 | 9 | 3,5 | 3,57 | -0,07 | 10 | -0,7 |
| 9 | 2 | GM | Wei, Yi | CHN | 2746 | 3,5 | 2 | 14,5 | 2 | 1 | 2583 | 9 | 3,5 | 5,52 | -2,02 | 10 | -20,2 |
| 10 | 3 | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. | IND | 2603 | 1,5 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 2406 | 9 | 1,5 | 3,57 | -2,07 | 10 | -20,7 |
Round 7-9 Women results
| Round 7 on 2026/01/09 at 15:00 hrs | ||||||||||||
| Bo. | FED | Rtg | White | Result | Black | FED | Rtg | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GEO | 2393 | GM | Dzagnidze, Nana | ½ - ½ | GM | Goryachkina, Aleksandra | FID | 2512 | |||
| 2 | IND | 2325 | IM | Vantika, Agrawal | 0 - 1 | GM | Divya, Deshmukh | IND | 2422 | |||
| 3 | IND | 2392 | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | 1 - 0 | IM | Yip, Carissa | USA | 2347 | |||
| 4 | RUS | 2421 | GM | Lagno, Kateryna | 1 - 0 | WGM | Rakshitta, Ravi | IND | 2148 | |||
| 5 | IND | 2416 | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | ½ - ½ | IM | Tsolakidou, Stavroula | GRE | 2347 | |||
| Round 8 on 2026/01/09 at 16:15 hrs | ||||||||||||
| Bo. | FED | Rtg | White | Result | Black | FED | Rtg | |||||
| 1 | FID | 2512 | GM | Goryachkina, Aleksandra | ½ - ½ | IM | Tsolakidou, Stavroula | GRE | 2347 | |||
| 2 | IND | 2148 | WGM | Rakshitta, Ravi | ½ - ½ | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | IND | 2416 | |||
| 3 | USA | 2347 | IM | Yip, Carissa | ½ - ½ | GM | Lagno, Kateryna | RUS | 2421 | |||
| 4 | IND | 2422 | GM | Divya, Deshmukh | 1 - 0 | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | IND | 2392 | |||
| 5 | GEO | 2393 | GM | Dzagnidze, Nana | ½ - ½ | IM | Vantika, Agrawal | IND | 2325 | |||
| Round 9 on 2026/01/09 at 17:30 hrs | ||||||||||||
| Bo. | FED | Rtg | White | Result | Black | FED | Rtg | |||||
| 1 | IND | 2325 | IM | Vantika, Agrawal | 0 - 1 | GM | Goryachkina, Aleksandra | FID | 2512 | |||
| 2 | IND | 2392 | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | 1 - 0 | GM | Dzagnidze, Nana | GEO | 2393 | |||
| 3 | RUS | 2421 | GM | Lagno, Kateryna | ½ - ½ | GM | Divya, Deshmukh | IND | 2422 | |||
| 4 | IND | 2416 | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | 1 - 0 | IM | Yip, Carissa | USA | 2347 | |||
| 5 | GRE | 2347 | IM | Tsolakidou, Stavroula | ½ - ½ | WGM | Rakshitta, Ravi | IND | 2148 | |||
Final standings
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | RtgI | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | Rp | n | w | we | w-we | K | rtg+/- | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | GM | Lagno, Kateryna | RUS | 2421 | 6,5 | 0 | 27,25 | 4 | 2 | 2533 | 9 | 6,5 | 5,13 | 1,37 | 10 | 13,7 | |
| 2 | 10 | GM | Goryachkina, Aleksandra | FID | 2512 | 5 | 0 | 20,75 | 3 | 2 | 2400 | 9 | 5 | 6,27 | -1,27 | 10 | -12,7 | |
| 3 | 3 | GM | Divya, Deshmukh | IND | 2422 | 4,5 | 1 | 19,75 | 2 | 1 | 2367 | 9 | 4,5 | 5,13 | -0,63 | 10 | -6,3 | |
| 4 | 8 | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | IND | 2416 | 4,5 | 2 | 20,75 | 1 | 0 | 2367 | 9 | 4,5 | 5,06 | -0,56 | 10 | -5,6 | |
| 5 | 6 | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | IND | 2392 | 4,5 | 2 | 20 | 3 | 1 | 2370 | 9 | 4,5 | 4,74 | -0,24 | 20 | -4,8 | |
| 6 | 4 | GM | Dzagnidze, Nana | GEO | 2393 | 4,5 | 4 | 20,5 | 2 | 0 | 2370 | 9 | 4,5 | 4,74 | -0,24 | 10 | -2,4 | |
| 7 | 2 | IM | Yip, Carissa | USA | 2347 | 4,5 | 5 | 19,75 | 3 | 0 | 2375 | 9 | 4,5 | 4,15 | 0,35 | 10 | 3,5 | |
| 8 | 9 | IM | Tsolakidou, Stavroula | GRE | 2347 | 4 | 0 | 16,75 | 2 | 0 | 2332 | 9 | 4 | 4,15 | -0,15 | 20 | -3 | |
| 9 | 5 | IM | Vantika, Agrawal | IND | 2325 | 3,5 | 1 | 14,75 | 3 | 0 | 2298 | 9 | 3,5 | 3,87 | -0,37 | 20 | -7,4 | |
| 10 | 1 | WGM | Rakshitta, Ravi | IND | 2148 | 3,5 | 2 | 15,75 | 1 | 0 | 2317 | 9 | 3,5 | 1,76 | 1,74 | 20 | 34,8 |
Blitz Open Round 1 pairings
| Bo. | White | Result | Black | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM | Nihal, Sarin | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr. | ||||
| 2 | GM | Anand, Viswanathan | GM | Wei, Yi | ||||
| 3 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | GM | Murzin, Volodar | ||||
| 4 | GM | So, Wesley | GM | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | ||||
| 5 | GM | Niemann, Hans Moke | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R |
Women Round 1 pairings
| Bo. | White | Result | Black | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GM | Lagno, Kateryna | WGM | Rakshitta, Ravi | ||||
| 2 | GM | Goryachkina, Aleksandra | IM | Vantika, Agrawal | ||||
| 3 | GM | Divya, Deshmukh | IM | Tsolakidou, Stavroula | ||||
| 4 | GM | Dronavalli, Harika | IM | Yip, Carissa | ||||
| 5 | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | GM | Dzagnidze, Nana |
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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