Workshop: Increase your inner strength
WGM Jana Krivec is a Doctor of Psychology and a university professor, apart from a seven-time winner of the Slovenian Women’s Championship. Last year she authored a book titled “Improve Your Life By Playing A Game“, an exciting journey through a wide range of psychology topics explained from the perspective of a tournament chess player. You can learn more about this book and Jana’s experience by listening to the first episode of the FIDE podcast, in which Jana was our inaugural guest. As part of the initiatives that the FIDE Commission for Women’s Chess has prepared for the Year of the Woman in Chess, Jana Krivec will offer a series of monthly workshops under the title “Increase your inner strength”, between February and November 2022. Their aim is to increase awareness of the power of the mind, help you to get to know yourself better, understand your inner world and learn some useful mental techniques to increase your inner strength. The first of them is scheduled for Sunday, February 27, at 15:00 CET. If you are interested, please fill out this form. To be led by women, these workshops are part of the Queens’ Festival, also under the umbrella of the Year of the Woman in Chess.
Tata Steel Chess: Winners crowned in Wijk aan Zee
The winner of the Tata Steel Masters, Magnus Carlsen, did not make a single move in the final round as he got a win over Daniil Dubov by forfeit. The World Champion scored 9½/13 and finished 1½ points ahead of Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Richard Rapport, who tied for second place. Looking back at his performance in the Tata Steel Masters 2022, Magnus Carlsen said: “I think there have been a lot of very good moments here in this tournament. I think I’ve had nine winning positions, and I converted five of them, which is probably one or two too little considering what I had, but there are a lot of positives, especially compared to the last couple of years where I didn’t play well and frankly didn’t get many chances. So the huge amount of chances that I got, it’s of course partly due to my opponents playing a bit weaker than usual, but I think I also managed to create more of them than normal. And obviously, the total score, plus five, is great and more than enough for tournament victory, but there’s always this thought that it could have been even better, but that will have to be another time. I’m really satisfied, in general.” Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Richard Rapport preserved the status-quo by making quick draws with white pieces with Fabiano Caruana and Anish Giri. Other games of Round 13 were much more exciting. Sergey Karjakin tested Vidit Gujrathi in a well-known endgame, that emerged from the Four Knights Opening. Although it looks drawish, Black had to demonstrate some accuracy, which the Indian GM failed to do. White kept posing problems here and there and snatched a pawn on the move 29. Sergey’s conversion might not have been optimal, but he got the job done in a bishop endgame. Nils Grandelius got a great attacking position on the white side of the Sicilian against Jan-Krzysztof Duda, but did not play the most energetic 19.g5! and allowed Black to grab the initiative. With his back against the wall, the Sweed found the way to muddle the waters by sacrificing a pawn, but it would not have worked had Duda found the precise move 26…Qb7. After the Polish GM imprudently captured the knight on c3, Nils set the board on fire with a nice bishop sacrifice 27.Bxg7! White’s heavy pieces pounced on Black’s king, but Jan-Krzysztof defended with precision and liquidated into an equal queen endgame in which the opponents shook hands. Sam Shankland did not manage to equalize on the black side of the London System against Jorden Van Forest but set up a defensive line with the knight on d6 in an endgame. The American had all the chances to save a half-point in a pawn race on the opposite wings, but his idea of the b-file interference led to disaster – White seamlessly converted two extra pawns in a queens and bishops endgame. Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and Andrey Esipenko waged a fight in Saemisch System of the Nimtzo Indian. After Andrey made a few hesitant moves, the Indian GM regrouped his pieces, sacrificed a pawn and got a dangerous initiative in the center and the kingside. To relieve the pressure, the Russian GM gave up an exchange but found himself in a hopeless position. Rameshbabu could have finished the game quickly by keeping the queens on the board, but he traded the most powerful pieces and allowed Andrey to build some sort of fortress. White still had to find the right plan of breaking, but Esipenko dismantled the entire construction with 58…Be6? and resigned immediately. Final standings: 1 Carlsen, Magnus 9½ 2 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 8 3 Rapport, Richard 8 4 Giri, Anish 7½ 5 Karjakin, Sergey 7 6 Van Foreest, Jorden 7 7 Esipenko, Andrey 6½ 8 Caruana, Fabiano 6½ 9 Duda, Jan-Krzysztof 6 10 Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi 6 11 Shankland, Sam 5½ 12 Praggnanandhaa R 5½ 13 Grandelius, Nils 4½ 14 Dubov, Daniil 3½ The Challengers tournament that took place concurrently with the Masters saw the rating-favourite Arjun Erigaisi steamroll his opponents. The Indian youngster turned in a brilliant performance and, just like Magnus, won the event with a round to spare. His main competitors Thai Dai Van Nguyen and Jonas Buhl Bjerre fell two points shy of the champion’s impressive result (10½/13) and tied for the second position in the final standings. Final standings: 1 Erigaisi, Arjun 10½ 2 Nguyen, Thai Dai Van 8½ 3 Bjerre, Jonas Buhl 8½ 4 L’Ami, Erwin 7½ 5 Jumabayev, Rinat 7½ 6 Van Foreest, Lucas 7 7 Murzin, Volodar 7 8 Warmerdam, Max 6½ 9 Ganguly, Surya Shekhar 6 10 Dardha, Daniel 5½ 11 Shuvalova, Polina 4½ 12 Maurizzi, Marc`Andria 4½ 13 Vogel, Roven 4 14 Zhu, Jiner 3½ Official website: tatasteelchess.com/ Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit and Lennart Ootes – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022
Carlsen wins Tata Steel Masters with a round to spare
Magnus Carlsen clinched his eighth title in Wijk aan Zee after beating Fabiano Caruana in Round 12 of Tata Steel Masters 2022. The World Champion, who will get a win by forfeit in the final round, is a full point ahead of his closest competitors, Richard Rapport and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Sam Shankland scored his first victory in the event after defeating Sergey Karjakin in an interesting theoretical battle. Fabiano Caruana got some space advantage on the white side of Rossolimo Variation of the Sicilian Defence against Magnus Carlsen, but the World Champion had some counterplay on the light squares. After Magnus penetrated with his queen to e2 with the idea of transferring his most powerful piece to g4 in a roughly equal position, Fabiano reacted with a natural but wrong 26.f3? This mistake allowed Carlsen to sacrifice an exchange for excellent positional compensation. Four moves down the road, Caruana made the final error with 30.Bc3? trading queens but giving up his e5-pawn. The final portion of the game turned into a vivid display of Magnus’ endgame technique. Slowly but surely, Black stretched White’s defence with two passers and won on move 49th. Andrey Esipenko obtained a long-lasting advantage over Richard Rapport in the Ruy Lopez with a very precise play, but the Hungarian demonstrated patience and tactical resourcefulness to save a half-point. Vidit Gujrathi achieved a very promising position in the Italian against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, with virtually all his pieces eyeing Black’s king. Even after missing a couple of very strong continuations, the Indian GM still had better chances, but then the unthinkable happened – Vidit committed a terrible blunder 26.Qg4?? that cost him a piece. The rest of the game was a walk in the park for Mamedyarov, who wrapped it up before the time control. Jan-Krzysztof Duda did not get much on the white side of Moscow Variation of Slav Defence against Jorden Van Foreest. After turning down a few drawing continuations, the Polish GM had to play with accuracy to score a half-point. Anish Giri outmanoeuvred Nils Grandelius in the Gruenfeld Defense as White but failed to find the best continuation 24.Rda1 and opted for 24.Qc6? The Swedish GM replied correctly, and after another substandard move by Anish, the evaluation of the position immediately changed in Black’s favour. Somewhat surprisingly, at this very moment, a draw was agreed. Sam Shankland demonstrated an excellent opening preparation against Sergey Karjaking in one of the lines of the Nimtzo-Indian with 4.f3 that supposedly does not promise White much. Apparently, 17…Qb7 was a serious mistake, although in order to prove it, Sam had to play with great precision. Most likely, Sergey underestimated the power of 21.Qc7! that gave White a sizable advantage which Shankland turned into a full point just five moves down the road. Standings after Round 12: 1. Маgnus Carlsen – 8½; 2-3. Richard Rapport and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – 7½; 4. Anish Giri – 7; 5. Andrey Esipenko – 6½; 6-9. Vidit Gujrathi, Sergey Karjakin, Fabiano Caruana and Jorden Van Foreest – 6; 10-11. Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Sam Shankland – 5½; 12. Praggnanandhaa R. – 4½; 13. Nils Grandelius – 4; Daniil Dubov – 3½. Official website: tatasteelchess.com/ Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit and Lennart Ootes – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022
Tata Steel Masters: Carlsen leads, Rapport moves to second position
Magnus Carlsen preserved his leading position despite missing a clear win against Vidit Gujrathi. Anish Giri suffered a painful defeat at the hands of his compatriot Jorden Van Foreest and slid to the third position. Richard Rapport moved to second place in the current standings after getting a win by forfeit over Daniil Dubov. The Russian GM had to drop out of the event due to testing positive for Covid-19. Following the footsteps of Andrey Esipenko, Magnus Carlsen tried the Italian Game with Nc3 against Vidit Gujrathi, but the Indian GM passed the test and reached equality. However, the World Champion found a way to pose some problems for his opponent and after Vidit’s mistake 28…Re8? got a won rook endgame. Then it came Magnus’ turn to err as he hastily played 36.d7? (missing a very important intermezzo 36.Re7+! which is not easy to spot) and let the opponent escape with a draw. Jorden Van Foreest opted for very aggressive Saemisch system in the Nimtzo-Indian as White against his countryman Anish Giri and built an impressive pawn center. As it often happens in this system, Black put pressure on the c4-pawn but then literally drew fire on his own king by casting short. Jorden sacrificed an exchange on f6 and got an excellent long-lasting positional compensation that grew into a crushing attack. Anish returned material but only put off the inevitable – Black capitulated right after the time control. The game Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – Sergey Karjakin saw an old but still popular line of the Italian. In a sharp position, both opponents played optimally and sealed a draw by repetition on the move 23. Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and Fabiano Caruana manoeuvred for a while in a roughly equal position that emerged from Semi-Slav Defense but with 22.Ne2 the Indian allowed a breakthrough b6-b5. Black was slightly better, but White’s next move 23.Nd4 turned out to be a grave mistake. Fabiano got a remote a-passer which he aptly used as a decoy for White’s pieces to launch a deadly attack. Andrey Esipenko tried to push on the black side of Ruy Lopez against Nils Grandelius and even sacrificed a piece, but after the Sweed’s precise reaction had to assume the defensive. White got the upper hand, but being in time trouble, Nils decided not to take chances and took a draw by repetition. Jan-Krzysztof Duda – Sam Shankland was the shortest game of the round – the opponents split a point in the middle of the opening. Standings after Round 11: 1. Маgnus Carlsen – 7½; 2. Richard Rapport – 7; 3-4. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Anish Giri – 6½; 5-8. Vidit Gujrathi, Sergey Karjakin, Andrey Esipenko and Fabiano Caruana – 6; 9. Jorden Van Foreest – 5½; 10. Jan-Krzysztof Duda – 5; 11. Sam Shankland – 4½; 12-14. Nils Grandelius, Praggnanandhaa R. and Daniil Dubov – 3½. Official website: tatasteelchess.com/ Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit and Lennart Ootes – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022
“I Fight to the End!” championship and fundraiser returns in April
