Tata Steel Masters: Abdusattorov survives scare, Giri moves up to second place
In Round 9 the leader of Tata Steel Masters 2023, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, escaped with a draw vs Vincent Keymer, while Anish Giri beat Ding Liren with the black pieces to narrow the gap. Richard Rapport scored his second straight victory. All other games were drawn. Vincent Keymer – Nodirbek Abudattorov ½–½ The leader of the event surprised his opponent with Tarrasch Defence, in which Keymer employed a rare move 8.a3, tested by his compatriot Matthias Bluebaum several times in 2022. The position was roughly equal until Black created some weaknesses in his camp with 18…f5, allowing White to gradually increase pressure without taking risks. Vincent correctly sacrificed a pawn and got a long-lasting initiative in the endgame. He eventually regained a pawn, but it was still an uphill battle for Nodirbek, who had to take care of his weak pawns. Black’s position was gradually deteriorating and after the time control, White missed several winning continuations, although they were not that easy to find. The opponents liquidated into a rook endgame in which they continued trading errors, with the evaluation changing several times. In the final portion of the game, Vincent won a pawn and one more time came very close to a victory but chose the wrong direction for his rook. After 80. Rf8 Rf1 81. Kg4 Rg1+ 82. Kh5 Rg3 83. Kg6 Rxf3 84. Re8+ Kd5 85. Kf5 White wins, but Keymer played 80.Rb6? allowing Abdusattorov to escape with 80… Rh1+ 81. Kg4 Rg1+ 82. Kh5 Rg3 83. Rb3 Kf5 84. Rb5+ Ke6 85. g6 Rxf3 86. g7 Rg3 87. Kh6 f3 88. Rb8 Rh3+ 89. Kg6 ½–½ Ding Liren – Anish Giri 0-1 The opponents battled in a reversed Benoni-type position that emerged from the English Opening and followed a recent blitz game played by Giri vs Fedoseev back in 2021 for a while. Anish was first to deviate with 10…e5, and soon the opponents were out of the books. Ding tried a very aggressive approach g4 followed by g5 to which Black should have reacted with a piece sacrifice, getting the upper hand. However, Anish retreated his knight to e8 instead, and Ding obtained a much better position thanks to control over the critical d5-square. Ding, in his turn, was too slow, missing a chance to occupy the d5-square with a knight as soon as possible and then on move 28, he missed a powerful blow by his opponent. 28…Bxc4! Ding had no desire to play the position emerging after 29. bxc4 Nxc4 30. Qc3 Nxd2 31. Qxd2 Qe5 and tried to get to Black’s king at the cost of a piece a few moves later, but it did not work out for him as Anish found a nice refutation. 35…Nf3+! 36. Rxf3 Re1+ 37. Bf1 Kh8 0-1 Arjun Erigaisi – Richard Rapport 0-1 Richard introduced a very interesting idea of 11…Be4 followed by a bold 12…g5 in the Nimzo-Indian and surprisingly quickly got a won position after a series of White’s hesitant moves. By move 21, Black completely dominated, and it did not take Rapport too long to score his second victory in the event. Parham Maghsoodloo – Wesley So ½–½ The Iranian GM mixed up his preparation and played an early a2-a3 in the Nimzo-Indian but quickly found himself in an inferior position with doubled c-pawns. Luckily for Parham, Wesley first allowed weakening his king’s position with 13.Bxf6, then missed 22…Rc4 (22…Qc8) with overwhelming position and let the opponent escape with perpetual check. Magnus Carlsen – Gukesh D ½–½ The opponents followed the game Xiong – Swiercz in the Ragozin Defence for a while, but Magnus deviated with 11.e3, the move he was not happy about in a short post-game interview (it seems that 11.Qc2 played in the original game is better). Gukesh quickly equalized and confidently held his ground, reaching a draw in an endgame by move repetition. Praggnanandhaa – Fabiano Caruana ½–½ The American GM demonstrated excellent preparation in the Ragozin Defence and comfortably equalized after introducing a new plan with 9…Bd6. However, later in the middlegame, he allowed his opponent to exert some pressure on the a7 and c6 weaknesses. To his credit, Fabiano defended with great accuracy and sealed a draw in a rook endgame. Levon Aronian – Jorden van Foreest ½–½ Aronian tested the Dutch GM in an Anti-Meran type position, but as soon as Van Foreest executed a thematic c6-c5, massive exchanges followed, and the opponents split a point in a dead-equal bishop endgame. Standings after Round 9: 1. Nodirbek Abdusattorov – 6.5; 2. Anish Giri – 6; 3. Wesley So – 5.5; 4-7. Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and Magnus Carlsen – 5; 8. Richard Rapport – 4.5; 9-10. Parham Maghsoodloo and Ding Liren – 4; 11. Jorden Van Foreest – 3.5; 12-14. Arjun Erigaisi, Vincent Keymer and Gukesh D – 3. Photos: tatasteelchess.com, Jurriaan Hoefsmit and Lennart Ootes
Samvel Ter-Sahakyan takes the lead in FIDE Circuit race
Samvel Ter-Sahakyan (pictured below) emerged as the new leader of the FIDE Circuit race following his victory in the 83rd Armenian Championship. The champion picked up 7.4 points and edged out the winner of the Rilton Cup, IM Pranesh M, to the second position. The runner-up of the Armenian Championship, Manuel Petrosyan, closes out the top three. FIDE Circuit Race Top 10 as of January 24, 2023 1 Ter-Sahakyan, Samvel 2605 ARM 7.40 2 Pranesh M 2475 IND 6.76 3 Petrosyan, Manuel 2632 ARM 5.92 4 Kucuksari, Kaan 2487 SWE 5.24 5 Hovhannisyan, Robert 2597 ARM 5.00 6 Meshkovs, Nikita 2576 LAT 4.90 7 Harutyunyan, Tigran K. 2511 ARM 4.63 8 Urkedal, Frode Olav Olsen 2536 NOR 3.55 9 Galperin, Platon 2534 UKR 3.21 10 Gorshtein, Ido 2498 ISR 2.87 You can find full current standings on worldchampionshipcycle.fide.com/ At the end of 2022, FIDE Council approved a major reform of the qualification paths to the Candidates Tournament – the event that decides the challenger for the World Championship match. One of the paths is the newly created FIDE Circuit (Path D). The player accumulating the most points during 2023 in eligible tournaments qualifies for the 2024 Candidates Tournament. The final score is calculated as the sum of the player’s five highest results.
