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:

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:

Official website: tatasteelchess.com/

Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit and Lennart Ootes – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022