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Home » Chess News » Events » 85th Tata Steel 2023 » Abdusattorov beats Carlsen to lead Tata Steel Masters alone on 4/5

Michiel Abeln reports from the Ajax Stadium in Amsterdam on Tata Steel Round 5 19th Jan

Today’s round for the Masters was not played in Wijk aan Zee but in the Ajax stadium in Amsterdam. There was massive interest: People were waiting in line to enter the playing hall to watch the live games, the commentary hall was fully packed and the chess business event was over-subscribed.

The players were first photographed at the playing field and then started their games in one of the business lounges. It became an exciting round with three decisive results: Abdusattorov took sole lead by beating Carlsen and there were also wins for Aronian and Maghsoodloo.

Game of the day was the sensational win of Abdusattorov over Carlsen. Carlsen played an offbeat line of the English against Abdusattorov. Carlsen had played this line twice before and only on move 9 he deviated from a blitz game he played against Vachier Lagrave in 2017. Black could have played solid chess with 13...0-0 but instead he went for big complications with 13...Bf6; Carlsen decided to accept the challenge with 14.Ba3 (14Rb1 would have been the safe option). Black got some advantage but it remained complicated, the engine shows some small improvements for both sides, but the general trend was that Black was slightly better. Then Magnus played 19.Ne1, where Abdusattorov had expected 19.Nd4. Now Black was clearly better. He decided to return the exchange to reach a queen endgame a pawn up with great winning chances and with perfect technique he managed to score the full point.

Aronian managed to beat Keymer in a line that looked very similar to one of the main variations in the Spanish opening. White got a small advantage out of the opening, but soon it was equal. Aronian said he was a bit pessimistic and offered a draw at some point. This was rejected by Keymer, but as often when you feel pressure after rejecting a draw offer, your play becomes too optimistic. In the game Aronian managed to increase his advantage, especially Black played suboptimal on move 34, 35 and 37. This resulted in an endgame with a healthy extra pawn for Aronian, but he made a mistake on move 46 where he should have played 46.Ne4. Now Black managed to block the position with 49...f5 and although White was still better, Black could have kept the game within the drawing margin if he had prevented h4-h5 by playing 65...Kf6. After this mistake it was game over and the first win in this tournament for Aronian.

Jorden van Foreest defended against Maghsoodloo with the queens gambit accepted. White played the rare 8.a3 and Black’s 9...c5 was a bit dubious. After the game Van Foreest admitted he had mixed up the lines and was supposed to play 9...a6. White sacrificed a piece and Black decided to quickly return it in order to complete development. Perhaps White should have played 17.Qc5 followed by Qa5 to reach an endgame with the black a-pawn still on a7. In the game the a-pawn marched forward (although Maghsoodloo pointed out that 23...Qe7 would have been a lot safer than the played 23...a3), but White could have gained a large advantage with 25.Bxf7+, although it is very much an engine line that is nearly impossible for a player to find behind the board. White did manage to get an advantage by winning a queen for a rook and a knight. On move 30 Van Foreest decided not to defend his c-pawn, which increased White’s advantage further. Maghsoodloo had no problem in converting his position to a full point.

Caruana deployed the Scotch against Wesley So and for a long time they were following the game Xiong-So from 2022 (a rapid game). Caruana had done some deep preparation on the rest day and deviated with 15.Re1 and So had to think for a long time over his next few moves. It looked like it would become a sharp attacking game, but So found the right moves that forced White to bail out to an equal endgame that ended in a draw.

Erigaisi repeated a Spanish line he had played before against the Vietnamese grandmaster Le. Ding came with the novelty 12...g4 after which White sacrificed a pawn. On move 25 White could have increased his opening advantage with g4-g5, but instead he lost the thread a bit and slowly ended up in a worse position. Then White started playing precisely and Ding decided not to risk anything and went for a move repetition.

Praggnanandhaa and Giri put an Italian opening on the board where White followed in the footsteps of Abdusattorov with 7.a4. They quickly left theory and Black had no problem in equalizing. Giri was hoping for more but White played accurately and the game always stayed within the drawing margin.

Gukesh and Rapport had a slow start with one of the more solid lines in the Grunfeld. The game was always in balance and ended in a draw without big adventures. Gukesh said afterwards that he was a bit optimistic when he pushed his h-pawn, but he could never turn it into a serious advantage.

