Tata Steel Chess: Anand And Niemann Jointly Lead His Class

Long before shorter chess formats existed, he was referred to as the “Lightning Kid” in the 1980s for his quick play.

Viswanathan Anand wowed everyone with his flashy style and reached the top of the chess world.

He was on fire as he took down Wesley So and Aravindh Chithambaram, putting him in a tie for the lead with Hans Niemann after three rounds of the rapid event at the Tata Steel Chess India tournament held at the Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium on Wednesday(January 7,2026).

In the first round against So, the 56-year-old Indian chess legend was in top form, scoring a decisive victory, but he had to settle for a draw against Wei Yi in the second round.

In the third round, he triumphed over his young fellow countryman, Aravindh.

Niemann Performance

Niemann defeated former World Rapid Champion Volodar Murzin to start his tournament. He then drew with Vidit Gujrathi before outperforming R. Praggnanandhaa.

Earlier in the first round, Vidit caught the in-form Arjun Erigaisi off guard with the black pieces, but he could only manage draws in his next two games.

In the women’s section, Carissa Yip from the U.S. is at the top with 2.5 points.

She kicked off her campaign by defeating Stavroula Tsolkidou, and then she faced a tough match against young Indian player Rakshitta Ravi, which ended in a draw.

In the third round, Yip managed to beat Aleksandra Goryachkina, the highest-rated player in the tournament, propelling her to the lead.

Rakshitta had a solid day, managing to draw all three of her games.

Results

Men:

1)First round: Viswanathan Anand defeated Wesley So, Wei Yi drew with Nihal Sarin, Arjun Erigaisi lost to Vidit Gujrathi, Hans Niemann beat Volodar Murzin, Aravindh Chithambaram drew with R. Praggnanandhaa.

2)Second round:Praggnanandhaa defeated Arjun, Nihal won against Aravindh, Anand drew with Wei, Vidit and Niemann ended in a draw.

3)Third round: Niemann beat Praggnanandhaa, Murzin drew with Vidit, Yi lost to So, Arjun won against Nihal, Aravindh lost to Anand.

Women:

1)First round: Rakshitta Ravi drew with Aleksandra Goryachkina, Carissa Yip beat Stavroula Tsolkidouz Divya Deshmukh drew with D. Harika, Vantika Agrawal defeated R. Vaishali.

2)Second round: Goryachkina beat Vaishali, Lagno won against Vantika, Harika drew with Dzagnidze, Tsolkidou beat Divya, Rakshitta drew with Yip.

3)Third round: Yip defeated Goryachkina,Divya drew with Rakshitta, Dzagnidze beat Tsolkidou, Vantika won against Harika, Vaishali drew with Lagno.

Niemann Performance

Results

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