FIDE Candidates Tournaments 2024: Call for bids
1.1 The International Chess Federation (FIDE) will hold the Candidates and Women’s Candidates Tournaments together in April 2024. The Regulations for both events shall be approved by 1 July 2023. 1.2 The basic provisions are the following: a) Number of participants in each event – 8b) Total duration – up to 22 daysc) Recommended combined prize fund for the two tournaments – 750,000 (seven hundred and fifty thousand) Eurosd) The Organiser shall respect the rights of the FIDE sponsors and partners, including for the video and games broadcast.e) References: FIDE Candidates 2022handbook.fide.com/files/handbook/Regulations_for_the_FIDE_Candidates_Tournament_2022.pdf FIDE Women’s Candidates 2019 gsc.fide.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/RegWCT.pdf 1.3 FIDE is opening a bidding procedure to invite any federation member of FIDE or any organiser approved by their national federation to host the event. 1.4 The Bidding Form shall be filled in by an Applicant. A signed copy shall be submitted by e-mail messages to the FIDE Secretariat to office@fide.com from 25 January to 28 February 2023 by 23:59 Lausanne time (FIDE retains the right to extend this deadline). All the documents shall be submitted in English. Additional documents may be requested by the FIDE General Strategy Commission (GSC) for further evaluation. 1.5 The Bid Evaluation Report shall be presented by GSC for approval by the FIDE Council. 1.6 Once the Organiser is granted the right to organise the event, a relevant announcement shall be made on the FIDE website. A FIDE Technical Delegate (FIDE TD) may be appointed at the same time to supervise the event on behalf of FIDE in consultation with GSC.
Tata Steel Masters: Abdusattorov leads going into second rest day
Nodirbek Abdusattorov preserved his one-point lead heading into the rest day. It was the second high-scoring round in a row (four wins and just three draws) at Tata Steel Masters 2023, with Gukesh D, Richard Rapport and Jorden Van Foreest scoring their first victories. Magnus Carlsen improved his tournament situation after beating Fabiano Caruana with the black pieces. Nodirbek Abdusattorov – Fabiano Caruana ½–½ The event leader essayed a new idea 9.Qe1 followed by 10.Qc3 in the Anti-Marshall of Ruy Lopez and managed to pose some problems for Black. Levon defended accurately, traded several pieces and then the queens to seal a draw in an equal endgame. Fabiano Caruana – Magnus Carlsen 0-1 In another Anti-Marshall, the opponents followed the recent game Nguyen – Wojtaszek for quite a while, but Fabiano was first to deviate with a new move 15.Bf4. White advanced his central pawns and attacked Black’s knight, probably hoping to throw it back to h7, but Magnus had different agenda. 21…Bc6! It turns out that the knight is taboo due to 22. exf6 Rxe1+ 23. Bxe1 Rxb3. Taken aback, Fabiano immediately committed the decisive mistake 22.Bc2?? (after 22.Qd3 White is OK) and after 22… Qd5 23. Re2 Rb4 24. Kh2 Rxd4 25. Qb1 Ne4, it did not take Magnus long to finish off his opponent. Ding Liren – Wesley So ½–½ Ding and Wesley tested the advance variation of Caro Kann in which White got an edge thanks to the pressure on Black’s week pawns. Probably 20.Nc4 instead of 20.Bc4 was a bit stronger (although even in this case, Black had sufficient defensive resources) because, as played, Wesley reached a draw without much of a hassle. Anish Giri – Vincent Keymer ½–½ The players followed the footsteps of Sethuraman and Yu Yangyi (2022) but Anish was first to deviate with 17. Qe2, which, according to chess engines, is not as strong as the immediate 17.b5 played by the Indian GM. Anish played b4-b5 a bit later and grabbed a pawn on the queenside. On move 22 White had a chance to consolidate his position and achieve seizable advantage, but in order to do that, he should have retreated his pieces to the first rank. This option does not look attractive for a human player, and Anish opted for a more natural queens exchange. However, after thematic c7-c5 Black got full compensation. Apparently, Giri did not like his position as he offered a draw which Keymer had no reason to reject. Richard Rapport – Praggnanandhaa R 1-0 Rapport renewed an old idea of advancing h-pawn in the Giuoco Piano and obtained a promising position but missed the best continuation on move 11. Praggnanandhaa, in his turn, also did not play optimally and after castling long and dislodging the opponent’s queen from c3, White got a dangerous initiative in the center and kingside. The Indian tried to evacuate his king to the queenside, but as soon as White advanced his pawn mass in the center Black’s defense collapsed. A few moves later, Praggnanandhaa parted with an exchange and got two extra pawns but found himself in a hopeless position. Rapport was merciless and scored his first victory in the event. Jorden van Foreest – Arjun Erigaisi 1-0 The young