Tata Steel Round 5 Chess Commentary

85th Tata Steel Masters Wijk aan Zee (NED), 13-29 i 2023																cat. XX (2741)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	g	UZB	2713	*	.	.	½	.	.	.	1	.	1	1	.	½	.	4	3001
2.	Giri, Anish	g	NED	2764	.	*	½	½	.	.	.	½	.	1	.	.	1	.	3½	2899
3.	Praggnanandhaa, R	g	IND	2684	.	½	*	.	½	½	.	.	1	.	.	½	.	.	3	2817
4.	Caruana, Fabiano	g	USA	2766	½	½	.	*	.	.	½	.	.	.	½	.	.	1	3	2803
5.	Aronian, Levon	g	USA	2735	.	.	½	.	*	½	½	.	.	½	.	1	.	.	3	2816
6.	Erigaisi, Arjun	g	IND	2722	.	.	½	.	½	*	½	.	½	.	.	½	.	.	2½	2737
7.	So, Wesley	g	USA	2760	.	.	.	½	½	½	*	.	.	.	½	.	.	½	2½	2728
8.	Maghsoodloo, Parham	g	IRI	2719	0	½	.	.	.	.	.	*	½	.	.	½	.	1	2½	2733
9.	Ding, Liren	g	CHN	2811	.	.	0	.	.	½	.	½	*	½	.	.	1	.	2½	2741
10.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2859	0	0	.	.	½	.	.	.	½	*	.	1	.	.	2	2671
11.	Rapport, Richard	g	ROU	2740	0	.	.	½	.	.	½	.	.	.	*	.	½	½	2	2657
12.	Keymer, Vincent	g	GER	2696	.	.	½	.	0	½	.	½	.	0	.	*	.	.	1½	2594
13.	Gukesh, D	g	IND	2725	½	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	0	.	½	.	*	½	1½	2592
14.	Van Foreest, Jorden	g	NED	2681	.	.	.	0	.	.	½	0	.	.	½	.	½	*	1½	2593

Round 5 (January 19, 2023)
Praggnanandhaa, R	- Giri, Anish	½-½	47	C50	Giuoco Piano
Caruana, Fabiano	- So, Wesley	½-½	41	C45	Scotch Game
Aronian, Levon	- Keymer, Vincent	1-0	79	C84	Ruy Lopez Centre Attack
Erigaisi, Arjun	- Ding, Liren	½-½	37	C53	Giuoco Piano
Maghsoodloo, Parham	- Van Foreest, Jorden	1-0	45	D20	QGA
Carlsen, Magnus	- Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	0-1	60	A35	English Symmetrical
Gukesh, D	- Rapport, Richard	½-½	47	D91	Gruenfeld 5.Bg5

Tata Steel Challengers Wijk aan Zee (NED), 13-29 i 2023																cat. XIV (2580)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Yilmaz, Mustafa	g	TUR	2609	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	1	1	½	1	.	.	.	4	2854
2.	Ivic, Velimir	g	SRB	2585	½	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	½	.	1	.	3½	2723
3.	Sindarov, Javokhir	g	UZB	2654	.	½	*	½	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	1	3½	2725
4.	Donchenko, Alexander	g	GER	2627	.	.	½	*	.	½	½	.	.	.	.	.	1	1	3½	2735
5.	Beerdsen, Thomas	m	NED	2515	.	.	.	.	*	½	½	.	.	.	.	1	½	½	3	2600
6.	Adhiban, Baskaran	g	IND	2610	.	.	½	½	½	*	.	½	.	.	.	.	½	.	2½	2581
7.	Supi, Luis Paulo	g	BRA	2608	.	.	.	½	½	.	*	½	½	.	½	.	.	.	2½	2614
8.	Tabatabaei, M. Amin	g	IRI	2686	0	.	.	.	.	½	½	*	.	.	.	½	.	1	2½	2565
9.	Warmerdam, Max	g	NED	2616	0	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	*	½	.	½	.	1	2½	2554
10.	Mishra, Abhimanyu	g	USA	2559	½	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	*	0	1	.	.	2	2487
11.	L'Ami, Erwin	g	NED	2627	0	½	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	1	*	0	.	.	2	2472
12.	Roebers, Eline	m	NED	2361	.	.	.	.	0	.	.	½	½	0	1	*	.	.	2	2528
13.	Vaishali, Rameshbabu	m	IND	2425	.	0	0	0	½	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	1	2358
14.	Pechac, Jergus	g	SVK	2637	.	.	0	0	½	.	.	0	0	.	.	.	.	*	½	2253

Round 5 (January 18, 2023)
Sindarov, Javokhir	- Pechac, Jergus	1-0	53	B01	Centre Counter
Donchenko, Alexander	- Supi, Luis Paulo	½-½	25	D59	Queens Gambit Tartakover
Beerdsen, Thomas	- Roebers, Eline	1-0	33	C15	French Winawer
Tabatabaei, M. Amin	- Yilmaz, Mustafa	0-1	49	D35	QGD Exchange
Warmerdam, Max	- Mishra, Abhimanyu	½-½	35	D11	Slav Defence
L'Ami, Erwin	- Ivic, Velimir	½-½	39	D12	Slav Defence
Vaishali, Rameshbabu	- Adhiban, Baskaran	½-½	36	B36	Sicilian Maroczy Bind

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