The Week in Chess

Magnus Carlsen leads the Tata Steel Masters by half a point from Shakhriyar Mamedyarov after 7 rounds. Carlsen defeated R Praggnanandhaa in 34 moves. After the game Carlsen was pleased with the way he built up his advantage but not the way he let the position then get out of control - 22...Qe6 (22...Qc6 was better) 23.Nxc5 and 28...c4 (28...Bb7 was better) 29.Bxg7! were the two main chances Praggnanandhaa missed.

Richard Rapport and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov drew a Sicilian that threatened to get exciting in 29 moves. Jorden Van Foreest inflicted Vidit Gujrathi's first defeat on him and got back to 50% in the process. A topical line of the Nimzo Indian was played with 10.Ne5!? being a practically unknown sideline. Vidit was doing fine but came under pressure on the run up to first time control - 36...Rc8? was the decisive error - 36...Rf8 was forced. Andrey Esipenko missed chances to beat Sam Shankland who had initially surprised him in the opening. 36.Qa5 seems to have been one such chance. Nils Grandelius was somewhat lucky to hold a draw against Sergey Karjakin, 24...Bh3 was the main chance missed for Karjakin. Fabiano Caruana finally managed to win a game although he admitted he's not got many hopes for the event which has been affected by his coach getting Covid-19. It's not so much the results as his play - he was scathing about his and Giri's play in the game he lost yesterday.

What to say about Daniil Dubov? A person close to his team caught Covid-19 and although he passed a lateral flow test he was waiting for a PCR-test which should be available by the end of the day. He was asked to wear a mask - he decided not to turn up to the game against Giri. He called it a matter of principle. I'm not going to change anyone's mind on this, but for me it showed disrespect for his opponent and the organizers. What was the massive downside to wearing a mask? As far as I can see there wasn't one.

Round 7 Masters Standings: 1st Carlsen 5pts; 2nd Mamedyarov 4½pts; 3rd= Esipenko, Giri, Vidit, Rapport 4pts; 7th= Caruana, Karjakin, Van Foreest 3½pts; 10th= Duda, Shankland 3pts; 12th= Dubov, Praggnanandhaa 2½pts; 14th Grandelius 2pts;

Round 8 Sunday 23 January 2022 1pm: Shankland-Carlsen, Mamedyarov-Praggnanandhaa, Karjakin-Rapport, Vidit-Grandelius, Caruana-Van Foreest, Dubov-Duda, Esipenko-Giri.

Round 7 Challengers Standings: 1 Erigaisi 6pts; 2 Nguyen 5pts; 3 Jumabayev, Bjerre, 4½pts; 5 Van Foreest, Murzin, Warmerdam, Ganguly 4pts; 9 L'Ami 3½pts; 10 Dardha, Shuvalova, 2½pts; 12 Vogel 2pts; 13 Zhu Jiner 1½pts; 14 Maurizzi 1pt;