Indian tried a relatively new idea in the King’s Indian 7…h6, but soon the position took a more or less familiar shape. In the subsequent play White, as usual pushed on the queenside, while Black put some pressure on the c4-pawn. Eventually, Jorden planted his knight to c6, and after Black did not venture upon trading it for a rook and a pawn with a solid position, the Dutchman creatively sacrificed this piece for a couple of pawns. Black still had some defensive options, but after a few inaccuracies by Erigiasi, White advanced his queenside pawns and got the day. Gukesh D – Parham Maghsoodloo 1-0 In this see-saw game, the Iranian GM pulled out an offbeat 3…h6 in the Nimzo-Indian but ended up in a standard position where this move was just a waste of tempi. Gukesh immediately grabbed the initiative, but instead of snatching a pawn on move 16 he preferred to continue manoeuvring and allowed Parham to consolidate his position. However, the Iranian had no desire to defend passively and unleashed a highly aggressive g7-g5 only to create some extra weaknesses in his camp. White pressured the queenside but underestimated Black’s threats on the kingside, and the position became even. Moreover, in the heat of the battle Gukesh overpushed and gave Parham a chance to win the game on the spot. Instead of 41… Nxg3+ 42. Kh2 Nf5 43. a7 Ra2 44. a8=Q Rxa8 45. Qxa8 Qf4+ 46. Kh1 Ng3+ 47. Kh2 Ne4+ 48. Kh1 Nf2# the Iranian played 41…Ra2 and just a few moves later, this dramatic game took the final U-turn. Trying to avoid a draw by perpetual at any cost, Parham just played 42…Kg6, but missed a nice trick 43.g4! Ironically, Ng3+ winning just a few moves back fails to 44.Qxg3! Black tried 43…Ne3 but got checkmated after 44. Be4+ f5 45. Qd6+ Kf7 46. gxf5 g4 47. Qe6+ Kf8 48. Qf6+ Kg8 49. Bd5+ 1-0 Standings after Round 8: 1. Nodirbek Abdusattorov – 6; 2-3. Anish Giri and Wesley So – 5; 4-7. Levon Aronian, Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Fabiano Caruana and Magnus Carlsen – 4.5; 8. Ding Liren – 4; 9-10. Richard Rapport and Parham Maghsoodloo – 3.5; 11-12. Arjun Erigaisi and Richard Van Foreest – 3; 13-14. Vincent Keymer and Gukesh D – 2.5. January 23 is the second of three planned rest days at Tata Steel Masters 2023. Round 9 will start on January 24 at 2 PM local time. Photos: tatasteelchess.com, Jurriaan Hoefsmit and Lennart Ootes
Women’s Grand Prix Munich 2023: Pairings announced
The full pairings for every round of the upcoming Women’s Grand Prix Munich 2023 has been announced. The second leg of Women’s Grand Prix 2022-23 will take place in Munich from February 1-14, 2022. Twelve players will compete in a round-robin tournament. In each WGP tournament, every player scores WGP points according to her position in the final standings; the winner of the WGP Series is a player who scores the most cumulative points earned in all three WGP tournaments she played. The participants of WGP Munich received the following starting numbers: 1. GM Elisabeth Paehtz (Germany), 2. GM Alexandra Kosteniuk (FIDE), 3. GM Tan Zhongyi (China), 4. GM Harika Dronavalli (India), 5. GM Zhansaya Abdumalik (Kazakhstan), 6. GM Mariya Muzychuk (Ukraine), 7. GM Anna Muzychuk (Ukraine), 8. GM Nana Dzagnidze (Georgia), 9. GM Humpy Koneru (India), 10. WGM Zhu Jiner (China), 11. IM Alina Kashlinskaya (Poland), 12. WGM Dinara Wagner (Germany) Full pairings: February 2Round I / 3:00 pm Paehtz Elisabeth – Wagner DinaraKosteniuk Alexandra – Kashlinskaya AlinaTan Zhongyi – Zhu JinerHarika Dronavalli – Koneru HumpyAbdumalik Zhansaya – Dzagnidze NanaMuzychuk Mariya – Muzychuk Anna February 3Round II / 3:00 pm Wagner Dinara – Muzychuk AnnaDzagnidze Nana – Muzychuk MariyaKoneru Humpy – Abdumalik ZhansayaZhu Jiner – Harika DronavalliKashlinskaya Alina – Tan ZhongyiPaehtz Elisabeth – Kosteniuk Alexandra February 4Round III / 3:00 pm Kosteniuk Alexandra – Wagner DinaraTan Zhongyi – Paehtz ElisabethHarika Dronavalli – Kashlinskaya AlinaAbdumalik Zhansaya – Zhu JinerMuzychuk Mariya – Koneru HumpyMuzychuk Anna – Dzagnidze Nana February 5Round IV / 3:00 pm Wagner Dinara – Dzagnidze NanaKoneru Humpy – Muzychuk AnnaZhu Jiner – Muzychuk MariyaKashlinskaya Alina – Abdumalik ZhansayaPaehtz Elisabeth – Harika DronavalliKosteniuk Alexandra – Tan Zhongyi February 6Round V / 3:00 pm Tan Zhongyi – Wagner DinaraHarika Dronavalli – Kosteniuk AlexandraAbdumalik Zhansaya – Paehtz ElisabethMuzychuk Mariya – Kashlinskaya AlinaMuzychuk Anna – Zhu JinerDzagnidze Nana – Koneru Humpy February 7Day-offMunich charity chess gala / 6:00 pm February 8Round VI / 3:00 pm Wagner Dinara – Koneru HumpyZhu Jiner – Dzagnidze NanaKashlinskaya Alina – Muzychuk AnnaPaehtz Elisabeth – Muzychuk MariyaKosteniuk Alexandra – Abdumalik ZhansayaTan Zhongyi – Harika Dronavalli February 9Round VII / 3:00 pm Harika Dronavalli – Wagner DinaraAbdumalik Zhansaya – Tan ZhongyiMuzychuk Mariya – Kosteniuk AlexandraMuzychuk Anna – Paehtz ElisabethDzagnidze Nana – Kashlinskaya