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Home » Chess News » Events » 85th Tata Steel 2023 » Giri beats Carlsen in Round 4 of the Tata Steel Masters

Michiel Abeln reports from Wijk aan Zee on Round 4 17th Jan

What a day in Wijk aan zee: both the World Champion and the world’s number 2 lost! The game of the day was the great win of Giri over Magnus Carlsen. Giri had only beaten him once before. Another crucial game was the win of the Uzbek Abdusattorov who now joins Giri in the lead, both have +2 going into the rest day. And then finally, late in the evening, Praggnanandhaa managed to convert a slightly better endgame against Ding Liren.

Giri played against Carlsen and they put a pawn sacrifice in the Queens Indian on the board. This is a line Giri had not looked at since 2008/2009 and Carlsen was also not on top of theory. Carlsen had prepared something differently but thought of this line behind the board and decided to go for it. It was a bit of bluff from Carlsen that didn’t work out. He played the rare 12...d6 after which the players quickly traded queens. In the endgame White had a slight plus until Carlsen played the dubious 22...Nd4 and made a more serious mistake with 23...Rxd7. Giri’s 26.Ba3 was not bad, but 26.Rb8+ would have been even stronger and on move 27 Giri should have played 27.Re1+. Giri felt disappointed he had messed up, but Carlsen did not taken on c3 (Giri did expect that capture) but instead he played 28...a5 and after that Giri was pretty sure he was going to win. Carlsen admitted his bluff hadn’t worked, was disappointed about the mistakes he made, but also praised Giri for the clinical conversion. In general Carlsen observed he only lost half a point today because he had not expected to win anyway and therefore not a disaster for his tournament.

The first game to finish was between So and Aronian. So played an English opening followed with the rare 10.b3. Black could immediately trade off the center and the queens and a quick draw was unavoidable.

The strangest game of the day was between Rapport and Caruana. It started with a Ragozin where Caruana played 8...h5, a move that recently has become popular and then 10...Bg4 a move that was probably new for Rapport. On move 13 Rappor could have played the more critical 13.Nge2, instead the game saw some piece exchanges and around move 19 Rapport offered a draw. Caruana was confused. He knew that in the tournament regulations a draw can only be agree after move 30, but he was confused because Giri had earlier told him in the tournament that this rule did not apply. With hindsight we know that Giri was joking, because Caruana decided to ask the arbiter whether he could accept. The arbiter said it would be wise to play a few more moves, so that’s what Rapport and Caruana did. Rapport was probably not focused anymore because he played a few inaccurate moves, such as 23.Rc1 followed by 24.Rc1 and 25.e4. In the final position Caruana is clearly better but he felt obliged to offer a draw because in a way he had accepted the draw offer around move 19.

Ding and Praggnandhaa played a topical line of the Italian where Ding played the novelty 12.fxe3. Soon after queens were exchanged and an equal endgame was reached. On move 26 Ding played the slightly inaccurate Rff1. Subsequently Black started making progress in the endgame based on the weaknesses in White’s pawn structure.

Both players made some inaccuracies in the enormous complications (e.g. White should have gone 48.Rg7+ and now Black could have reached a winning position with 52.Rg4 and on move 57 White should have played 57.Rf7+ while Black could have gained a serious advantage with 59...Nd3 and White had a final fighting chance with 63.Kb5) but Praggnanadhaa kept pushing and converted to a win over the world’s number 2!

Abdusattorov decided to test Maghsoodloo’s Spanish opening. White appeared with a clear advantage out of the opening and he should have played 17.cxd4 instead of 17.Bb3 after which the position was in balance again. Then Black made a mistake with 24...b4 (24...Rb8 was required) after which White got a dangerous initiative but on move 27 White should have played Qe4. In time trouble the game changed from equal to a bit better for White again (Black should have gone for a drawish rook endgame with 38..,Qe3+) and on move 41 White should have given a queen check on a7. White continued to put pressure on Black and on move 52 Black made the decisive mistake, he should have played 52..,Rd3, now he lost. Overall, besides the missed opportunity in the opening, a well-played game by Abdusattorov who joins Giri in the lead.

Keymer played a very timid opening with 3.e3, rarely seen at top level. The players soon reached a quiet, solid position and the position always remained in balance.

Gukesh opened with a sharp classical Sicilian against Van Foreest who played the rare 7.Qd3. The engine says that Gukesh could have taken on e4 on move 14, but to the human eye it looks way too dangerous. After the played 14...g5 White could claim some advantage, but Gukesh traded some pieces to reach an endgame which he easily held to a draw.

