The Week in Chess

Magnus Carlsen beat Jan-Krzysztof Duda in the twelfth round of the Tata Steel Masters. Carlsen was winning pretty much out of the opening but some inaccuracies on his part and his opponent resisting well meant it was not at all easy. Duda probably had good saving chances at one point but Carlsen eventually brought home the full point.

Anish Giri plays Carlsen in the final round with the white pieces for the title he needs to win the game as he is half a point behind but it perhaps should be been worse. In Round 12 Giri was in terrible trouble against Teimour Radjabov but a bit like the day before he received a bit of a gift. Radjabov offered a draw in a very good, if not winning position, it seems very much underestimated his advantage.

After his strange oversight against Giri in Round 11 where he resigned a drawn position Sam Shankland ripped apart Ian Nepomniachtchi's Pirc Defence in 35 moves ending the Russian's challenge for the title. Vladimir Kramnik scored his second win in a row when he beat Vladimir Fedoseev. It won't fix his lousy tournament but a good finish will surely help him to get over it. Ding Liren's preparation against Viswanathan ran as deep as 19.Rxe6, it was equal but there were many ways for black to go wrong but Anand played the correct moves after considerable thinking time.

Santosh Vidit built up a winning position against Richard Rapport but he missed the killer blow 30.Qc5! and his opponent escaped with a draw. Jorden van Foreest drew against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov's Caro Kann.

Round 12 Standings: 1 Carlsen 8.5, 2 Giri 8, 3 Nepomniachtchi 7, 4 Ding 7, 5 Anand 7, 6 Vidit 6.5, 7 Radjabov 6, 8 Shankland 5.5, 9 Rapport 5.5, 10 Duda 5, 11 Fedoseev 4.5, 12 Mamedyarov 4.5, 13 Van Foreest 4.5, 14 Kramnik 4.5.

Round 13 - 11am GMT Sunday 27th Jan 2019 Giri-Carlsen, Nepomniachtchi-Radjabov, Kramnik-Shankland, Mamedyarov-Fedoseev, Rapport-Van Foreest, Anand-Vidit, Duda-Ding.