AlinaKoneru Humpy – Zhu Jiner February 10Round VIII / 3:00 pm Wagner Dinara – Zhu JinerKashlinskaya Alina – Koneru HumpyPaehtz Elisabeth – Dzagnidze NanaKosteniuk Alexandra – Muzychuk AnnaTan Zhongyi – Muzychuk MariyaHarika Dronavalli – Abdumalik Zhansaya February 11Round IX / 3:00 pm Abdumalik Zhansaya – Wagner DinaraMuzychuk Mariya – Harika DronavalliMuzychuk Anna – Tan ZhongyiDzagnidze Nana – Kosteniuk AlexandraKoneru Humpy – Paehtz ElisabethZhu Jiner – Kashlinskaya Alina February 12Round X / 3:00 pm Wagner Dinara – Kashlinskaya AlinaPaehtz Elisabeth – Zhu JinerKosteniuk Alexandra – Koneru HumpyTan Zhongyi – Dzagnidze NanaHarika Dronavalli – Muzychuk AnnaAbdumalik Zhansaya – Muzychuk Mariya February 13Round XI / 1:00 pm Muzychuk Mariya – Wagner DinaraMuzychuk Anna – Abdumalik ZhansayaDzagnidze Nana – Harika DronavalliKoneru Humpy – Tan ZhongyiZhu Jiner – Kosteniuk AlexandraKashlinskaya Alina – Paehtz Elisabeth Official website: womengrandprix.fide.com/
Ter-Sahakyan and Gevorgyan win Armenian championship
GM Samvel Ter-Sahakyan and WGM Maria Gevorgyan are the new champions of Armenia, winning their second and fifth (!) national titles, respectively. The 83rd Armenian Championship and the 78th Women’s Armenian Сhampionship were held simultaneously in the Tigran Petrosian Chess House in Yerevan from January 13-21. Both events were 10-player round robins with classical time control. As expected, the open championship (a part of the FIDE Circuit) was a very close contest that came down to the wire. Although Manuel Petrosyan led for the most part of the event Samvel Ter-Sahakayn caught up with him, heading into the decisive final round. Both leaders played with the white pieces, but only Samvel pulled off a victory over Robert Hovhannisyan, while Manuel managed only a draw vs Zaven Andriasian. As a result, Ter-Sahakyan (pictured below) leapfrogged his main rival by a half-point and clinched the title. Petrosyan finished second; Robert Hovhannisyan tied for third place with Tigran Harutyunyan but took bronze thanks to a better Sonneborn-Berger. Final standings: 1 GM Ter-Sahakyan, Samvel 2605 6½ 2 GM Petrosyan, Manuel 2632 6 3 GM Hovhannisyan, Robert 2597 5½ 4 GM Harutyunyan, Tigran 2511 5½ 5 GM Hakobyan, Aram 2626 5 6 GM Andriasian, Zaven 2580 5 7 GM Petrosian, Tigran 2551 4½ 8 IM Gharibyan, Mamikon 2490 3½ 9 IM Barseghyan, Armen 2403 2 10 FM Sargsyan, Sargis 2314 1½ The top six finishers of the 83rd Armenian Сhampionship earned FIDE Circuit race points: 1. 7,40 2. 5,92 3. 5,0 4. 4,63 5. 2,78 6. 0,93 In the women’s event, the rating favourite WGM Maria Gevorgyan (pictured below) suffered an unexpected defeat at the hands of Polina Kobak in Round 2. It was a wake-up call for Maria, who scored three straight victories (including one over her main competitor, second-rated WIM Susanna Gaboyan), grabbed the lead and held it to the very end. Gaboyan finished a half-point behind the champion and earned silver; Arpine Grigoryan came clear third. Final standings: 1 WGM Gevorgyan, Maria 2269 7 2 WIM Gaboyan, Susanna 2158 6½ 3 WFM Grigoryan, Arpine 2010 5½ 4 Hakobyan Astghik 2074 5 5 WFM Khachatryan, Anna 2031 4½ 6 Kobak, Polina 1733 4 7 Yedigaryan, Asya 1859 4 8 WIM Gasparian, Narine 2022 3½ 9 Khachatryan, Veronika 2023 3 10 Hayrapetyan, Nvard 1543 2 Official webpage: chessfed.am/ Photo: Armenian Chess Federation Facebook page
Tata Steel Masters: Abdusattorov pulls away
As many as four games ended in victories in the “bloodiest” seventh round at the Tata Steel Masters. Nodirbek Abdusattorov broke away from his closest rivals, increasing the gap to a full point, while Wesley So and Praggnanandhaa joined Anish Giri and Fabiano Caruana, tying for second place. Arjun Erigaisi – Nodirbek Abdusattorov 0-1 After getting a slight edge in a rare line of Petrov Defence, Arjun let his guard down and allowed Nodirbek to create a dangerous counterplay based on his advanced d-passer. Just a few moves down the road, White’s activity on the kingside backfired as Black quickly transferred his queen and started probing weaknesses. To make things even worse, Erigaisi traded his h5-pawn for the opponent’s b7-pawn and fell under heavy pressure. In the final portion of the game, we saw Abusattorov at his best as, with a series of energetic blows, the Uzbek GM shattered White’s defences and scored his fourth victory in the event. Parham Maghsoodloo – Fabiano Caruana ½–½ In arguably the most exciting game in Round 7, Parham emerged slightly better in the Ragozin Defence, but his plan of f2-f3 followed by e3-e4 backfired, as Fabiano regrouped his pieces traded in the center and put some pressure on the d4-pawn. The American then sacrificed a pawn but got sufficient compensation in the form of very active pieces. He soon restored material equilibrium, but White pinned his hopes on his b-passer, although objectively, the position was in balance. Trying to win at any cost, Parham crossed a fine line – he