London London. World number one Magnus Carlsen and three-time world women's blitz champion Katarina Lagno took the top spot in the middle of the Tata Steel Chess India Blitz 2024 on Saturday, while India's R Praggnanandhaa finished second.Carlsen finished second out of a possible 9. Finished the first nine rounds with 6.5 points. The Norwegian made a great start, but in the eighth round Arjun Arigasi defeated him in style in just 20 moves. In the final round of the day, Carlsen drew against Vidit Gujarati. Young Indian prodigy Praggnanandhaa finished second with 6 points, making a remarkable comeback after losing his first three games and registering six consecutive wins.
Arigassi and Russia's Daniil Dubov are tied for third with 5.5 points each. In the women's category, Laganno led the field with 7 points, maintaining an undefeated streak with five wins and four draws. Valentina Gunina is one point behind her in second place, while rapid champion Alexandra Goryachkina is in third place with 5 points.
Goryachkina started strong with three consecutive wins, but managed only four draws in the remaining six games.
Standings (Round 9): Open section: Magnus Carlsen (6.5); R Praggnanandha (6); Arjuna Erigaceae (5.5); Daniel Dubov (5.5); Vidit Santosh Gujarati (5); Abdusatorov Nodirbek (4); Wesley So (3.5); Narayanan SL (3.5); Nihal Sarin (3.5) and Keymar Vincent (2).
Women's: Katrina Lagno (7); Valentina Gunina (6); Alexandra Goryachkina (5); Divya Deshmukh (4.5); Vantika Agarwal (4.5); Koneru Hampi (4.5); Harika Dronavalli (4); Alexandra Kosteniuk (4); Vaishali R (3.5) and Nana Dzaganidze (2).
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