World No. 1 Magnus Carlsen won six in a row and ran away with the 2024 Tata Steel Chess India rapid crown, leaving Wesley So and R Praggnanandhaa sharing second place late Friday at the Dhomo Dhanyo Auditorium in Kolkata.
Held to draws by Indians R Praggnanandhaa and Nihal Sarin in the first two rounds, Carlsen turned hot, beating Indians Vidit Gujrati and SL Narayanan, So, Indian Arjun Erigaisi, German Vincent Keymer and Russian Daniil Dubov to secure the title and the $10,000 purse with a round to spare in the rapid event.
Carlsen split the point with Uzbek Nodirbek Andusattorov in the ninth and last round, where So also drew with Sarin and allowed Praggnanandhaa to catch up following a victory over Erigaisi.
The Bacoor, Cavite-born So, a mainstay of Team USA, and Praggnandhaa both chalked 5.5 points, 1.5 behind Carlsen, and split the second and third place prizes worth $4,500 each, although the 19-year-old from Chennai emerged with the better tiebreak.
Abdusattorov, the 2021 world rapid champion at 17, landed fourth with 5.0 points and Keymer fifth with 4.5 in the 10-man all-Grandmaster tournament.
The blitz competition started on Saturday with Carlsen again proving his might with back-to-back victories over Narayanan and Praggnandhaa before settling for a draw with So.
So opened up with a win over Erigasi and a draw with Gujrathi in the 18-round, two-day event before yielding to Praggnanadhaa in the fourth round, where Carlsen trounced Abdusattorov.
