Firouzja Joins Leaders; Abdusattorov Falls Behind In Tata Steel Chess Masters

GM Alireza Firouzja's topsy-turvy Tata Steel Chess Tournament continued on Sunday with another bounce-back victory, this time good enough to join GMs Anish Giri and Gukesh Dommaraju in first place. GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov is not in that group anymore after losing to GM Ian Nepomniachtchi.

There's a new leader in the Challengers: 16-year-old GM Marc'Andria Maurizzi, the only player on 5.5 points after toppling GM Salem Saleh on Sunday with the black pieces. IM Divya Desmukh scored her second win in a row as she defeated IM Eline Roebers.

Results - Masters Round 8

Standings - Masters Round 8

It's his first tournament in eight months, so we should give him some slack. Still, the play of the world champion is somewhat worrying. He's supposed to be warmed up by now, but GM Ding Liren is not managing to tap into his normal standard of play. His live rating is currently 2769; the last time he was below 2770 on an official list was in March 2018.

Firouzja likely surprised Ding with his ninth move. He had played 9.Qc2 just once before, and said: "I was hoping he didn't check that game today but yeah, I was happy because probably he didn't expect my opening from the first move even."

His pawn sacrifice on move 11 is still something Firouzja had looked at earlier. "This was in my preparation before; I was just trying to remember. It's a very dangerous line for Black. He has to know a lot to defend."

By pushing his d- and b-pawns, Ding was forcing play into a direction that was actually more promising for his opponent. He probably realized it too late because even Firouzja's tactic on move 17 is something fairly standard at this level. The blunder that followed, however, is unworthy of Ding's stature.

Regarding his remarkable score progression, Firouzja commented: "For me, there's nothing better to do in Wijk aan Zee than playing long games, so for me it doesn't make sense that people make draws quickly here. In other places I understand, but here, for me, I have to make myself busy with playing."

For me, there's nothing better to do in Wijk aan Zee than playing long games, so for me it doesn't make sense that people make draws quickly here.
—Alireza Firouzja

GM Rafael Leitao annotated the game:

Abdusattorov reached the top of the standings the other day and expressed his ambition to win the tournament, but already the next day the young Uzbek dropped back in the leaderboard. This time he was on the receiving end of a positional masterpiece. Nepomniachtchi knows his classics too!

Although more inaccuracies followed in the game, it looked like 16...Nc5 was the start of a long and unpleasant day for Abdusattorov, as it gave Nepomniachtchi the chance to play a positional pawn sacrifice that determined the course of the battle long-term. Aron Nimzowitsch would have been proud of White's knight on c4, which was blocking not one but two isolated c-pawns.

After lots of exchanges, Black's decisive mistake was probably a check on move 35, which allowed the white king to join the party.

Giri and Gukesh could have taken the sole lead on Sunday with a win, but both had to settle for a draw. Even though Gukesh had the black pieces, he was the one with some chances, but once again, GM Ju Wenjun showed what a tough fighter she is in the endgame. So far, she's gaining 12 rating points in Wijk aan Zee with 3.5/8, the same score for both the world champion and women's world champion.

Giri had white against Wei, a fairly promising pairing that soon turned into a somewhat disappointing affair. The Dutch grandmaster failed to get anything against his opponent's Grunfeld and was even briefly in danger of getting worse, but Wei wasn't looking for more than a draw.

Results - Challengers Round 8

Standings - Challengers Round 8

The fight for promotion to the Masters is just as exciting and unclear as the Masters itself. Just when Salem reached the top of the mountain, he was thrown off again. 

Salem is by far the strongest player of the UAE with 300 Elo points more than the number two. He showed ambition on Sunday with a pawn sacrifice that got a rook to the seventh rank, which held some of Black's pieces in its grasp. The position was dynamically balanced, and as soon as Salem unnecessarily let go of that bind, things went wrong.

"When I took on e2, I think my position was good," said Maurizzi. "His pieces are very active but OK, I'm a pawn up. I don't know where he played bad because he played logical." Thanks to the engine, we do:

Besides Salem, half a point behind Maurizzi are GM Erwin l'Ami, who drew with GM Hans Niemann, and GM Leon Luke Mendonca, who survived a lost position against GM Anton Korobov and unexpectedly won the game.

"I just got lucky today," Mendonca admitted. "I was probably completely lost but he tried to play against my time, and probably that was my only hope, I mean, my Saving Grace actually."

In the clash between the two women IMs, Deshmukh emerged victoriously. It looks like her opponents shouldn't give her an opportunity to attack because she's absolutely lethal when she gets the chance:

Pairings - Masters Round 9 (Tuesday)

Pairings - Challengers Round 9 (Tuesday)

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 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