GM Gukesh Dommaraju pounced on a far from obvious mistake by GM Max Warmerdam to retain the sole lead on 7.5/10 going into the final 2025 Tata Steel Chess Masters rest day. GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov remains half a point behind after taking huge risks to inflict a first loss of the event on GM Alexey Sarana, while Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu is a point off the lead after bouncing back to beat GM Vladimir Fedoseev. GM Fabiano Caruana’s title-winning chances look to be over after GM Pentala Harikrishna escaped in a tricky rook endgame.
There were just two draws in round 10 of the 2025 Tata Steel Chess Challengers, with GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen retaining the sole lead after defeating GM Vaishali Rameshbabu in a six-hour, 76-move game, while GM Erwin l’Ami remains half a point behind in second after beating IM Faustino Oro in a clash between the oldest and youngest players in the top groups in Wijk aan Zee.
Round 11 starts on Friday, January 31, at 8 a.m. ET / 14:00 CET / 6:30 p.m. IST.
Masters: Gukesh Powers On, But Praggnanandhaa, Abdusattorov Keep Up Pressure
Tata Steel Chess Masters: Round 10 Results
Three stars of the new generation of chess talent, all aged 18-20, won again in round 10.
That left the top-four neatly separated by half a point, with Gukesh in pole position ahead of Abdusattorov, Praggnanandhaa, and Fedoseev.
Tata Steel Chess Masters: Standings After Round 10
Warmerdam 0-1 Gukesh
World Champion Gukesh has been suffering from a cold in Wijk aan Zee, but unfortunately for his rivals, he explained to WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni it’s “nothing serious,” that he’s full of energy, and “feeling quite sharp.” There’s also nothing wrong with his desire, as he showed by meeting Warmerdam’s 1.e4 with 1…d6.
Gukesh meets Warmerdam’s 1.e4 with 1…d6!?, suggesting aggressive intentions, as Round 10 of #TataSteelChess begins! https://t.co/mvX13f7IDD pic.twitter.com/yenpWT2mNV
— chess24 (@chess24com) January 29, 2025
The unusual opening wasn’t over, with Gukesh noting: “I just wanted to surprise him and get an interesting game, and he surprised me immediately afterwards, with 2.g3, which I thought was weird at first, but it probably makes some sense!”
Gukesh was relatively happy that the game developed into a Closed Sicilian, and although White was better, he gradually made inroads into the game. He’d already taken over when one mistake by Warmerdam, 28.Rc1?, was met by the zwischenzug 28…Ne4!, and suddenly Black was winning.
It was far from immediately obviously why White was lost, but we soon got to see as the black queen came to b8 and it turned out the white kingside couldn’t be defended.
During live commentary GM David Howell noted that it was great to have a world champion who loves playing chess. Gukesh confirmed that he does:
“I surely do love to play chess and I think that at this level you don’t get here unless you love what you’re doing, and also it’s pleasant for me to play this tournament after a month at home, when it was also quite hectic. It’s nice to come here and just be able to focus on what I do the best.”
It’s nice to come here and just be able to focus on what I do the best.
—Gukesh Dommaraju
Gukesh remains unbeaten as world champion, and his five wins have put pressure on the chasing pack. In round 10, two players were up to the task of keeping pace with the leader: Abdusattorov and Praggnanandhaa.
Abdusattorov 1-0 Sarana
Abdusattorov was willing to take risks to beat the previously unbeaten Sarana, castling kingside behind a ruined pawn structure and later going “all-in” with an f5-push in his opponent’s time trouble. It worked out perfectly, but the Uzbek star admitted it was anything but smooth:
“It was a crazy game. It was very complicated, many mistakes, and I have to say that it’s my worst game so far in this tournament, but I think it’s normal, because usually it happens at the end of tournaments, so I take the win, but it was a very nerve-wracking game.”
It’s my worst game so far in this tournament.
