American Grandmaster Wesley So emerged as sole leader with seven points while star Indian player Arjun Erigaisi was just half a point behind in the Open category of the Tata Steel Chess India Blitz tournament here on Saturday.

On the opening day of the Blitz contest, which provided lots of chaos, creativity and momentum swings, Erigaisi, the double World Rapid and Blitz Championships bronze medallist, started with a slice of luck as his opponent, former World Rapid champion Volodar Murzin, walked into a forced mate.

Another Indian GM, Vidit Gujrathi, pounced on the opportunity when So trapped his own king in Round 1. American GM Hans Niemann won in a queen endgame after a last-second mistake from India’s R Praggnanandhaa, while the legendary Viswanathan Anand showed his trademark resilience by holding China’s Wei Yi despite being a pawn down.

Round 2 produced one of the day’s standout moments as the reigning Tata Steel Rapid champion Nihal Sarin defeated Anand in just 21 moves, powered by a clever bishop intermediate move. Erigaisi stayed in form with a smooth endgame win over Wei and Aravindh Chithambaram outplayed Praggnanandhaa with strong piece coordination.

Erigaisi then outlasted Nihal in a long endgame in Round 3 and followed it up with a memorable Round 4 win over Anand, surprising him in the Ruy Lopez and finishing with a spectacular queen sacrifice. The second half saw fortunes shift again. Erigaisi beat Aravindh in Round 5, but slipped in Round 6 when So exploited loose pieces. Anand recovered with an important win over Niemann.

Round 8 was decisive across the board, featuring Anand checkmating Vidit, Praggnanandhaa edging out Erigaisi in a near-drawn endgame and Wesley punishing Niemann after a missed mate. The day closed with So drawing Wei Yi in Round 9, while Erigaisi defeated Vidit to stay in touch. After nine rounds, So led with 7 points out of 9 with Erigaisi close behind and Nihal Sarin in third place with 5.5 points.

The women’s section, which was equally lively, saw American International Master Carissa Yip surge to a perfect 4 out of 4 before being halted by India’s Vantika Agrawal in Round 5. Stavroula Tsolakidou later outplayed Vantika using the bishop pair, while Aleksandra Goryachkina stayed firmly in contention. Carissa and Goryachkina shared a key draw late in the day. Carissa was leading with six points, with Stavroula, Goryachkina, and R. Vaishali just half a point behind, setting the stage for a thrilling second day of blitz.

Also read: Nihal lifts Tata Steel rapid title; Vishy second