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85th Tata Steel 2023 (5)

Abdusattorov beats Carlsen to lead Tata Steel Masters alone on 4/5

Nodirbek Abdusattorov beat Magnus Carlsen at the Ajax football stadium to take the lead after 5 rounds

Nodirbek Abdusattorov beat Magnus Carlsen at the Ajax football stadium to take the lead after 5 rounds | https://theweekinchess.com

Nodirbek Abdusattorov outplaying the World Champion Magnus Carlsen in fine style. This gave Abdusattorov the outright lead after five rounds. For Carlsen it was I believe the first time he lost two classical games in a row since 3rd Norway Chess tournament of 2015 where he started with two losses, a draw and then another loss. Other winners today were Levon Aronian and Parham Maghsoodloo. This was the only "awayday" of this year's tournament and seems to have been a real success, the round was played at the Ajax football stadium in Amsterdam. The Challengers had a day off having played their round 5 in Wijk aan Zee yesterday, everyone is back there tomorrow. Read FM Michiel Abeln's report from Amsterdam below.

Masters Round 5 Standings: 1st Abdusattorov 4pts, 2nd Giri 3.5pts, 3rd= Praggnanandhaa, Caruana, Aronian 3pts, 6th= Erigaisi, So, Maghsoodloo, Ding 2.5pts, 10th= Carlsen, Rapport 2pts, 12th= Keymer, Gukesh, Van Foreest 1.5pts.

Masters Round 6 Friday 20 January 1pm GMT: So-Keymer, Ding Liren-Aronian, Giri-Erigaisi, Abdusattorov-Praggnanandhaa, Van Foreest-Carlsen, Rapport-Maghsoodloo, Caruana-Gukesh.

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.

Levon Aronian against Vincent Keymer Tata Stee Round 5 at the Ajax Football Stadium Photo © Michiel Abeln.

Levon Aronian against Vincent Keymer Tata Stee Round 5 at the Ajax Football Stadium Photo © Michiel Abeln

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.

Parham Maghsoodloo against Jorden Van Foreest Tata Stee Round 5 at the Ajax Football Stadium Photo © Michiel Abeln.

Parham Maghsoodloo against Jorden Van Foreest Tata Stee Round 5 at the Ajax Football Stadium Photo © Michiel Abeln

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.

Fabiano Caruana against Wesley So Tata Stee Round 5 at the Ajax Football Stadium Photo © Michiel Abeln.

Fabiano Caruana against Wesley So Tata Stee Round 5 at the Ajax Football Stadium Photo © Michiel Abeln

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.

Arjun Erigaisi against Ding Liren Tata Stee Round 5 at the Ajax Football Stadium Photo © Michiel Abeln.

Arjun Erigaisi against Ding Liren Tata Stee Round 5 at the Ajax Football Stadium Photo © Michiel Abeln

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.

R Praggnanandhaa against Anish Giri Tata Stee Round 5 at the Ajax Football Stadium Photo © Michiel Abeln.

R Praggnanandhaa against Anish Giri Tata Stee Round 5 at the Ajax Football Stadium Photo © Michiel Abeln

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.

D Gukesh against Richard Rapport Tata Stee Round 5 at the Ajax Football Stadium Photo © Michiel Abeln.

D Gukesh against Richard Rapport Tata Stee Round 5 at the Ajax Football Stadium Photo © Michiel Abeln

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 . 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 . . 2737
7. So, Wesley g USA 2760 . . . ½ ½ ½ * . . . ½ . . ½ 2728
8. Maghsoodloo, Parham g IRI 2719 0 ½ . . . . . * ½ . . ½ . 1 2733
9. Ding, Liren g CHN 2811 . . 0 . . ½ . ½ * ½ . . 1 . 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 . * . . 2594
13. Gukesh, D g IND 2725 ½ 0 . . . . . . 0 . ½ . * ½ 2592
14. Van Foreest, Jorden g NED 2681 . . . 0 . . ½ 0 . . ½ . ½ * 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 . 2723
3. Sindarov, Javokhir g UZB 2654 . ½ * ½ . ½ . . . . . . 1 1 2725
4. Donchenko, Alexander g GER 2627 . . ½ * . ½ ½ . . . . . 1 1 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 . 2581
7. Supi, Luis Paulo g BRA 2608 . . . ½ ½ . * ½ ½ . ½ . . . 2614
8. Tabatabaei, M. Amin g IRI 2686 0 . . . . ½ ½ * . . . ½ . 1 2565
9. Warmerdam, Max g NED 2616 0 . . . . . ½ . * ½ . ½ . 1 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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