The corporate chess championship fundraising for critically ill children will see its second edition in spring. Held in partnership with the Chess Federation of Russia, the “I Fight to the End!” tournament is a fundraiser for the Lighthouse Charity Foundation. This organisation offers help to critically ill children and young adults under 25 by supporting children’s hospices in Moscow and the Moscow region. Around one thousand families get help through the Foundation’s programmes and projects. The first edition of the “I Fight to the End!” championship was organised a year ago. In addition to the tournament, Daniil Dubov gave a chess masterclass at the Lighthouse Children’s Hospice in Moscow. Seventeen kids participated in a simultaneous exhibition with the grandmaster. There will be five separate tournaments in the 2022 championship, played according to the Arena system on Lichess.org. Each tournament will last 90 minutes, and a participant may play an unlimited number of blitz games during this time. Read more about the system of play below*. The match days are 4, 6, 8, 11, and 13 April 2022, from 7 till 8:30 PM Moscow time. Employees of various organisations are entitled to take part in the event. One team consists of three participants. The entrance fee from a team is 50,000 rubles. You can find the registration form and the contact emails in the Regulations (click to download), articles 6 and 7. The winners and medalists of five tournaments will be determined by the individual and team placings. The winners will get diplomas, cups, and memorable gifts. *More about the Arena tournament format: The time control is 3 minutes plus 2 seconds increment per move. There will be 2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, and 0 for a loss. If a player wins two games in a row, a doubling of points will be activated, and a flaming sign will reflect it. The following games will bring twice as many points while a player continues on the winning streak. Thus, a victory will fetch 4 points, draw 2 points and “blow out the flame” (stopping the streak), while a loss will simply stop the streak. For example, two wins followed by a draw will bring 6 points: 2 points for the first win, 2 for the second (after which the winning streak is activated) and 2 for a draw (because the points get doubled while on a winning streak).
30 Federations will receive free training from FIDE licensed trainers
At the beginning of the year, FIDE offered training support to Federations in FIDE development categories 4 and 5, which are planning to participate in the coming Moscow Olympiad. 30 Federations have responded to this call and will receive free training from FIDE licensed trainers. Fifteen of these federations are from Africa, six from Asia, six from the Americas, and three from Europe. This program will be for both open and women teams, and all trainers with a FIDE license (FIDE Instructor, FIDE Trainer and FIDE Senior Trainer) will be invited to offer their services. The successful applicants will be selected by the 30 Federations on a first-come, first-serve basis on 28 March 2022. The online training will begin the following week. Photo: Batumi Olympiad © Alina L’Ami
FIDE holds round table on “Chess in Prisons” project
In October 2021, 41 teams from 30 countries representing all continents participated in the Intercontinental Online Chess Championship for Prisoners. The three-day tournament aimed to popularize chess as an efficient tool for reintegrating incarcerated people and provided an opportunity for inmates to play with their peers across the globe. It was decided that the event would take place on an annual basis. To discuss the future cooperation and expand the initiative, a round table discussion was held with the organizers of the tournament, representatives of prisons and correctional facilities of Russia, Mongolia, Armenia, Norway, Georgia, Trinidad & Tobago and England. They shared their experience in chess education in prisons and provided some fresh ideas on how to improve and promote the event. Back in 2021, team Mongolia won the first Intercontinental Online Chess Championship among Prisoners after defeating team Zimbabwe in the final. It was hardly surprising as the country has a long history of the Chess in Prisons program. National chess competitions have been held since 1958. A national team player WGM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs who works at the Court Decision Making Agency, made a presentation about Сhess in Prisons in Mongolia. She proposed the idea of organizing chess tournaments among prisons’ staff too and training correctional institutions’ employees: officers, educational departments, enabling them to help their inmates to improve chess skills in future events. The Chess for Freedom project was also supported by Russia on a national level. One thousand chess programs were launched nationwide, with 22000 prisoners involved. Around 700 inmates played online chess