Wesley So wins the Tata Steel Masters 2017

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79th Tata Steel Masters 2017 (13)

Wesley So wins the Tata Steel Masters 2017

Mark Crowther - Sunday 29th January 2017

Wesley So at the start of the final round. Photo © Michiel Abeln

Wesley So at the start of the final round. Photo © Michiel Abeln | http://www.tatasteelchess.com/

Wesley So started 2017 just as he finished 2016 with a major tournament victory in the Tata Steel Masters. So was playing black against Ian Nepomniachtchi and it was seen as likely someone would catch him after a draw. All those calculations went out of the window as Nepomniachtchi played the Trompowsky as white, got it completely wrong and was lost after just 9 moves. So didn't make any mistake. It's taken So a little while to settle after his move to the US but he is now clearly one of the main prospects to be Carlsen's next challenger. So is very much a self made man and deserves huge admiration.

Magnus Carlsen was allowed to play a very dangerous known sacrifice of a piece on g5 in a Giuoco Piano but he didn't make the best of it and was even in some danger around first time control. This was not one of Carlsen's best events and just as in the World Championship in New York he was derailed by a game not going his way, having missed mate against Giri he then played awfully the following day against Rapport and really pushed his luck for the rest of the event. Something he can surely address with a sports psychologist. Sergey Karjakin didn't like his play at all in Wijk aan Zee saying he was still tired from New York and he was looking forward to a rest.

Magnus Carlsen took second place as his rivals lost Wei Yi pushed too hard against Wojtaszek and Dmitry Andreikin beat Levon Aronian.

Baskaran Adhiban has been the surprise of the tournament with interesting games every day and he finished off with a win against Richard Rapport. Adhiban's +2 score was good enough for shared third and I imagine some more invitations. Loek van Wely finished a miserable tournament with a win against Pentala Harikrishna. Harikrishna needs to work better on his openings as he had far too many awful positions after a few moves. He didn't fight his way out of trouble this time. Anish Giri pressed against Pavel Eljanov but the game was drawn. Eljanov will reflect on the number of close to winning positions he didn't convert. More than eonugh to win the tournament in fact.

English chess supporters were put through the ringer by Gawain Jones as he fought for a very long time in a worse, but very difficult endgame, to save his game against Lu Shanglei. Jones' reward was to qualify for the Masters group in 2017. Markus Ragger missed out as although he scored the same as Jones he lost to him in their individual encounter.

Final Round 13 Standings: 1st Wesley So 9pts, 2nd Carlsen 8pts, 3rd= Adhiban, Aronian, Wei Yi 7.5pts, 6th= Karjakin, Eljanov 7pts, 8th Giri 6.5pts, 9th= Harikrishna, Andreikin, Wojtaszek, Radoslaw 6pts, 12th Nepomniachtchi 5pts, 13th Rapport 4.5pts 14th Van Wely 3.5pts

79th Tata Steel GpA Wijk aan Zee (NED), 13-29 i 2017																cat. XXI (2751)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	So, Wesley	g	USA	2808	*	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	½	1	1	1	1	9	2887
2.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2840	½	*	½	½	1	½	1	½	½	½	1	½	0	1	8	2831
3.	Adhiban, Baskaran	g	IND	2653	½	½	*	½	½	1	0	½	0	1	1	½	1	½	7½	2815
4.	Aronian, Levon	g	ARM	2780	½	½	½	*	½	0	1	1	½	0	½	½	1	1	7½	2805
5.	Wei, Yi	g	CHN	2706	½	0	½	½	*	1	½	½	½	½	0	1	1	1	7½	2811
6.	Karjakin, Sergey	g	RUS	2785	½	½	0	1	0	*	½	½	½	1	½	½	½	1	7	2777
7.	Eljanov, Pavel	g	UKR	2755	½	0	1	0	½	½	*	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	7	2779
8.	Giri, Anish	g	NED	2773	½	½	½	0	½	½	½	*	½	½	½	1	½	½	6½	2749
9.	Harikrishna, Pentala	g	IND	2766	0	½	1	½	½	½	½	½	*	½	½	½	½	0	6	2721
10.	Andreikin, Dmitry	g	RUS	2736	½	½	0	1	½	0	½	½	½	*	½	½	½	½	6	2723
11.	Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	g	POL	2750	0	0	0	½	1	½	½	½	½	½	*	½	½	1	6	2722
12.	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	g	RUS	2767	0	½	½	½	0	½	½	0	½	½	½	*	½	½	5	2662
13.	Rapport, Richard	g	HUN	2702	0	1	0	0	0	½	0	½	½	½	½	½	*	½	4½	2644
14.	Van Wely, Loek	g	NED	2695	0	0	½	0	0	0	0	½	1	½	0	½	½	*	3½	2580