advanced his pawn to b7 but lost a piece along the way. Fabiano had to trade his bishop for the b-passer but snatched the h-pawn to liquidate into queen endgame with an extra pawn and White’s king misplaced. A seven-piece tablebase evaluates the ending as won for Black, and Caruana came very close but being short on the clock, he missed a couple of winning continuations and allowed Maghsoodloo to transfer his king to back to his camp, securing a draw. Praggnanandhaa R – Jorden van Foreest 1-0 The Dutch GM introduced a very interesting pawn sacrifice in Chebanenko Variation of Slav Defence (10…b4 followed by 11…Rb8 and 12…a5) and got some compensation, but just a few moves down the road made a grave mistake that turned his position from playable to strategically hopeless. Instead of maintaining the tension, Black closed the center with 15…e4? The rest of the game, although it required precision from White, was one-way traffic. Slowly but surely, Praggnanandhaa traded some pieces, advanced his passer and infiltrated into Black’s camp. As soon as Black’s c6-pawn fell, Van Foreest capitulated. Gukesh D – Wesley So 0-1 The American GM comfortably equalized in a topical line of Ruy Lopez but then first missed an interesting sacrifice (17…Bxh3) and then misplaced his knight on h5 and handed White a clear advantage. Most likely Wesley missed 20.Nh4 followed by a very strong 21.Qd1. However, Gukesh failed to capitalize and buckled under pressure. After 22. g3 Bxh3 23. d4 White would have an overwhelming advantage. The Indian youngster missed this opportunity, and, a few moves later, blundered a pawn and quickly packed it in. Magnus Carlsen – Richard Rapport 1-0 The World Champion deviated from the main theoretical lines of the Petrov Defence and got a fresh position with mutual chances. This approach paid off surprisingly quickly as Rapport chose the wrong version of piece sacrifice, then added another one to the fuel of his attack, only to resign on move 36. Vincent Keymer – Ding Liren ½–½ The German GM quickly obtained a sizable advantage in his pet line of English Opening after Ding overoptimistically played 11..Ba6 and traded the pawns in the center. Keymer increased pressure with a series of precise moves but when the time came to reap the harvest, he suddenly switched to reverse gear. After natural 21. e5 Bxg2 22. Kxg2 Ng8 23. Rd7 White would have got an overwhelming position. Instead, Vincent started hovering around and allowed Black to greatly improve his situation. Keymer got a new chance in the rook ending, but again, instead of the most natural and winning continuation, he played differently and let Ding get off the hook. Levon Aronian – Anish Giri ½–½ After slow manoeuvring in a balanced position that emerged from the Italian Game a burst of activity in the center resulted in massive exchanges and a quick draw. Standings after Round 7: 1. Nodirbek Abdusattorov – 5.5; 2-5. Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Anish Giri, Fabiano Caruana and Wesley So – 4.5; 6. Levon Aronian – 4; 7-9. Parham Maghsoodloo, Ding Liren and Magnus Carlsen – 3.5; 10. Arjun Erigaisi – 3; 11. Richard Rapport – 2.5; 12-13. Vincent Keymer and Jorden Van Foreest – 2; 14. Gukesh – 1.5. Photos: tatasteelchess.com, Jurriaan Hoefsmit and Lennart Ootes
Tata Steel Masters: Abdusattorov stays in front
Nodirbek Abusattorov preserved his top position, while Fabiano Caruana caught up with Anish Giri after defeating Gukesh D and now shares second place with the Dutch GM. Wesley So notched up his first win in the event. Jorden van Foreest – Magnus Carlsen ½–½ After 1.e4 the World Champion opted for the Sicilian Defense, which hardly surprised anyone. Jorden did not play the most aggressive line and allowed Magnus to trade queens, which favours for Black in this type of position. In the subsequent play, Carlsen implemented a typical plan, advancing his g-pawn while Van Foreest chipped away at Black’s pawn chain on the queenside and eventually created a passed pawn on the a-file. In a balanced position, Magnus penetrated with his king to the kingside, but Jorden did not waste time and created counterplay by attacking Black’s pawns. In the end, it was Carlsen, who had to demonstrate accuracy to secure a draw. Fabiano Caruana – Gukesh D 1-0 The Indian youngster essayed a rare line in the Ragozin Defence with 7…Ne7 but did not demonstrate elaborate preparation, as by move 15 Caruana got a clear, almost decisive advantage without doing anything special. Gukesh decided to part with a pawn, but it did no help as Fabiano effortlessly launched a decisive attack on the kingside. On moves 19 and 20, Caruana missed the strongest continuations, but his position was good enough to score a victory before reaching the time control. Wesley So – Vincent Keymer 1-0 The young German prepared an original idea in a rare line of the Ruy Lopez and went after White’s a5-pawn but fell behind in development. Wesley