Kolkata: Round 5 of Rapid category began with handshakes around the tables and the supervisors asking the live audience to put their phones on silent mode. Magnus Carlsen though was nowhere to be seen. For a good minute, Wesley So was looking around, checking the giant screen behind the stage when Carlsen entered, shook his hand and quickly settled down while rearranging his pieces.

This was a crucial stage of the tournament. Tied at three points with So and Nodirbek Abdusattorov after the fourth round, Carlsen needed a win to take sole lead. As did So. But in his zest to surprise Carlsen, So played into the hands of the world No. 1 with an uncharacteristically aggressive game. “Maybe I should have stuck to my main opening but I decided to play this line to surprise Magnus,” he said. Asked what he was thinking when Carlsen was late, So said: “I was wondering where he was because he is always at the players’ room with his girlfriend. I didn’t want to start the clock because it’s Rapid and he won’t lose on time. But if it was Blitz I would have started for sure.”

Into the second day of the Tata Steel Chess India, Carlsen took little time to show his class, defeating SL Narayanan, So and Arjun Erigaisi to make a clean sweep of all the three games and take sole lead with five points out of a possible six. Close on Carlsen’s heels is former World Rapid Champion Abdusattorov with 4.5 points. The Uzbek prodigy held his own with draws against Nihal Sarin and Vidit Gujrathi in rounds 4 and 5, and ended the day with a win over Narayanan, positioning himself as Carlsen’s primary challenger heading into the final day.

R Praggnanandhaa beat Nihal Sarin in a 103-move game but draws with Vincent Keymer and Vidit Gujrathi left him with three points, two adrift of Carlsen.

In the women’s section, Aleksandra Goryachkina mirrored Carlsen’s success with an equally impressive performance, securing three victories. Her back-to-back wins against India’s Vantika Agrawal and Vaishali R, followed by a victory over Kateryna Lagno, boosted her tally to five points, putting her firmly in the lead.

Trailing closely in second is Georgian Grandmaster Nana Dzagnidze with four points. Dzagnidze’s successful day included wins over Vaishali and Humpy Koneru, as well as a hard-fought draw with Lagno. Players Harika Dronavalli, Vantika Agrawal, and Valentina Gunina share the third spot with 3.5 points each.

Points (Day 2)

Men: Magnus Carlsen 5, Nodirbek Abdusattarov 4.5, Wesley So 3.5, Daniil Dubov 3, R Praggnanandhaa 3, SL Narayanan 2.5, Vincent Keymer 2.5, Arjun Erigaisi 2, Nihal Sarin 2, Vidit Gujrathi 2.

Women: Aleksandra Goryachkina 5, Nana Dzagnidze 4, Vantika Agarwal 3.5, Harika Dronavalli 3.5, Valentina Gunina 3.5, Kateryna Lagno 3, Divya Deshmukh 2.5, Koneru Humpy 2, Alexandra Kosteniuk 2, Vaishali R 1.

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