Tata Steel Chess 2026 Round 5: Sindarov Catches Leaders As Gukesh, Keymer, Fedoseev Also Strike

GM Javokhir Sindarov looked to have spoiled a win against 14-year-old GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus but went on to grind out a 74-move victory that saw him join GMs Hans Niemann and Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the 2026 Tata Steel Chess Masters lead. GM Vladimir Fedoseev brilliantly defeated GM Arjun Erigaisi after a risky opening, while World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju goes into the rest day with a first win, over GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen. GM Vincent Keymer also struck, getting back to 50 percent by beating GM Aravindh Chithambaram. 

12-year-old IM Faustino Oro sacrificed two exchanges to beat IM Lu Miaoyi and enter a three-way tie for the 2026 Tata Steel Chess Challengers lead on 4/5 after GM Aydin Suleymanli was held to a draw by GM Max Warmerdam. The other leader is GM Andy Woodward, who has now won four games in a row after a first-round defeat. Elsewhere there was a first win for IM Eline Roebers, against GM Daniil Yuffa, while IM Carissa Yip took down GM Velimir Ivic.

Round six starts on Friday, January 23, at 8 a.m. ET/ 14:00 CET / 6:30 p.m. IST.

Masters: Sindarov Catches Leaders

Tata Steel Masters: Round 5 Results

It was the most decisive day yet in the Masters, with four wins.

Tata Steel Masters: Standings After Round 5

The leaders drew their head-to-head clash, which allowed Sindarov to catch them, while Fedoseev and Gukesh’s wins take them to within half a point.

The last round before the first rest day saw a clash of the leaders, Niemann and Abdusattorov, and it was an intense battle.

That was mainly down to the U.S. star who, despite falling far behind on the clock, twice rejected a draw by repetition. Abdusattorov, with Black, found himself walking a tightrope but never stumbled.

The two remaining draws saw GM Jorden van Foreest push hard but fail to convert a better pawn structure in a 74-move game against GM Matthias Bluebaum, and a relatively quiet draw in GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu vs. GM Anish Giri.

That latter game did feature one curious moment, however, with Praggnanandhaa seemingly forgetting when playing 31.Qd4? that the a3-pawn could now be taken. Giri then thought for three minutes, but didn’t take it—instead swapping off queens for a draw.

All of the remaining games were decisive.

Sindarov 1-0 Erdogmus

The draw in the game of the leaders gave Sindarov a chance to catch them, and when 14-year-old Erdogmus stumbled on move 32, the Uzbek star looked sure to seize his chance. In the end he did, but he needed to win the game twice, since the young Turkish star fought his way back into a theoretically drawn endgame before finally slipping to a painful 74-move defeat.

Sindarov catches Niemann and Abdusattorov in the #TataSteelChess Masters lead after overcoming huge resistance from Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus! https://t.co/jQ5Tbb1hnC pic.twitter.com/nQyRaR3hx1

— chess24 (@chess24com) January 21, 2026

While Sindarov caught the leaders, two players moved within half a point with wins: Gukesh and Fedoseev.

Van Nguyen 0-1 Gukesh 

“Today it was a nice grind,” said the world champion, who also pointed out his slow four-draw start could have been much faster if not for a near miss against Sindarov in the first round.

I was supposed to win the first one, but I missed by a whisker. I’m pretty much happy with most of the games that I played so far. Although I didn’t get the win, I knew I was playing good, so it was expected that I would get it at some point.  

How had the previous miss after a six-hour clash with Sindarov affected him? “The one thing that helped was it was just so long I was too tired to be upset!”

The one thing that helped was it was just so long I was too tired to be upset!

—Gukesh Dommaraju on his missed win against Javokhir Sindarov

The game was objectively decided by the mistake 35.Rc3?, played when Van Nguyen had under a minute to reach move 40.

Gukesh’s 35…Bd4! was the one move to take advantage, though Gukesh had already had high hopes for the game from the moment he gave his opponent an isolated pawn.

The next win featured the move of the day, and, who knows, perhaps the year when we look back at 2026! 

