Giri, Caruana and Firouzja share the lead on 6 points after 9 rounds

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83rd Tata Steel Chess 2021 (9)

Giri, Caruana and Firouzja share the lead on 6 points after 9 rounds

Mark Crowther - Tuesday 26th January 2021

Anish Giri beat MVL to go back into the joint lead of the Tata Steel Masters after 9 rounds;

Anish Giri beat MVL to go back into the joint lead of the Tata Steel Masters after 9 rounds; | https://chess.com

There were three decisive games in Round 9 of the Tata Steel Masters 2021 and the event is still wide open. Leader Alireza again went to the London System and it was met by a very modern setup that I believe has been recommended by Yuri Krykun in one of his courses. A messy game was drawn on move 41. Defending Champion Fabiano Caruana scored a very important win with the black pieces against Radoslaw Wojtaszek. Caruana's 13...Bxc3 was a novelty and it took the game into very non-standard waters, Wojtaszek quickly went wrong and Black took over the entire kingside and broke through to win in 39 moves. Anish Giri was put under severe pressure with a standard exchange sacrifice in a Sicilian by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. MVL certainly had more than enough compensation but at some point it turned it seems the sequence 37...Qb7?! (37...Qb5) 38.Kc1! Qd7? (the losing move 38...Qb5 still had to be played) was where it all went wrong for him. After first time control Giri finished smoothly. Magnus Carlsen looked extremely relieved to win his game against Nils Grandelius. Carlsen was probably winning in the Queen and Rook endgame but he was uncharacteristically hesitant in conversion, but he didn't make any real errors and won in 65 moves. Carlsen faces Caruana with the black pieces in Round 10. Jorden Van Foreest vs Alexander Donchenko, Aryan Tari vs Jan-Krzysztof Duda and David Anton vs Pentala Harikrishna were all drawn.

Round 9 Standings: 1st-3rd Giri, Caruana, Firouzja 6pts; 4th-5th Esipenko, Van Foreest 5.5pts; 6th Carlsen 5pts; 7th-8th Harikrishna, Grandelius 4.5pts; 9th-12th Duda, Wojtaszek, Tari, Anton 3.5pts; 13th-14th MVL, Donchenko 3pts

Round 10 Pairings Wednesday 27th Jan 2021 1pm: MVL-Donchenko, Duda-Van Foreest, Harikrishna-Tari, Esipenko-Anton, Grandelius-Firouzja, Caruana-Carlsen, Giri-Wojtaszek.

Tata Steel Masters 2021 Round 9 Standings:

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.	Giri, Anish	g	NED	2764	*	½	.	½	½	.	½	1	½	.	1	.	1	½	6	2834
2.	Caruana, Fabiano	g	USA	2823	½	*	.	½	½	.	½	½	½	1	.	.	1	1	6	2836
3.	Firouzja, Alireza	g	FID	2749	.	.	*	½	½	0	1	.	1	.	½	1	½	1	6	2840
4.	Esipenko, Andrey	g	RUS	2677	½	½	½	*	.	1	½	½	½	1	.	.	½	.	5½	2838
5.	Van Foreest, Jorden	g	NED	2671	½	½	½	.	*	½	.	.	.	½	1	1	½	½	5½	2819
6.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2862	.	.	1	0	½	*	½	1	½	.	½	½	.	½	5	2732
7.	Harikrishna, Pentala	g	IND	2732	½	½	0	½	.	½	*	1	.	½	.	½	½	.	4½	2745
8.	Grandelius, Nils	g	SWE	2663	0	½	.	½	.	0	0	*	1	½	.	.	1	1	4½	2750
9.	Duda, Jan-Krzysztof	g	POL	2743	½	½	0	½	.	½	.	0	*	½	½	½	.	.	3½	2647
10.	Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	g	POL	2705	.	0	.	0	½	.	½	½	½	*	½	½	.	½	3½	2617
11.	Tari, Aryan	g	NOR	2625	0	.	½	.	0	½	.	.	½	½	*	½	½	½	3½	2656
12.	Anton Guijarro, David	g	ESP	2679	.	.	0	.	0	½	½	.	½	½	½	*	½	½	3½	2646
13.	Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	g	FRA	2784	0	0	½	½	½	.	½	0	.	.	½	½	*	.	3	2584
14.	Donchenko, Alexander	g	GER	2668	½	0	0	.	½	½	.	0	.	½	½	½	.	*	3	2601

Round 9 (January 26, 2021)
Giri, Anish	- Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime	1-0	70	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Firouzja, Alireza	- Esipenko, Andrey	½-½	41	D02	Queen's Pawn Game
Van Foreest, Jorden	- Donchenko, Alexander	½-½	32	C84	Ruy Lopez Centre Attack
Carlsen, Magnus	- Grandelius, Nils	1-0	65	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	- Caruana, Fabiano	0-1	39	E94	King's Indian Classical
Tari, Aryan	- Duda, Jan-Krzysztof	½-½	32	B51	Sicilian Rossolimo
Anton Guijarro, David	- Harikrishna, Pentala	½-½	45	B56	Sicilian Defence

Tata Steel Masters 2021 Round 9 Commentary

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