Carlsen, Pragg play out draw

Uzbekistan’s young Grandmaster Abdusattorov Nodirbek emerged the sole leader in the open section of the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid tournament.

Abdusattorov scored 2.5 points out of a possible three, securing victories over talented German Vincent Keymer in Round 2 and India’s R Praggnanandhaa in Round 3, while drawing his opening game with Daniil Dubov.

Magnus Carlsen, the world No. 1, had a solid start, drawing his first two games against Praggnanandhaa and Nihal Sarin before finishing the day with a win over Vidit Gujrathi, placing him in joint second position with two points. Carlsen shares the second spot with India’s SL Narayanan, who also logged two points with a win against Keymer in Round 2 and two draws against Wesley So and Arjun Erigaisi.

In the women’s section, Vantika Agrawal stood out, sharing the lead with Aleksandra Goryachkina and Kateryna Lagno, each scoring two points from three rounds. Vantika achieved a significant victory over Valentina Gunina in the opening round and followed it up with draws against Alexkandra Kosteniuk and Nana Dzagnidze. India’s Koneru Humpy, Dronavalli Harika and Divya Deshmukh trail by half a point.