Gukesh Survives Scare Against Abdusattorov • lichess.org

Tournament Information

The Tata Steel Chess tournament is one of the longest-running chess tournaments in history. It has attracted the world’s top players for decades and is currently celebrating its 87th edition. The Masters section pits 14 players in a big single-player round robin, setting the stage for exhilarating chess battles as the clash of styles and ratings makes for quite the spectacle. The Challengers section is similarly structured, and Tata Steel Chess also includes a well-attended Amateurs section.

The Lichess broadcast coverage can be found here.

Schedule

Leaderboard

GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov vs. GM Gukesh D 1/2-1/2

Photo credit: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov showed up with some very deep preparation against GM Gukesh D, and it paid off brilliantly. 4. a4 in the Italian Opening, a very rare idea already, followed by 6. a5, led to a very unique position which forced Gukesh to spend a lot of time in the opening as he was considering his options. Abdusattorov’s 13. Re3 was yet another shocking and weird-looking move, after which Gukesh spent over half an hour on his next couple of moves. Abdusattorov continued to play well, gaining space on both the kingside and queenside, but Gukesh was defending tenaciously and slowly but surely was closing in on equality. As the game became more and more simplified, though, Abdusattorov’s activity proved to be too much for Gukesh, who blundered on move 45 with 45…Kf8. However, just as the game seemed over, Gukesh’s otherworldly defensive powers saw him pose problem after problem for Abdusattorov, who, under the duress of time pressure, could not convert his advantage and had to settle for a draw that was more akin to a loss.

https://lichess.org/study/embed/42KuhhJZ/uq3pmNko#0

GM Praggnanandhaa R vs. GM Wei Yi 1/2-1/2

Photo credit: Jurriaan Hoefsmit / Tata Steel Chess

GM Praggnanandhaa R’s choice of the Open Ruy Lopez against GM Wei Yi saw him press a symbolic advantage for a long time. Wei was never really worse, though, and held the draw without too many issues.

https://lichess.org/study/embed/42KuhhJZ/0I7oX1nt#0

GM Alexey Sarana vs. GM Vladimir Fedoseev 1-0

Photo credit: Jurriaan Hoefsmit / Tata Steel Chess

Photo credit: Jurriaan Hoefsmit / Tata Steel Chess

GM Vladimir Fedoseev’s powerful form and recent surge has been halted by GM Alexey Sarana, who, after five draws, secures his first win. This encounter saw yet another slow, positional Exchange Variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined, which bore some resemblance to Mendonca vs. Warmerdam. Fedoseev had in fact equalized, and some more, as Black, but an over-optimistic 16…f5 made him incur weaknesses. Sarana gained space and coordinated his pieces masterfully well, while Fedoseev’s awkward queen placement forced him to allow White a strong passed d-pawn. Eventually, Fedoseev had to sacrifice material to stop the d-pawn, and Sarana converted the resulting position with ease.

https://lichess.org/study/embed/42KuhhJZ/cZzuSrcu#0

GM Vincent Keymer vs. GM Anish Giri 1/2-1/2

Photo credit: Jurriaan Hoefsmit / Tata Steel Chess

GM Vincent Keymer surprised GM Anish Giri in the Fianchetto Grünfeld Defense as he went for an uncommon line starting with 5. Qb3. While White’s pawns at some point looked visually menacing, there was never too much for Giri to worry about as he retained activity and stopped White’s pawn breakthrough ideas. After trying for a while, Keymer had to settle for a draw.

https://lichess.org/study/embed/42KuhhJZ/SjSDfkmu#0

GM Pentala Harikrishna vs. GM Jorden van Foreest 1/2-1/2

Photo credit: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

The Berlin Defense is such an excellent equalizing option for Black because in many cases, when the position opens up, a pawn deficit does not lead to a losing position. Indeed, GM Jorden van Foreest’s central 11…d5 break, which was followed up with the pawn sacrifice, 15…e4!, allowed him to get into an open position with the bishop pair. It was very difficult for GM Pentala Harikrishna to prove much of an advantage even after he won a second pawn with 21. Bxc7. Even with engine-like precision, it was not clear at all if Harikrishna was ever truly better, let alone winning, so both players can be satisfied with the draw that was signed on move 54.

https://lichess.org/study/embed/42KuhhJZ/LP3iMPHP#0

GM Leon Luke Mendonca vs. GM Max Warmerdam 1/2-1/2

Photo credit: Jurriaan Hoefsmit / Tata Steel Chess

IM Sagar Shah reported that GM Leon Luke Mendonca has been suffering from the flu, so today’s game against GM Max Warmerdam was definitely a tough endurance test. The aptly named Positional Variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined, Exchange Variation, however, was well-played by both sides and there were little opportunities for either side to make mistakes, so a draw was the logical result.

https://lichess.org/study/embed/42KuhhJZ/XK352rCs#0

GM Arjun Erigaisi vs. GM Fabiano Caruana 1/2-1/2

Photo credit: Jurriaan Hoefsmit / Tata Steel Chess

GM Arjun Erigaisi has shown perseverance in the face of adversity, but today, he finally decided to play safely against GM Fabiano Caruana, who, with the Black pieces, also did not want to take big risks.

https://lichess.org/study/embed/42KuhhJZ/g2SSJBAx#0

Round 7 Pairings