tournaments. Major general Andrey Shmidko, head of the department of social, psychological and educational work with convicts of the Federal Penitentiary Service of Russia, supervisor of the Chess in Prisons project in Russia, said that the chess in prisons movement was launched in the country 22 years ago under the guidance of the world champion Anatoly Karpov. “10 years ago, the program became international. We are happy that the initiative was supported by FIDE and attracted so many countries,” he added. For the first time in the history of international chess tournaments held in prisons, winners were determined in the women’s section too. Here, team Georgia won all three matches and came in the clear first. The awarding of the winners was held outside the prison walls. Georgian chess legend Nona Gaprindashvili together with the International Foundation of Sport, Tourism and Youth, awarded the winners at the Sheraton Metekhi Palace Hotel. She was joined by the Minister of Justice Rati Bregadze and the President of the Chess Federation, Gia Giorgadze. “When a person ends up in such circumstances, whatever the reason may be, such an event can give them hope. Chess teaches you to think in advance, for yourself and for your family. It is a good activity.” Nona Gaprindashvili said during the awarding ceremony. Trinidad and Tobago was among the countries where nothing was done in terms of chess events in the correctional institutions due to the pandemic. “Thanks to FIDE and its project, the communication started, the activity plan was implemented, and in October, the team of Trinidad and Tobago could take part in the championship. From the federation to the ministry of communication – everyone was involved, and we managed to present a women team (which we did not have). We managed to train them during 2-3 months, and they did participate.” Sonja Johnson, President of the Chess Association of Trinidad and Tobago, said. The country has already made a plan for chess activities in correctional institutions in 2022. The sustainable chess program includes establishing chess clubs in six prisons across the country. As noted by Chess in Schools and Communities’ Prisons Coordinator Peter Sullivan representing England, the most important period was not the tournament itself but the time before it. Three months ahead, all the excitement started – prisoners were preparing, officials playing chess among themselves, media got interested in the initiative. The important decision was taken to allow inmates at participating prisons direct access to the internet to make their moves from prison computers. Previously access to the internet was severely restricted in UK prisons and primarily limited to education. But the Ministry of Justice has approved prisoners to take part in the first Intercontinental Online Championship for Prisoners. Also, the first results of scientific research initiated by Smbat Lputian, deputy head of the Armenian Chess Federation, and carried out by the Armenian Chess Institute were presented during the videoconferencing meeting. According to them, chess culture is perceived among the convicts not only as a game but also as an opportunity to enter a new social space, where there are no borders. It gives them a feeling of freedom, freshness, redirecting all the potential to their own development. It is the way of re-evaluating self-knowledge and one’s own behaviour, which opens a wide field of re-socialization and social inclusion while acquiring new skills and new relationships, regardless of age, gender, race and nationality. “It is so encouraging to see how life-changing chess can be. The inmates themselves admit that it builds self-confidence and motivates them to show the better part of themselves.” Mikhail Korenman, a chess tutor at Chicago Cook County Jail and the driving force of the initiative, added. “Last year, FIDE reinforced the Chess in Prisons activity that long ago had started under the patronage of the world chess champion Anatoly Karpov. The Chess in Freedom project, as we call it, has become a vital part of our social initiatives where we use chess for educating and empowering various groups of society. We will not only expand our tournament for prisoners (the goal for this year is to reach the participation of 64 countries), but will prepare a training programme and consider the post-prison integration activities.” Dana Reizniece-Ozola, FIDE Managing Director, concluded.
