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Tata Steel Masters 2021 Round 8

Andrey Esipenko beat World Champion Magnus Carlsen in emphatic style in the eighth round of the Tata Steel tournament. Carlsen had drawn 6 games in a row since a scrappy round 1 win over Alireza Firouzja and came for a fight in round 8. It was Esipenko who took the initiative, seemingly catching Carlsen on the back foot from the start. Carlsen grabbed Esipenko's g-pawn and followed it up with the very unusual 12...Qh4 (12...Bb7 was objectively the better move) from this moment Carlsen was dicing with danger - he was simply miles behind in development and couldn't afford a further single error, and unfortunately for him this came almost immediately. 16...Nc6? (16...Nc5 probably had to be tried) loses directly to the piece sacrifice 17.Ncxb5 - Carlsen squirmed on a bit but was always completely lost from that moment on. Carlsen mentioned a crisis of form after some setbacks in online events around Christmas, he looked in reasonable shape at the start of the Tata Steel Masters but after a bunch of missed opportunities it was already clear he was far from at his best, his loss today was not a real surprise. That isn't to take anything away from Esipenko who took his chance faultlessly.

18 year old Esipenko was clearly stunned after the game - very happy but things hadn't sunk in. "I think it is one of the best days in my life" - Andrey Esipenko who added that "Definitely I need a rest day." and how will he spend that day? "I think I will go to the supermarket."

Tarjei J. Svensen on twitter @TarjeiJS can be relied upon to provide interesting Carlsen related statistics. This is: "- Carlsen's first loss against a teenager since 16 year old Giri beat him in Wijk aan Zee in 2011. - Carlsen's 6th loss in the top group of #TataSteelChess: - First loss in the event since '17, having scored +16 =35 -0 in that period. - His first loss vs sub-2700 opposition since 2015."

Alireza Firouzja was yet again the last player to finish, this time he beat Pentala Harikrishna in a long endgame as black. The Exchange Slav has the reputation of offering black very little and white the chance to push with little risk. The first turning point seems to have been 33.f4? Rc6 after which white was in trouble. Harikrishna should have played 36.Rxg6 when he probably isn't that much worse, then 37.Nf4? was just very bad after which black is just winning. However Alireza's technique wasn't that wonderful as 47...Kg6? 48.Rh7 is almost equal but after that white had no more chances.

Fabiano Caruana played the Jobava London against Anish Giri and a fighting struggle ended in a draw. Caruana wondered if he was better in Giri's time trouble but it doesn't seem to be the case.

Radoslaw Wojtaszek probably hoped to surprised Nils Grandelius with his choice of the Caro-Kann but instead he was faced with the very rare 7.Bd3. A lively struggle followed where at first Wojtaszek was better but gradually Grandelius took over the advantage and after move 40 he thought he was better "and should be able to play for a "very long time but on the other hand very hard to break through but they way I played I couldn't find any plan at all and decided just to repeat. It's definitely a missed chance after move 40". The game was drawn in 55 moves.

Alexander Donchenko played a solid variation of the Catalan Defence not thought to give white all that much and that really proved to be the case against Aryan Tari.

Jorden Van Foreest played the Neo-Moller defence against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and lively piece play followed but by move 27 a drawn Rook and Pawn endgame was reached.

David Anton missed a very good chance to beat Jan-Krzysztof Duda when he got a large advantage out of the opening. 32...d5 or 33...d5 needed to be played and when it wasn't the game eventually became level and a draw was agreed.

Tata Steel Masters 2021 Round 8 Commentary

83rd Tata Steel Masters Wijk aan Zee (NED), 15-31 i 2021																cat. XIX (2725)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Firouzja, Alireza	g	FID	2749	*	.	.	½	.	.	1	0	.	½	1	½	1	1	5½	2861
2.	Giri, Anish	g	NED	2764	.	*	½	½	½	1	½	.	.	.	½	1	.	½	5	2795
3.	Esipenko, Andrey	g	RUS	2677	.	½	*	.	½	½	½	1	1	½	½	.	.	.	5	2854
4.	Van Foreest, Jorden	g	NED	2671	½	½	.	*	½	.	.	½	½	½	.	1	1	.	5	2843
5.	Caruana, Fabiano	g	USA	2823	.	½	½	½	*	½	½	.	.	1	½	.	.	1	5	2807
6.	Grandelius, Nils	g	SWE	2663	.	0	½	.	½	*	0	.	½	1	1	.	.	1	4½	2780
7.	Harikrishna, Pentala	g	IND	2732	0	½	½	.	½	1	*	½	½	½	.	.	.	.	4	2753
8.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2862	1	.	0	½	.	.	½	*	.	.	½	½	½	½	4	2693
9.	Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	g	POL	2705	.	.	0	½	.	½	½	.	*	.	½	½	½	½	3½	2639
10.	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	g	FRA	2784	½	.	½	½	0	0	½	.	.	*	.	½	½	.	3	2615
11.	Duda, Jan-Krzysztof	g	POL	2743	0	½	½	.	½	0	.	½	½	.	*	.	½	.	3	2653
12.	Tari, Aryan	g	NOR	2625	½	0	.	0	.	.	.	½	½	½	.	*	½	½	3	2648
13.	Anton Guijarro, David	g	ESP	2679	0	.	.	0	.	.	.	½	½	½	½	½	*	½	3	2638
14.	Donchenko, Alexander	g	GER	2668	0	½	.	.	0	0	.	½	½	.	.	½	½	*	2½	2592

Round 8 (January 24, 2021)
Esipenko, Andrey	- Carlsen, Magnus	1-0	38	B84	Sicilian Scheveningen
Caruana, Fabiano	- Giri, Anish	½-½	48	A45	Trompowsky
Grandelius, Nils	- Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	½-½	55	B18	Caro Kann
Harikrishna, Pentala	- Firouzja, Alireza	0-1	56	D10	Slav Defence
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	- Van Foreest, Jorden	½-½	32	C78	Ruy Lopez Moeller Defence
Duda, Jan-Krzysztof	- Anton Guijarro, David	½-½	50	C50	Giuoco Piano
Donchenko, Alexander	- Tari, Aryan	½-½	36	E04	Catalan

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