got sufficient compensation and eventually restored material equilibrium, but at this point, Black could have equalized. Vincent did not find 24…Qc8 and found himself in an inferior endgame down a pawn. Still, Black had good drawing chances thanks to his advanced queenside pawns, especially after So’s inaccuracy 31.Bc1 (31.Kf1 bringing the king in action was much better). Keymer almost got there but, just like in the previous round, failed to find the right continuation. After 33… axb3 34. Nd2 f6 35. exf6 Bxf6 36. Nxb3 Nxc4 37. Nxc5 Na5 38. Kf1 b3 Black’s b-passer is a very strong argument for a draw. Keymer opted for 33…Nb1 but after 34. bxa4 b3 35. Kf1 Ba5 36. Bb2 Nc3 37. Nd2 Nxa4 38. Nxb3 Bb4, it turned out that in his particular situation, Black’s b-pawn was innocuous, whereas White’s kingside paws were way too strong. The final portion of the game was a cakewalk for So, who scored his first victory at Tata Steel Masters 2023. Ding Liren – Levon Aronian ½–½ In a popular line of the Italian Game Levon Aronian opted for a rare move trading pawns in the center 9…exd4 instead of the much more popular 9…Ng6 (as he had played vs Nepomniachtchi back in 2020), and very soon the opponents stepped into uncharted territory. White got a slight edge, put continuous pressure on Black’s position and made some progress, but his 40th move wiped out all his previous efforts. After 40.Re4 Black would still have faced some problems, whereas Ding’s 40.Nc5? was met with 40…e5! and Aronian reached a draw in a short tactical skirmish. Nodirbek Abdusattorov – Praggnanandhaa R ½–½ The leader of the event parted with his dark-squared bishop in a rare line of the Ruy Lopez Open but just a few later he went in for huge complications. When the dust has settled, White managed to win a pawn but thanks to active position of his pieces Praggnanandhaa made a draw without much of a hassle. Anish Giri – Arjun Erigaisi ½–½ The opponents had a discussion in a line of the Meran System that was popular about 20-30 years ago. On move 13, Arjun castled long, the continuation that is frowned upon by modern theory. Anish quickly got a comfortable advantage but on move 26 instead of a solid and very strong 26.Nd4, he went for a tempting but inferior 26.a4. After a series of mutual inaccuracies, White still reached a won position but did not manage to find the clincher. Trying to safeguard his king Anish made luft with 34.h4, but after 34… Rxc2 35. Rxa4 Bxf2+ 36. Kh2 Rd2 37. e7 Bxg3+ 38. Kxg3 Re8 Black sealed a draw. Instead, White should have played 34.Kf1! winning. The point is that White’s king controls the e2-square – 34. Kf1 Rxc2 35. Rxa4 Bxf2 36. Rf4 Rxf4 37. Bxf4, and so on. Richard Rapport – Parham Maghsoodloo ½–½ Richard tried a rare line in the Sicilian Defense and managed to ruin Black’s pawn structure but was unable to prevent Parham’s breaking in the center. Still, on move 24, Rapport had a chance to win a pawn and pose some problems for Black, but after he missed this opportunity, the opponents quickly liquidated into a drawn endgame. Standings after Round 6: 1. Nodirbek Abdusattorov – 4.5; 2-3. Fabiano Caruana and Anish Giri – 4; 4-6. = Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Levon Aronian and Wesley So – 3.5; 7-9. Arjun Erigaisi, Ding Liren and Parham Maghsoodloo – 3; 10-11. Richard Rapport and Magnus Carlsen – 2.5; 12. Jorden Van Foreest – 2; 13-14. Vincent Keymer and Gukesh D – 1.5. Photos: tatasteelchess.com, Jurriaan Hoefsmit and Lennart Ootes
Tata Steel Masters: Abdusattorov stuns Carlsen, grabs the lead
Nodirbek Abdusattorov beat Magnus Carlsen and emerged as the sole leader. Levon Aronian and Parham Maghsoodloo scored their first victories in the event. The fifth round of the Tata Steel Masters, played at Ajax football arena in Amsterdam, produced the sole leader. Nodirbek Abdusattorov prevailed over Magnus Carlsen and took the pole position, whereas his main rival Anish Giri drew his game with Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa. The Uzbek youngster leads with 4/5, followed by Anish Giri. Magnus Carlsen – Nodirbek Abdusattorov 0-1 The World Champion essayed a rare line of English Opening, which he previously tested in a blitz game with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, but after a series of logical moves by his opponent, did not achieve much. On move 13 Carlsen played somewhat reserved 13.Nf3 to which Nodirbek, instead of safe castling, reacted in the most aggressive way 13…Bf6, attacking the rook and taking control over a big diagonal. Carlsen picked up the gauntlet and sacrificed an exchange. In the subsequent complicated play, Black evacuated his king to the queenside and emerged slightly better, although White had a chance to equalize. Abdusattorov was building up pressure and got a sizable advantage at some point, but then it was his turn to make inaccuracies. Closer to the time control, he sacrificed an exchange to liquidate into