Tata Steel 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.	Giri, Anish	g	NED	2764	*	.	½	.	.	.	1	.	.	½	.	.	.	1	3	2960
2.	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	g	UZB	2713	.	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	1	.	.	½	3	2930
3.	Caruana, Fabiano	g	USA	2766	½	½	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	1	.	2½	2819
4.	Praggnanandhaa, R	g	IND	2684	.	.	.	*	½	½	.	.	1	.	.	½	.	.	2½	2836
5.	Aronian, Levon	g	USA	2735	.	.	.	½	*	½	½	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	2	2756
6.	Erigaisi, Arjun	g	IND	2722	.	.	.	½	½	*	.	½	.	.	.	½	.	.	2	2718
7.	Carlsen, Magnus	g	NOR	2859	0	.	.	.	½	.	*	.	½	.	.	1	.	.	2	2751
8.	So, Wesley	g	USA	2760	.	.	.	.	½	½	.	*	.	.	½	.	½	.	2	2719
9.	Ding, Liren	g	CHN	2811	.	.	.	0	.	.	½	.	*	½	.	.	.	1	2	2746
10.	Maghsoodloo, Parham	g	IRI	2719	½	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	*	.	½	.	.	1½	2659
11.	Rapport, Richard	g	ROU	2740	.	0	½	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	*	.	½	.	1½	2643
12.	Keymer, Vincent	g	GER	2696	.	.	.	½	.	½	0	.	.	½	.	*	.	.	1½	2659
13.	Van Foreest, Jorden	g	NED	2681	.	.	0	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	½	.	*	½	1½	2660
14.	Gukesh, D	g	IND	2725	0	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	0	.	.	.	½	*	1	2549

Round 4 (January 17, 2023)
Giri, Anish	- Carlsen, Magnus	1-0	35	E15	Queens Indian
Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	- Maghsoodloo, Parham	1-0	64	C84	Ruy Lopez Centre Attack
So, Wesley	- Aronian, Levon	½-½	46	A29	English Four Knights
Ding, Liren	- Praggnanandhaa, R	0-1	73	C50	Giuoco Piano
Rapport, Richard	- Caruana, Fabiano	½-½	36	D35	QGD Exchange
Keymer, Vincent	- Erigaisi, Arjun	½-½	45	D04	Queen's Pawn Game
Van Foreest, Jorden	- Gukesh, D	½-½	32	B83	Sicilian Scheveningen

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	.	½	1	.	.	3	2789
2.	Ivic, Velimir	g	SRB	2585	½	*	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	.	1	3	2754
3.	Donchenko, Alexander	g	GER	2627	.	.	*	½	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	1	3	2774
4.	Sindarov, Javokhir	g	UZB	2654	.	½	½	*	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	2½	2656
5.	Tabatabaei, M. Amin	g	IRI	2686	.	.	.	.	*	½	½	½	.	.	.	.	1	.	2½	2649
6.	Adhiban, Baskaran	g	IND	2610	.	.	½	½	½	*	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	2	2620
7.	Supi, Luis Paulo	g	BRA	2608	.	.	.	.	½	.	*	.	½	½	.	½	.	.	2	2611
8.	Roebers, Eline	m	NED	2361	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	*	½	.	0	1	.	.	2	2622
9.	Warmerdam, Max	g	NED	2616	0	.	.	.	.	.	½	½	*	.	.	.	1	.	2	2553
10.	Beerdsen, Thomas	m	NED	2515	.	.	.	.	.	½	½	.	.	*	.	.	½	½	2	2570
11.	Mishra, Abhimanyu	g	USA	2559	½	0	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	.	*	0	.	.	1½	2458
12.	L'Ami, Erwin	g	NED	2627	0	.	.	.	.	.	½	0	.	.	1	*	.	.	1½	2447
13.	Pechac, Jergus	g	SVK	2637	.	.	0	.	0	.	.	.	0	½	.	.	*	.	½	2289
14.	Vaishali, Rameshbabu	m	IND	2425	.	0	0	0	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	*	½	2273

Round 4 (January 17, 2023)
Yilmaz, Mustafa	- Warmerdam, Max	1-0	46	D45	Anti-Meran Variations
Ivic, Velimir	- Vaishali, Rameshbabu	1-0	47	B40	Sicilian Classical
Adhiban, Baskaran	- Sindarov, Javokhir	½-½	39	E81	King's Indian Saemisch
Supi, Luis Paulo	- Beerdsen, Thomas	½-½	40	B22	Sicilian Alapin
Roebers, Eline	- Tabatabaei, M. Amin	½-½	62	B60	Sicilian Rauzer
Mishra, Abhimanyu	- L'Ami, Erwin	0-1	77	E04	Catalan
Pechac, Jergus	- Donchenko, Alexander	0-1	36	B22	Sicilian Alapin

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