Tata Steel Chess India 2026: Carissa Yip edges Vantika Agrawal to win women’s blitz title; Wesley So secures open crown
American Carissa Yip held her nerve to win the tie-break 1.5-0.5 against India’s Vantika Agrawal to claim the women’s blitz title in the Tata Steel Chess India 2026 at the Dhono Dhanyo Auditorium here on Sunday.
Earlier, Yip’s compatriot Wesley So won the open event without much drama, sewing up the title with a round to spare. He finished with 12 points while Nihal Sarin, the rapid champion, was second with 11 points, ahead of Arjun Erigaisi (11).
It was a topsy-turvy day as Yip let slip the chance of winning the top prize by beating Divya Deshmukh in the 18th and final round, only being able to eke out a draw. Vantika, meanwhile, surged to the joint top spot, notching up four straight wins in the home stretch. Both Yip and Vantika scored 10.5 points, while Greece’s Stavroula Tsolakidou, with 10, was a clear third.
In the tie-break, the 22-year-old American took the first game with black pieces and kept Vantika at bay in the second to emerge triumphant.
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So played in a solid manner to walk away with the trophy. He remained unbeaten till the final round, where he was outmanoeuvred by R. Praggnanandhaa, but it didn’t matter much in the end.
Indian legend Viswanathan Anand, after an impressive second-place finish in the rapid event, failed to reproduce the magic and was eighth in the blitz.
Nihal suffered two defeats on the day, which hurt his chances of catching So, while Arjun Erigaisi, after a dream start – winning all his first five games – couldn’t sustain the pace and slipped up in the title race.
The results:
Blitz – Open:
Tenth round: Volodar Murzin lost to Arjun Erigaisi; Wei Yi bt Viswanathan Anand; Vidit Gujrathi lost to Wesley So; R. Praggnanandhaa bt Hans Niemann; Aravindh Chithambaram drew with Nihal Sarin.
11th round: Praggnanandhaa bt Aravindh; So bt Murzin; Arjun drew with Wei; Anand lost to Nihal; Niemann bt Vidit.
12th round: Murzin bt Niemann; Vidit bt Praggnanandhaa; Aravindh drew with Anand; Wei drew with So; Nihal bt Arjun.
13th round: Arjun bt Anand; So drew with Nihal; Niemann bt Wei; Praggnanandhaa bt Murzin; Vidit bt Aravindh.
14th round: Nihal lost to Niemann; Aravindh lost to Arjun; Murzin drew with Vidit; Anand drew with So; Wei bt Praggnanandhaa.
15th round: Vidit bt Wei; Niemann bt Anand; Praggnanandhaa lost to Nihal; Murzin bt Aravindh; So drew with Arjun.
16th round: Aravindh drew with So; Wei bt Murzin; Arjun lost to Niemann; Nihal drew with Vidit; Anand drew with Praggnanandhaa.
17th round: Vidit drew with Anand; Praggnanandhaa drew with Arjun; Murzin bt Nihal; Wei bt Aravindh; Niemann drew with So.
18th round: Nihal bt Wei; Aravindh lost to Niemann; So lost to Praggnanandhaa; Arjun drew with Vidit; Anand bt Murzin.
Women:
Tenth round: Stavroula Tsolakidou drew with Divya Deshmukh; Vantika Agrawal drew with Aleksandra Goryachkina; Carissa Yip lost to D. Harika; Nana Dzagnidze bt R. Vaishali; Rakshitta Ravi bt Katernya Lagno.
11th round: Dzagnidze lost to Rakshitta; Harika drew with Tsolakidou; Divya bt Vantika; Goryachkina lost to Lagno; Vaishali lost to Yip.
12th round: Tsolakidou lost to Vaishali; Yip drew with Dzagnidze; Rakshitta bt Goryachkina; Vantika lost to Harika; Lagno bt Divya.
13th round: Divya lost to Goryachkina; Harika drew with Lagno; Vaishali lost to Vantika; Dzagnidze bt Tsolakidou; Yip drew with Rakshitta.
14th round: Lagno bt Vaishali; Rakshitta lost to Divya; Tsolakidou drew with Yip; Goryachkina drew with Harika; Vantika lost to Dzagnidze.
15th round: Yip lost to Vantika; Vaishali lost to Goryachkina; Dzagnidze lost to Lagno; Tsolakidou bt Rakshitta; Harika drew with Divya.
16th round: Rakshitta bt Harika; Vantika bt Tsolakidou; Divya lost to Vaishali; Lagno drew with Yip; Goryachkina bt Dzagnidze.
17th round: Yip bt Goryachkina; Dzagnidze drew with Divya; Tsolakidou bt Lagno; Vantika bt Rakshitta; Vaishali bt Harika.
18th round: Lagno losto to Vantika; Rakshitta lost to Vaishali; Harika lost to Dzagnidze; Divya drew with Yip; Goryachkina lost to Tsolakidou.
Final standings (after 18 rounds):
Open:
1. Wesley So (USA) 12 points, 2. Nihal Sarin (India) 11, 3. Arjun Erigaisi (India) 11, 4. Hans Niemann (USA) 10, 5. Vidit Gujrathi (India) 10, 6. R. Praggnanandhaa (India) 9.5, 7. Wei Yi (China) 8.5, 8. Viswanathan Anand (India) 8, 9. Volodar Murzin (Russia) 6, 10. Aravindh Chithambaram (India) 4.
Women:
1. Carissa Yip (USA) 10.5 points, 2. Vantika Agrawal (India) 10.5, 3. Stavroula Tsolakidou (Greece) 10, 4. Aleksandra Goryachkina (Russia) 9.5, 5. R. Vaishali (India) 9.5, 6. Katernya Lagno (Russia) 8.5, 7. Divya Deshmukh (India) 8.5, 8. Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia) 8.5, 9. D. Harika (India) 8, 10. Rakshitta Ravi (India) 6.5.
Published on Jan 11, 2026