Tata Steel Masters R10: Carlsen stays in front
All the players in the leading group drew their games in Round 10 of Tata Steel Masters except for Vidit Gujrathi, who fell to his compatriot Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa in a long gruelling Inian derby. Nils Grandelius scored his first victory in the event defeating Daniil Dubov. Sergey Karjakin and Magnus Carlsen played one of the shortest games at Tata Steel 2022 – the opponents made a quick draw in a well-known theoretical line of the Berlin system in Ruy Lopez. Anish Giri essayed a sharp variation of English Opening as White against Jan-Krzysztof Duda, but the Polish GM demonstrated an excellent preparation and got a slight edge. Anish had to switch to defence and work hard for a draw he reached right before the time control. The game Fabiano Caruana – Richard Rapport saw the same line of English Opening as the above-mentioned encounter, and again, Black had no problems reaching a comfortable position. Things took an unexpected turn after Fabiano blundered with 21.Rd4, apparently missing a strong intermezzo 22…e5! which gave Black a favourable endgame with a strong bishop vs a knight and powerful pawn mass on the kingside. Richard instructively conducted this ending and scored a clean victory of the #2 rated player in the world. Andrey Esipenko gradually outplayed Jorden Van Foreest on the white side of the Italian Game. The Russian GM got an overwhelming position by move 31, but when the time came to reap the harvest, he missed a forced win and gave Black some hopes for escape. Still, White emerged with an extra pawn which he eventually converted after a series of mutual inaccuracies. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov repeated the line that he had tried against Magnus Carlsen in the game with Sam Shankland but did not solve all his opening problems either as White prevented a thematic c7-c5. However, after a couple of Sam’s inaccuracies, Shakhriyar engineered some counterplay on the kingside to secure a draw. In a game ridden with mutual mistakes, Nils Grandelius scored his first victory at Tata Steel Masters over Daniil Dubov. The evaluation changed several times throughout this encounter, with Dubov making the final error (72.Kf4?? instead of 72.e6 or 72.Re6) when a draw was just a step away. Vidit Gujrathi and Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa tested a topical line of the Nimtzo-Indian in which White emerged with an extra pawn but paid the price of weakening his king. After Vidit missed a couple of chances to consolidate his position, he committed a severe error 33.Qxh6? and handed Rameshbabu a dangerous initiative. Black, in turn, wasted several opportunities to finish off the opponent with a direct attack and took a much longer route in an endgame. White built some sort of a fortress, but Black managed to trade the knights and sailed to victory in a rook endgame with just seconds on the clock. Standings after Round 9: 1. Маgnus Carlsen – 7; 2. Anish Giri – 6½; 3-4. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Richard Rapport – 6; 5-7. Vidit Gujrathi, Sergey Karjakin and Andrey Esipenko – 5½; 8. Fabiano Caruana – 5; 9-10. Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Sam Shankld and Jorden Van Foreest – 4½; 11. Sam Shankland – 4; 12-13. Praggnanandhaa R.and Daniil Dubov – 3½; 14.Nils Grandelius – 3. Official website: tatasteelchess.com/ Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit and Lennart Ootes – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022
Belarusian Championship: Tsaruk and Zeliantsova clinch titles
The Belarusian Chess Championships took place in the Republican Center for Olympic Training in Chess and Checkers in Minsk from January 9-19, 2022. The open event, a 12-player round-robin, saw a major sensation as 7th rated 16-year old FM Maxim Tsaruk (below on the left) from Minsk wrestled his maiden title in a tough competition with much more experienced GMs and IMs. Maxim came into the final round a half-point ahead of four contenders, including the highest-rated GM Alexei Fedorov, whom he faced with black pieces. The youngster demonstrated patience and resilience in an inferior position (although at some point it was quite alarming) and reached so much needed draw. This result secured him the title as all his main competitors also split points. The champion scored 8/11 and picked up 61 rating points. Four players netted 7½/11 and tied for second place. The tiebreaks favoured IM Denis Lazavik, who took silver and Alexei Fedorov (bronze). None of the participants (including the champion) completed the tournament undefeated. Final standings: 1 FM Tsaruk, Maksim 2347 8 2 IM Lazavik, Denis 2465 7½ 3 GM Fedorov, Alexei 2552 7½ 4 GM Stupak, Kirill 2478 7½ 5 IM Zarubitski, Viachaslau 2420 7½ 6 GM Aleksandrov, Aleksej 2502 7 7 IM Nikitenko, Mihail 2506 5½ 8 FM Stribuk, Artiom 2230 5 9 FM Siniauski, Artsiom 2300 3½ 10 GM Lutsko, Igor 2311 3½ 11 Volianuk Vitaly 2224 2 12 FM Runets, Ivan 2249 1½ The women’s tournament brought together 10 participants competing in a round-robin format and turned into a close race between the only titled players WFMs Kseniya Zeliantsova (pictured below) and Varvara Polyakova. Both netted 7½ and finished two points ahead of bronze-winner Kseniya Norman. The Koya-tiebreak tipped the balance in Kseniya’s favour as she became the champion; Varvara had to settle for silver. Final standings: 1 Zeliantsova, Kseniya 1953 7½ 2 Poliakova Varvara 2072 7½ 3 Norman Kseniya 1809 5½ 4 Liashkevich Lizaveta 1584 5 5 Sidorenja Milena 1546 4½ 6 Ajusheva Renata 1624 3½ 7 Khomich Maryna 1601 3½ 8 Shaban Aliaksandra 1616 3 9 Bendik Margarita 1534 2½ 10 Koishman Karina 1465 2½ Photos, detailed information about all participants are available on the official website of the Belarus Chess Federation: https://openchess.by/news/2718.html.
