Tata Steel chess: Nihal, Arjun in podium as Wesley So claims Blitz crown

American Grandmaster Wesley So showed remarkable consistency to clinch the Blitz title in Open category with a round to spare while India’s Nihal Sarin ended as runner-up in the Tata Steel Chess India chess tournament on Sunday.  It was a good outing overall for Indians as Nihal, who had claimed the Rapid crown only two days back, finished runner-up and the in-form Arjun Erigaisi third.

 The women’s section also ended with a thrilling play-off that saw another American Carissa Yip hold her nerve to lift the trophy. Vantika Agarwal provided the lone Indian presence in the podium with a third place finish.

 The closing rounds of the Blitz event delivered relentless tension, late twists, and fitting champions in both sections. The decisive stretch saw Wesley capitalise when Vidit Gujrathi blundered an entire rook in a double rook endgame. Wei Yi outplayed Viswanathan Anand by calmly consolidating an extra exchange, while R. Praggnanandhaa opened lines for his rook and established a powerful knight outpost to defeat Hans Niemann.

Nihal also struck with a key win over Anand while Wesley held Wei Yi to maintain control of the standings. As the finish line approached, in-form Arjun Erigaisi scored a notable win by preventing Anand from castling but Wesley stayed just ahead despite several tense endgames, including a draw where he blundered back an exchange against Aravindh Chithambaram.

A safe draw against Hans ensured Wesley’s title even though he lost in the final round. Nihal finished and Arjun both finished on 11 points to finish second and third, respectively.

Meanwhile, Vaishali Rameshbabu scored a convincing win over Stavroula Tsolakidou while Aleksandra Goryachkina surged late, including a remarkable game featuring four queens on the board against Nana Dzagnidze. Vantika Agrawal produced a stunning comeback by winning her last four games, including a crucial victory over Yip to force a play-off.

In the tie-break, Vantika lost first as Carissa held firm in a long and exhausting endgame in the second game to secure the draw she needed and seal the women’s Blitz title.