a queen endgame with an extra pawn, which, according to the 7-piece tablebase was drawn. However, just a few moves later, the pendulum swang back. 43.Qe8+ was the only move leading to a draw. Magnus played 43.Kh2 and after 43…Qe2+ 44.Kg1 Qe5! Nodirbek transferred his queen to the center and slowly but surely converted his extra pawn. Praggnanandhaa R – Anish Giri ½–½ After massive exchanges of the minor pieces and queens in Giuoco Piano, the opponents steered into an equal rook endgame and signed peace on move 47. Fabiano Caruana – Wesley So ½–½ The game saw a very sharp line of the Scotch Game in which Fabiano introduced a novelty 15.Re1. Castling opposite wings suggested a very interesting middlegame battle, but after making a series of precise moves, the opponents found themselves in an equal endgame in which a draw was soon agreed. Arjun Erigaisi – Ding Liren ½–½ The opponents had a theoretical discussion in a trendy line Giuoco Piano with h7-h6 and g7-g5 by Black, which Erigaisi recently tested against Le Quang Liem. Ding deviated from this game with a new move 12…g4 (the first line of Stockfish). Arjun sacrificed a pawn and got sufficient compensation but played an active 17.Nf5 too early. Black did not react in an optimal way, and White got an edge. However, choosing between two squares for his knight Erigaisi made the wrong one and Ding Liren engineered an active play on the kingside. Black could have kept up the pressure with 31…Bc5 (Be3). Ding decided to force events but miscalculated. The Chinese GM played 31…Rxf3, but after 32.Qd5+ Rf7 33.Bd8! Qf4 34.Bc7 Qf6 35.Bd8 White secured a draw by repetition. Levon Aronian – Vincent Keymer 1-0 Black completely equalized in the Ruy Lopez but played some sluggishly and without a clear purpose in the middle game. As a result, Levon regrouped his pieces and launched a dangerous attack on the kingside. To avoid the worst, Vincent had to part with a pawn only to trade the queens. The endgame looked gloomy for Black, but Levon miscalculated, and after finding the only but sufficient defence Keymer built a fortress which was very hard to break. However, when a draw was just a few steps away, Vincent committed a grave mistake. 65…Be8? Ignoring White’s only active idea h4-h5 and Bxf5. After 65…Kf6 White would have been hard-pressed to make progress. Levon immediately jumped on the opportunity – 66.h5! and after 66…gxh5 67.Bxf5 Bd4 68.Ne4 White eventually captured the h5-pawn via the Bh7-f5-Bg6 maneuver and scored a full point. Parham Maghsoodloo – Jorden Van Foreest 1-0 After Jorden mixed up lines the Queen’s Gambit Accepted, Parham correctly sacrificed a piece and got a huge compensation. However, instead of natural 14.Bxc4, with overwhelming position, he regained a piece immediately and also got some edge, but not as big. Still, White had better chances thanks to two bishops and a potential attack on the kingside, which he indeed launched later on. Van Foreest tried to bail out with a queen sacrifice and could have put up more stubborn resistance, but it was not his day after all, as Maghsoodloo smoothly sailed to his first victory in the event. Gukesh D – Richard Rapport ½–½ The opponents played a long line in the Gruenfeld Defence in which, according to modern theory, Black holds his ground comfortably. The game did not question this evaluation as even after making a slight inaccuracy, Rapport reached a draw on move 47. Standings after Round 5: 1. Nodirbek Abdusattorov – 4; 2. Anish Giri – 3.5; 3-5. Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Fabiano Caruana and Levon Aronian – 3; 6-9. Arjun Erigaisi, Wesley So, Parham Maghsoodloo, Ding Liren – 2.5; 10-11. Magnus Carlsen and Richard Rapport – 2; 12-14. Vincent Keymer, Gukesh D and Jorden Van Foreest – 1.5. Photos: tatasteelchess.com, Jurriaan Hoefsmit
Astana to host FIDE World Championship match 2023
Lausanne, January 19, 2023 The FIDE World Championship 2023 is due to take place in Astana, Kazakhstan, from April 7th to May 1st. A new World Champion will be crowned, as Ian Nepomniachtchi and Ding Liren will battle to seize the throne left vacant by Magnus Carlsen’s withdrawal The General Partner of the event, which boasts a sensational prize fund of 2 million euros, will be NASDAQ-listed firm Freedom Holding Corp, a US-based corporation with Kazakh roots that provides financial services. Since almost five centuries ago, the question of who the best chess player in the world is has been resolved over a match, a face-off between two players competing over the course of several weeks, usually with a large purse at stake. In the case of Astana 2023, the prize fund will be 2 million, with 60% going to the winner and 40% to the runner-up. But more importantly: whatever happens in Astana, history will be made, as a new World Champion will be crowned. On October 31, 2022, the reigning World Champion Magnus Carlsen officially confirmed that he would not defend his title