Tata Steel Masters R09: Carlsen wins, regains sole lead
Magnus Carlsen scored a crucial victory over one of his main competitors Shakhriyar Mamedyarov to sprint into the lead. Anish Giri is trailing the World Champion by a half-point after defeating Sam Shankland. Fabiano Caruana chalked up his second win in the event, while Sergey Karjakin converted his extra exchange in the game with Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov valiantly stepped in Magnus’ territory in the Catalan Opening with black pieces but missed an intermediate move 14…Nb4 that cost him an exchange. Shakhriyar still had some compensation, but after White’s rooks quickly infiltrated Black’s camp by the move 24, it was all over for him. Anish Giri opted for a seemingly innocuous King’s Indian setup as White against Sam Shankland and gradually outplayed his opponent in a rook+biship vs rook+knight endgame. Sam tried to relieve the pressure with a pawn sacrifice (probably the American GM underestimated a powerful breakthrough 24.g4!) that handed Anish a decisive advantage. Ten moves down the road, Shankland threw in the towel. It is the fourth straight victory by the Dutch GM. Richard Rapport tested Vidit Gujrathi in the Catalan and eventually won a pawn, but the Indian GM put up a stubborn defence, and the drawish tendency of opposite-coloured bishop endgames took its toll. Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Andrey Esipenko waged a fight in a fresh, unbeaten position that emerged from the Queen-Pawn game. The Polish GM vedged his pawn to c6 and put heavy pressure on Black’s position, but for some reason discarded a straightforward continuation 21.Qb4, bringing his queen into an attack, in favour of 21.Qc3. Still, after Black’s innacuracies, Duda ended up clearly better but move by move he let Esipenko off the hook. The opponents shook hands in a roughly equal position right after reaching the time control. Jorden Van Foreest got a clear advantage on the light squares against Daniil Dubov, but with a couple of listless moves (instead of 28.Kh2 much better was 28.Qf3), he allowed the Russian GM to breathe life into his dark-squared bishop and create a counterplay sufficient for a draw. Fabiano Caruana went for a slightly inferior by strategically complicated position on the black side of French Defense against Nils Grandelius, and this approach paid off in the end. The Swedish GM cracked under pressure (32.Rad1?), giving up his a-pawn, and after the opponents exchanged mutual mistakes before the time control, Black’s two passers decided. Rameshabu Praggnanandhaa boldly sacrificed an exchange as White in the London System against Sergey Karjakin and got sufficient compensation to say the least, but completely misplayed an endgame, making a fatal error on the control 40th move. Standings after Round 9: 1. Маgnus Carlsen – 6½; 2. Anish Giri – 6; 3-4. Vidit Gujrathi and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – 5½; 5-7. Richard Rapport, Sergey Karjakin and Fabiano Caruana – 5; 8-9. Jorden Van Foreest and Andrey Esipenko – 4½; 10. Jan-Krzysztof Duda – 4; 11-12. Sam Shankland and Daniil Dubov – 3½; 13. Praggnanandhaa R. – 2½; 14.Nils Grandelius – 2. Official website: tatasteelchess.com/ Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit and Lennart Ootes – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022