Abdusattorov, Gukesh Lead At Tata Steel Chess Masters

With three rounds to go, GMs Gukesh Dommaraju and Nodirbek Abdusattorov lead the Tata Steel Chess Tournament's Masters. Whereas Gukesh defeated GM Alexander Donchenko fairly smoothly, Abdusattorov needed over six hours to beat GM Max Warmerdam in a topsy-turvy game where he survived a lost position.

GM Ian Nepomniachtchi took some sort of revenge for his lost world championship match by beating World Champion Ding Liren, who was somewhat under the weather according to his opponent.

16-year-old GM Marc'Andria Maurizzi won a fifth game in six rounds to take a full-point lead in the Challengers section as runner-up GM Leon Luke Mendonca drew his game, against GM Hans Niemann.

Results - Masters Round 10

Standings - Masters Round 10

Yesterday, when the Masters played their games in the AFAS Circustheater in The Hague, Donchenko quipped: "I'm happy that all I needed to win a game in Wijk aan Zee is to get out of Wijk aan Zee!" Apparently, the consequence of getting back to the village for him was a loss.

The 25-year-old German grandmaster also played the Masters in 2021, when he finished on 3.5 points, the same score he is on now. He has three more rounds to improve on it.

In today's game, he actually reached a promising position out of the opening, a Nimzo-Indian with Akiba Rubinstein's 4.e3. "I couldn't remember my notes," said Gukesh, who already felt comfortable after his 14th move. However, it seems like he would have had a tougher day if White had castled queenside there, instead of pushing the d-pawn.

Instead, Donchenko grabbed space on the kingside and then decided to place his king on f2. Considering the pawn structure, it looked like a fairly safe haven but as it turned out, there was a tactical flaw, as Gukesh beautifully demonstrated.

He actually expected Donchenko to resign there, but the German grandmaster proved that the endgame was still a bit tricky, even if always won for Black.

For a long time, it looked like Gukesh was taking the sole lead going into the final rest day. Several hours later, though, Abdusattorov managed to win a very up-and-down game, in an almost empty playing hall. That was not new for Warmerdam, who was nicknamed Max the Marathon Man on our live broadcast and who has now lost two long and heartbreaking games in a row.

"I think I played very good up to some point, I was outplaying him," the Uzbek GM said. "I found this 24...f4 and 25...Nd3. And when I got this big advantage I started to play worse than him, he played very poorly until that point, but when I got this advantage I played even worse and I think I was in trouble at some point."

Warmerdam was briefly winning indeed, but a few moves later, with two minor pieces against a rook and two pawns, the position was objectively a draw but nicer to play for Black. Warmerdam was hanging on for a long time, but eventually he got low on time and made a losing bishop move.

In the clash between the 2023 world championship contestants, Nepomniachtchi won a good game against Ding, but was reluctant to be too ecstatic about it. "I'd like to mention that, I guess from the beginning of the game, I was looking at him and he seemed to be visibly unwell, so there is not so much to be proud of," he said.

A fairly standard closed Ruy Lopez position suddenly got interesting when Nepomniachtchi played 14.g4 despite having castled kingside. His preparation went extremely deep; afterward he suggested a small computer improvement for Black as late as move 21. 

Although it often helps to trade pieces when you're defending, Nepomniachtchi felt that 25...Ra8 gave him a free hand on the kingside. After that, he quickly developed a winning attack, but as GM Rafael Leitao shows, the decisive mistake came later:

Asked about his thoughts of how the tournament is going so far, Nepomniachtchi instantly replied: "I feel like Tottenham." He was referencing a scene from the 2008 film In Bruges, when the characters Ken and Ray are looking at Hieronymus Bosch's The Last Judgment, and Ray explains: "Purgatory's kind of like the in-betweeny one. You weren't really shit, but you weren't all that great either. Like Tottenham."

Straight out of the opening, GM Alireza Firouzja got a slightly better endgame against GM Anish Giri but the Dutchman defended well, and is now trailing the leaders by half a point. That is also the case for GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu after drawing with his compatriot GM Vidit Gujrathi.

With this result, Praggnanandhaa also tied GM Hikaru Nakamura for the longest active undefeated streak among 2700+ players. Both haven't lost for 43 classical games in a row.

GM Ju Wenjun had some winning chances against GM Parham Maghsoodloo, but the latter once again proved to be a tough guy to beat. GM Jorden van Foreest and GM Wei Yi played a relatively short but entertaining draw.

The program for the players at the top:

• Abdusattorov: White vs. Ju, Black vs. Vidit, White vs. Donchenko.
• Gukesh: White vs. Firouzja, White vs. Praggnanandhaa, Black vs. Maghsoodloo.
• Giri: White vs. Nepomniachtchi, Black vs. Van Foreest, White vs. Warmerdam.
• Praggnanandhaa: White vs. Donchenko, Black vs. Gukesh, White vs. Firouzja.

Results - Challengers Round 10

Standings - Challengers Round 10

Maurizzi increased his lead to a full point in the Challengers section. The World Junior Champion had no trouble beating IM Eline Roebers, who played well for a while but eventually had to pay the price for having weakened her kingside:

Mendonca is still alone in second place, but the 17-year-old Indian GM fell back half a point after drawing with Niemann. The American GM had the better chances throughout the game, but Mendonca was too solid:

The program for the players at the top:

• Maurizzi: White vs. Vrolijk, White vs. Dardha, Black vs. L'Ami.
• Mendonca: White vs. Yilmaz, Black vs. Salem, White vs. Deshmukh.

Pairings - Masters Round 11 (Friday)

Pairings - Challengers Round 11 (Friday)

The Tata Steel Chess tournament takes place January 13-28, 2024, in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. The time control is 100 minutes for 40 moves followed by 50 minutes to finish each game with a 30-second increment. Both the Masters and Challengers groups are 14-player round-robin tournaments.

Previous posts:

• Abdusattorov, Praggnanandhaa Catch Leaders; Warmerdam Suffers Worst Nightmare
• Firouzja Joins Leaders; Abdusattorov Falls Behind In Tata Steel Chess Masters
• Abdusattorov Beats Giri For Shared Lead With Gukesh In Tata Steel Chess Masters
• Firouzja Bounces Back In Tata Steel Chess Masters; Roebers Wins Again
• Women Ascendant In Tata Steel As Ju Wenjun Upsets Firouzja, Roebers Defeats Niemann
• Praggnanandhaa Defeats World Champion Ding, Passes Anand To Become #1 In India
• Giri Beats Donchenko, Catches Firouzja In 1st Place
• Firouzja Moves To 2/2 In Tata Steel Chess Masters
• 4 Black Wins In Tata Steel Chess Masters Opening Round
• Ding Liren Ready For Tata: 'I Feel Much Better Than Before'
• 2024 Tata Steel Chess: World Champion Ding Returns, Carlsen Missing