Round 13 (January 29, 2017)
Carlsen, Magnus	- Karjakin, Sergey	½-½	53	C53	Giuoco Piano
Wei, Yi	- Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	0-1	70	C88	Ruy Lopez Closed
Giri, Anish	- Eljanov, Pavel	½-½	63	E19	Queens Indian
Andreikin, Dmitry	- Aronian, Levon	1-0	50	D11	Slav Defence
Nepomniachtchi, Ian	- So, Wesley	0-1	28	A45	Trompowsky
Rapport, Richard	- Adhiban, Baskaran	0-1	41	A45	Trompowsky
Van Wely, Loek	- Harikrishna, Pentala	1-0	36	E04	Catalan

79th Tata Steel GpB Wijk aan Zee (NED), 13-29 i 2017																cat. XIV (2593)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Jones, Gawain C B	g	ENG	2665	*	1	0	1	½	0	1	½	½	1	1	1	½	1	9	2728
2.	Ragger, Markus	g	AUT	2697	0	*	1	1	½	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	1	1	9	2725
3.	Xiong, Jeffery	g	USA	2667	1	0	*	0	½	1	0	½	1	½	1	1	1	1	8½	2697
4.	Hansen, Eric	g	CAN	2603	0	0	1	*	1	1	½	½	½	½	1	1	½	½	8	2678
5.	Lu, Shanglei	g	CHN	2612	½	½	½	0	*	0	1	½	1	1	1	1	½	½	8	2678
6.	Smirin, Ilia	g	ISR	2667	1	½	0	0	1	*	0	½	½	1	½	1	1	1	8	2674
7.	Tari, Aryan	g	NOR	2584	0	½	1	½	0	1	*	½	½	½	½	½	1	1	7½	2650
8.	L'Ami, Erwin	g	NED	2605	½	½	½	½	½	½	½	*	½	½	½	0	1	1	7	2620
9.	Grandelius, Nils	g	SWE	2642	½	½	0	½	0	½	½	½	*	½	1	½	1	1	7	2617
10.	Bok, Benjamin	g	NED	2608	0	½	½	½	0	0	½	½	½	*	0	½	1	1	5½	2534
11.	Dobrov, Vladimir	g	RUS	2499	0	0	0	0	0	½	½	½	0	1	*	0	1	1	4½	2489
12.	Van Foreest, Jorden	g	NED	2612	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	1	½	½	1	*	0	½	4	2450
13.	Lei, Tingjie	wg	CHN	2467	½	0	0	½	½	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	*	1	3½	2427
14.	Guramishvili, Sopiko	m	GEO	2370	0	0	0	½	½	0	0	0	0	0	0	½	0	*	1½	2273

Round 13 (January 29, 2017)
Xiong, Jeffery	- Bok, Benjamin	½-½	37	B54	Sicilian Rauzer
Hansen, Eric	- Smirin, Ilia	1-0	26	B42	Sicilian Paulsen
Lu, Shanglei	- Jones, Gawain C B	½-½	64	C50	Giuoco Piano
L'Ami, Erwin	- Ragger, Markus	½-½	34	D80	Gruenfeld 4.Bg5
Dobrov, Vladimir	- Guramishvili, Sopiko	1-0	54	D43	Anti-Meran Gambit
Van Foreest, Jorden	- Grandelius, Nils	½-½	78	A45	Trompowsky
Lei, Tingjie	- Tari, Aryan	0-1	29	E01	Catalan

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