as Classical World Champion against his challenger, the world’s number three Ian Nepomniachtchi. The Chinese Grandmaster Ding Liren, the runner-up in the Candidates Tournament and current #2 in the world ranking, received the unexpected opportunity to play for the highest recognition in the chess world. With no defending champion and two challengers, the event promises to be one of the most thrilling and open championships of recent times, as none of them is a clear favourite. Ding Liren is the higher-rated player, with an Elo rating of 2811. However, Ian Nepomniachtchi, who is currently rated 2793, has the head-to-head slightly in his favour: of 13 classical chess games played between them, ‘Nepo’ has won 3, lost 2, and they drew 8. Nepomniachtchi’s lead increases to 13-9, with 17 draws, if we include rapid and exhibition games. More importantly, Nepomniachtchi came ahead of his rival in the super competitive Candidates tournament, held in Madrid in June-July 2022, with an impressive score of 9,5 points in 14 games. There, Ding could only score 8 points – a result good enough, though, to secure him this golden opportunity. The Candidates Tournament was the last event where the two contenders crossed swords, reaching a draw in the 8th round. Previously, Nepomniachtchi had defeated Ding in the first round of this tournament, which allowed him to grab an early lead. ‘Nepo’ would go on to become the outright winner, achieving the rare feature of winning the Candidates Tournament twice a row, following his victory in Yekaterinburg 2021. The two finalists first met in a China VS Russia exhibition match held in Sochi in August 2009, when Nepomniachtchi was 19 years old and Ding just 16. ‘Nepo’ won all four games in their match, which consisted of two rapid games and two blitz games. The World Championship match in Astana will once again be played to the distance of 14 games, with a time control of 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 60 minutes for the next 20 moves, and then 15 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 61. In case of a tie, the Champion would be determined in a rapid chess playoff. Kazakhstan, geographical pivot of Central Asia Argentina was the other main contender to host the FIDE World Chess Championship match, while Mexico and China also expressed an interest. However, given the nationality of the contenders, the bid received from Kazakhstan’s capital had obvious advantages due to its geographical situation and its track record of hosting world chess events, and was the option preferred by the FIDE Council. “It is the first time in history that a Chinese Grandmaster reaches the final and fights for the World Championship title. We anticipate an enormous interest from China in this event, and that’s an opportunity we must capitalise on to promote chess in Asia”, said the FIDE president, Arkady Dvorkovich. “As much as we would have loved to hold a world event in the American continent, the time difference would have seriously impacted the audience in this particular case. Kazakhstan is a thriving country with a flourishing economy and a privileged geographical situation, which made it perfect for hosting this match”. A decisive figure in bringing the World Championship match to Astana is Timur Turlov, a former trader who, in 2008, founded Freedom Finance, the foundation stone over which he would build a financial empire. Turlov is now the CEO of Freedom Holding Corp., a US-based group whose affiliated companies operate in all of Central Asia, Europe and the US, trading on the NASDAQ (FRHC) since 2019. More information about Freedom Holding Corp: freedomholdingcorp.com One of the companies in the group, Freedom Broker, was the main sponsor of the recently concluded FIDE World Rapid and Blitz Chess Championship that was held in Kazakhstan’s largest city, Almaty, where it has its headquarters. Shortly after its conclusion, Turlov expressed his interest in giving continuation to this successful cooperation with FIDE. Besides being the main driving force behind this bid, he also decided to run for President of the Kazakh Chess Federation, being elected this very same week, on January 18. Astana has a long tradition of hosting chess events. In September 2022, it held the first leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix, won by Kateryna Lagno, and in March 2019, it also hosted the FIDE World Team Chess Championship. With just over one million inhabitants, the city has received different names during its history: Akmolinsk, Tselinograd, Akmola, and until recent times, Nur-Sultan. The city became the capital of Kazakhstan in 1997. Since then, it has grown and developed economically, dramatically changing its shape and turning into one of the most modern cities in Central Asia, home to a range of futuristic buildings and skyscrapers. On 16 July 1999, Astana was awarded the medal and title of the City of Peace by UNESCO.