World Rapid & Blitz: Arjun finishes day 2 tied for the lead in Open Rapid

Indian chess players shone brightly on Friday at the World Rapid & Blitz Championships in New York City, USA, with Arjun Erigaisi excelling in the open category and Koneru Humpy and Harika impressing in the women’s section.

The second day of the tournament was packed with drama, including Magnus Carlsen's disqualification, after he failed to adhere to the dress code of the tournament, to the drastic changes in the standings from the first day.

Fighting for the FIDE Circuit title, Arjun maintained his good form on the second day and jumped up to the tied top position alongside three more players, winning three of the four points.

Arjun now has 7/9 points from the tournament. With the final four rounds to take place on Saturday, he will set his eyes on the World Rapid title. He will take Alexander Grischuk in the next round.

Meanwhile, the 19-year-old Sadhwani, who caught the limelight on the first day, fell to 15th position (6/9) after conceding his first loss of the tournament against Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan in the sixth round.

On the other hand, R Praggnanandhaa (6/9) had a comparatively better day as he jumped back to the top 30 with three of the four points on the day.

Harika, Humpy in tied top position of the Women's section

In the women's section, Harika continued her impressive play on the second day and maintained her unbeaten run, jumping up to the tied top position with 6.5 points after eight rounds.

Meanwhile, former World Rapid champion Humpy had a mind-blowing comeback as she won all four of her games on the day and joined Harika and Ju Wenjun of China at the tied top position.

The youngster Divya Deshmukh (5/8) also had a remarkable comeback, winning 3/4 points on the day, to rise to 24th position.

The final three rounds of the women's rapid section will take place on Saturday and India might be looking for a double-podium finish in this category.