—Nodirbek Abdusattorov
Abdusattorov was too harsh on himself, however, since no one can play perfectly in such a complex Sicilian, and his ambition was fittingly rewarded. That double-edged battle is our Game of the Day, which GM Rafael Leitao takes us through below.
Abdusattorov is looking forward to the final three rounds: “After this game I feel very energetic, I feel very confident, because I was lucky today, so I hope I can keep up this momentum and try to push myself and put pressure on Gukesh in the next rounds.”Â
Praggnanandhaa was the other player to win (almost) on demand.
Praggnanandhaa 1-0 Fedoseev
This was a “bounce-back” win, and Praggnanandhaa was acutely aware of what he was bouncing back from. He called his loss to GM Anish Giri “a completely bad day,” adding, “The moves I would play in a bullet game are much better than what I was playing.”
What helped him come back was who he was playing: “I wanted to have a fight today, and I knew that Fedoseev is someone who goes for a fight, so I was just wanting to give my best today.”
In a pure chess sense, Fedoseev also helped by his decision to ruin his pawn structure with the far from necessary 8…gxf6?!. Praggnanandhaa felt he immediately got a big advantage, and essentially he manage to convert that edge, though Fedoseev made things chaotic and was actually equal at one point—but in a way few humans would believe.
Praggnanandhaa bounces back from yesterday’s loss to beat Fedoseev! #TataSteelChess pic.twitter.com/LpVlbfBSNV
— chess24 (@chess24com) January 29, 2025
The remaining games were drawn, with little to report in GM Arjun Erigaisi vs. GM Vincent Keymer, GM Wei Yi vs. GM Jorden van Foreest, and GM Leon Luke Mendonca vs. Giri, but Caruana came incredibly close to keeping pace with the young stars by beating Harikrishna.Â
Caruana’s decision to give up his extra pawn to ultimately gain a passed pawn looked inspired, but the rook endgame that followed was treacherous. The U.S. star built up a winning position, but couldn’t quite bring home the full point.
Two points back with just three rounds to play, Caruana needs a lot of help to be able to fight for first place, but he does face one of the contenders, Praggnanandhaa, after the rest day in Friday’s round 11.
Gukesh-Wei Yi, Fedoseev-Mendonca, and Keymer-Abdusattorov are the other key battles for the title race.
Challengers: 5 Wins Before Rest Day
There were no less than five wins in round 10 of the Challengers, with the higher-rated players in each clash claiming the victories.Â
Tata Steel Chess Challengers: Round 10 Results
That left Van Nguyen half a point ahead of L’Ami, but with GMs Aydin Suleymanli, Benjamin Bok, and Frederik Svane still in the race with three rounds to go.
Tata Steel Chess Challengers: Standings After Round 10
The day’s stand-out clash saw the oldest player in the top groups, 39-year-old L’Ami, take on the youngest, 11-year-old Oro, with L’Ami asked if it meant extra pressure:
“It’s definitely a different experience, I would say, simply because there is a very small boy sitting on the other side—usually it’s an older person. In his whole demeanor he’s so young, so that definitely changes things, but I wouldn’t say added pressure or something.”Â
The opening went perfectly for L’Ami, but he admitted, “the game got out of hand quite badly,” with Oro seizing a chance around the time control. “A bit more adventurous than I would have liked!” is how the Dutchman described what followed, where Oro’s play only failed to work due to a potential underpromotion to a knight.
That would have taken L’Ami into a share of the lead, except that after six hours and almost 70 moves, Van Nguyen’s patience paid off as he broke through with a checkmating attack against Vaishali to keep the sole lead.Â
L’Ami vowed to keep fighting, saying of the prospect of playing in the Masters next year: “I would probably be the oldest qualifier ever, I guess—that would be great!”
How To Watch
The 87th edition of Tata Steel Chess takes place January 18-February 2, 2025, 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 from move one. Both the Masters and Challengers groups are 14-player round-robin tournaments.
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