Nihal Sarin, who was not even part of the original field at Tata Steel Chess India 2026 and was added only after reigning world champion D Gukesh pulled out due to personal reasons, put the demise of his grandfather behind him to emerge as champion in the rapid open event on Friday.
He finished on 6.5 points, half a point ahead of Viswanathan Anand, while Arjun Erigaisi took the third spot. Nihal dedicated the title to his grandfather A.A. Ummar, who passed away on Thursday and said it was he who had introduced him to chess and been a great support.
Russia’s Katernya Lagno Kateryna remained unbeaten to clinch the women’s title, finishing with 6.5 points and 1.5 points ahead of the field. Aleksandra Goryachkina took second place while D. Harika took the third spot.
Nihal, who began the final day of the rapid event in joint lead with the legendary Anand, drew two games, including in the final round, against the maestro himself and beat American Wesley So in the eighth to take the top prize to add to his rapid title of 2022.
With the title on the line, he played out a solid draw against Anand to reign supreme. The Kerala-based player, who got a chance after Gukesh withdrew, made the opportunity count with an impressive performance, losing only one game to Erigaisi to begin the year with a bang.
The results:
Seventh round: Arjun Erigaisi drew with Wesley So; R. Praggnanandhaa drew with Nihal Sarin; Hans Niemann bt Aravindh Chithambaram; Vidit Gujrathi drew with Viswanathan Anand; Volodar Murzin bt Wei Yi.
Eighth round: Wei drew with Vidit; Aravindh lost to Murzin; Anand drew with Praggnanandhaa; So lost to Nihal; Arjun bt Niemann.
Ninth round: Nihal drew with Anand; Niemann drew with So; Murzin beat Erigaisi; Vidit drew with Aravindh; Praggnanandhaa lost to Wei.
Women
Seventh round: Nana Dzagnidze drew with Aleksandra Goryachkina; Vantika Agrawal lost to Divya Deshmukh; R. Vaishali bt Carissa Yip; Katernya Lagno bt Rakshitta Ravi; D. Harika drew with Stavroula Tsolakidou.
Eighth round: Goryachkina drew with Tsolakidou; Rakshitta drew with Harika; Yip drew with Lagno; Divya bt Vaishali; Dzagnidze drew with Vantika.
Ninth round: Vantika lost to Goryachkina; Vaishali bt Dzagnidze; Lagno drew with Divya; Harika bt Yip; Tsolakidou lost to Rakshitta.
Final placings
Open: 1. Nihal 6.5 points, 2. Anand 6, 3. Arjun 5, 4. So 5, 5. Niemann 5, 6. Praggnanandhaa 4.5, 7. Vidit 4.5, 8. Wei 3.5, 9. Murzin 3.5, 10. Aravindh 1.5.
Women: 1. Lagno 6.5 points, 2. Goryachkina 5, 3. Harika 4.5, 4, Vaishali 4.5, 5. Divya 4.5, 6. Dzagnidze, 7. Yip 4.5, 8. Tsolakidou 4, 9. Vantika 3.5, 10. Rakshitta 3.5.
Also read: Divya took Indian chess to new heights in 2025
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