Arjun 0-1 Fedoseev 

Fedoseev admitted that as a player new to the Ragozin, he’d been bamboozled by Arjun’s rare and dangerous 6.Bg5. Fedoseev was torn between either trying to recall analysis or playing on his own at the board, and said he ended up doing something in between. It could easily have ended in disaster.

Fedoseev’s 8…e5?! vs. Arjun looks to be very risky! https://t.co/sfSC8tMbkj pic.twitter.com/608EOWn87c

— chess24 (@chess24com) January 21, 2026

As it happened, however, Fedoseev did eventually manage to get a position with “great compensation and far easier to play from my side.” It all culminated in 29…Rc3!!, which Fedoseev described as “maybe one of the best moves I’ve played in my life as a chess player” before adding, “but it doesn’t fully work!” 

Maybe one of the best moves I’ve played in my life as a chess player, but it doesn’t fully work!

—Vladimir Fedoseev on his 29…Rc3!! vs. Arjun Erigaisi

Fedoseev’s suspicion was right, since although his suggested 30.Rf2 Qe3 31.d7 Rxb3 32.Qa8 can be refuted, the immediate 30.d7!! Qe3 31.Qa8!! likely holds. 

That incredible clash is our Game of the Day, which GM Dejan Bojkov analyzes below.

There was one more win in the Masters, with top seed Keymer returning to 50 percent by inflicting a second loss in a row on Aravindh.

Keymer 1-0 Aravindh

Keymer said he not only lost in rounds two and three but played badly, so that in round four he’d simply aimed to be solid. He succeeded in securing a draw, while in round five he felt he played “very decently” to get fully back on track with a win.

That came despite Aravindh once more being very well prepared in an incredibly sharp line. 18.Qf4 is the move that got Aravindh out of book, however, and a few moves later he found himself lost.

Keymer will have Black against Niemann after Thursday’s rest day, while the big clash in round six is Abdusattorov-Gukesh.

Challengers: Oro, Woodward Catch Suleymanli In Lead

We also got four wins in the Challengers, including a first for Roebers.

Tata Steel Challengers: Round 5 Results

Those results left us with a three-way tie for first place, with Oro and Woodward joining Suleymanli in the battle to top the table and qualify for the 2027 Masters.

Tata Steel Challengers: Standings After Round 5

Suleymanli’s draw against Warmerdam gave his pursuers a chance to catch him, and two youngsters were up for the challenge. One was 15-year-old Woodward, who gradually outplayed his opponent to score a fourth win in a row—which was also FM Panesar Vedant’s fourth loss in a row.

The other player to catch the leader was 12-year-old Oro, with “the Messi of Chess” given a new nickname by 13th World Champion Garry Kasparov.

Chessi! 🇦🇷 https://t.co/4Oc45C9jcf

— Garry Kasparov (@Kasparov63) January 22, 2026

Oro has already improved on his score in 13 rounds in 2025, and his ambition of winning the event and qualifying for next year’s Masters can’t be dismissed. His finish against Lu was beautiful.

Yip joined Maurizzi just half a point behind the leaders with a third win, and her favorite yet. “A nice fighting game,” said the U.S. star after her decision to sac a pawn in a difficult position worked out perfectly against Ivic.

Dutch favorite Roebers is not fighting for the top spots, but she did pick up her first win after suffering four losses in a row. 

“It doesn’t make so much sense to pretend all of a sudden to be solid when I’m not really a solid player!” said Roebers of how she still played an aggressive line against the Sicilian despite her tough start.

She was able to draw on some preparation from a year ago, and it was remarkable how smoothly she defeated 2604-rated Yuffa, who soon found himself in trouble on both the board and the clock.

Roebers faces GM Vasyl Ivanchuk next, while the U.S. clash Yip-Woodward will be another game to look forward to after the rest day!

How To Watch

The 88th edition of Tata Steel Chess takes place January 17-February 1, 2026, in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. Both the Masters and Challengers groups are 14-player round-robin tournaments. The time control is 120 minutes for 40 moves followed by 30 minutes to the end of the game, with a 30-second increment only from move 41. No draw offers are allowed before move 40. 

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