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The 2026 Tata Steel Chess India Rapid Tournament saw Nihal Sarin reign supreme, pipping the likes of Viswanathan Anand and Arjun Erigaisi to the title in Kolkata. Despite D Gukesh’s absence, the tournament attracted attention and had top GMs in action. The tournament also had its share of controversy, involving Indian GM R. Praggnanandhaa and American GM Wesley So during Round 6 on Day 2.
Praggnanandhaa was under immense pressure due to time trouble and only had one second left on his clock. He pushed a pawn close to promote, but then it struck him that he would not have time to complete his move and replace the pawn with a new queen. His time was about to run out, and he stopped the clock to call the arbiter. After a short discussion, both players agreed to a draw.
Many fans felt that So should have been awarded a win on time, instead of a draw. Chess arbiter Chris Bird also took to X to point out the error and claimed that So should have been awarded a win. He wrote, “Should have been ruled a loss. “6.11.2 A player may pause the chessclock only in order to seek the arbiter’s assistance, for example when promotion has taken place and the piece required is not available.” No promotion actually took place so this is not relevant here.”
Meanwhile, So supported the draw and broke his silence on X. Taking to X, he revealed that he was the one who proposed drawing the game, not the arbiters.
He wrote, “Regarding my game with Pragg yesterday, I was the one who proposed to draw the game, not the arbiters. Things happened so fast and everyone did what seems best at the moment. Criticizing the arbiters are uncalled for. Big congrats to @NihalSarin for dominating the rapid!”
Sarin wasn’t expected to participate initially and was only included after Gukesh’s withdrawal due to personal reasons. He clinched the Open Rapid title in Round 9, with a draw vs Anand.
