Anish Giri leads the Tata Steel Masters alone on 3.5/4 going into the first rest day

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86th Tata Steel 2024 (4)

Anish Giri leads the Tata Steel Masters alone on 3.5/4 going into the first rest day

Mark Crowther - Tuesday 16th January 2024

Anish Giri leads on 3.5/4. Photo ©

Anish Giri leads on 3.5/4. Photo © | https://tatasteelchess.com

Defending Champion Anish Giri got off to the ideal start by leading the Tata Steel Masters alone on 3.5/4 going into the first rest day on Wednesday. Giri beat Gukesh by showing the power of a small initiative with bishops of opposite colour even in a very simplified position. Gukesh fought hard but could not survive. World Champion Ding Liren was beaten in a theoretical duel by Praggnanandhaa who slowly outplayed him. Wei Yi exploited a bad error after first time control by Parham Maghsoodloo to win. Alexander Donchenko was winning against Ian Nepomniachtchi but failed to convert in the end and the game was drawn as was Alireza Firouzja against Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Jorden van Foreest against Santosh Vidit and Max Warmerdam and Ju Wenjun.

Hans Moke Niemann, Erwin L'Ami and Anton Korobov are in the joint lead of the Challengers on 3/4.

Round 4 Standings: 1st Giri, Anish 3.5pts 2nd Firouzja, Alireza 3pts 3rd= Praggnanandhaa, Abdusattorov, Wei Yi, Nepomniachtchi, Ian 2.5pts 7th= Vidit, Ding Liren, Warmerdam, Max 2pts 10th= Gukesh, Van Foreest 1.5pts 12th= Donchenko, Ju Wenjun 1pt 14th Maghsoodloo 0.5pts

Rest Day 17th January

Round 5 18th January 1pm GMT Ju Wenjun-Firouzja, Vidit-Warmerdam, Donchenko-Van Foreest, Gukesh-Nepomniachtchi, Praggnanandhaa-Giri, Maghsoodloo-Ding Liren, Abdusattorov-Wei Yi.

Round 4 Summary

Anish Giri against D Gukesh was an English where and endgame after just 24 moves. Both sides had a Queen, Rook and Bishop and 4 kingside pawns but because the bishops were opposite and Giri had the initiative it turned out he had very serious winning chances. 38....h4 was an error after which Giri was definitely winning but Gukesh continued to resist hard but in the end could not save the game, it was the last to finish.

Wei Yi beat Parham Maghsoodloo in a Caro Kann. Maghsoodloo gave up the exchange, after 24.Rd7 (maybe 24.h3) the position was about equal, the computer even have black for preference at one point. Wei Yi turned down a repetition on move 38 and was rewarded with a serious error. 44...Be4? (45...f5! was strictly the only move activating the king and supporting the bishop on d5). After that black was just lost.

Praggnanandhaa beat Ding Liren on the black side of a Ruy Lopez 5.d3. Both players would have been familiar with the game Carlsen-Kaymer from the World Cup last year, Ding's 17.Be3 didn't seem like an improvement over Carlsen's 15.axb5. 17.Ba2?! seemed like a further concession (17.dxc4), and Ding lost a pawn. This was followed by a really long conversion phase, 43.f4? (43.Ke2) caused a further major deterioration of white's position and there was no way back.

Ian Nepomniachtchi and Alexander Donchenko, knowingly or not followed a 2018 correspondence game in a 6.Bd3 Najdorf until 14...Qc7 and black was fully equal after 15.0-0-0. Nepomniachtchi grabbed a hot pawn with 28.Qxb5?! (28.Qxb4 was much more circumspect) and after 28...Rxc2! the computer says white is equal after 29.Kxc2 Rc8 30.Kd3 but that's not a variation white wants to play. Nepomniachtchi's 30.Nc3? however should have been the decisive mistake as black won back his material with a still raging attack. Within sight of a win however Donchenko played 46.Qe1? (46.Qc8! amongst others wins) and allowed Nepomniachtchi off with a draw.

Alireza Firouzja drew with Nodirbek Abdusattorov in a sharp open Ruy Lopez that saw a novelty with 24...Rf7 and very quickly burned out to a draw after that.

Jorden van Foreest tried the Four Knights against Santosh Vidit, there was some intricate play for a while but the game burned out to a sterile draw.

Ju Wenjun got a comfortable draw in 31 moves on the black side of a Catalan against Max Warmerdam.

Round 4 Commentary

86th Tata Steel Masters Wijk aan Zee (NED), 12-28 i 2024																cat. XIX (2712)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Giri, Anish	g	NED	2749	*	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	1	.	1	1	.	3½	3000
2.	Firouzja, Alireza	g	FRA	2759	.	*	.	.	½	.	.	½	.	.	1	.	.	1	3	2886
3.	Praggnanandhaa, R	g	IND	2743	.	.	*	.	½	½	.	.	1	.	.	.	.	½	2½	2841
4.	Nepomniachtchi, Ian	g	RUS	2769	.	.	.	*	.	.	½	1	.	.	.	½	½	.	2½	2734
5.	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	g	UZB	2727	.	½	½	.	*	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	1	2½	2836
6.	Wei, Yi	g	CHN	2740	.	.	½	.	.	*	.	.	.	0	.	1	.	1	2½	2807
7.	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	g	IND	2742	½	.	.	½	.	.	*	.	½	.	½	.	.	.	2	2745
8.	Warmerdam, Max	g	NED	2625	.	½	.	0	.	.	.	*	.	.	1	.	½	.	2	2689
9.	Ding, Liren	g	CHN	2780	.	.	0	.	.	.	½	.	*	1	.	½	.	.	2	2713
10.	Gukesh, D	g	IND	2725	0	.	.	.	½	1	.	.	0	*	.	.	.	.	1½	2662
11.	Van Foreest, Jorden	g	NED	2682	.	0	.	.	.	.	½	0	.	.	*	.	1	.	1½	2581
12.	Donchenko, Alexander	g	GER	2643	0	.	.	½	.	0	.	.	½	.	.	*	.	.	1	2566
13.	Ju, Wenjun	g	CHN	2549	0	.	.	½	.	.	.	½	.	.	0	.	*	.	1	2513
14.	Maghsoodloo, Parham	g	IRI	2740	.	0	½	.	0	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	½	2420

Round 4 (January 16, 2024)
Giri, Anish	- Gukesh, D	1-0	72	A28	English Four Knights
Firouzja, Alireza	- Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	½-½	33	C82	Ruy Lopez Open Italian Variation
Nepomniachtchi, Ian	- Donchenko, Alexander	½-½	56	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Wei, Yi	- Maghsoodloo, Parham	1-0	69	B12	Caro Kann Advanced
Warmerdam, Max	- Ju, Wenjun	½-½	31	E06	Catalan
Ding, Liren	- Praggnanandhaa, R	0-1	62	C77	Ruy Lopez Anderssen
Van Foreest, Jorden	- Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	½-½	35	C48	Four Knights Rubinstein

Tata Steel Challengers Wijk aan Zee (NED), 12-28 i 2024																cat. XIII (2570)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	L'Ami, Erwin	g	NED	2627	*	.	.	.	.	½	.	½	1	.	.	.	1	.	3	2763
2.	Niemann, Hans Moke	g	USA	2692	.	*	.	.	½	.	.	1	.	.	½	1	.	.	3	2765
3.	Korobov, Anton	g	UKR	2663	.	.	*	.	0	.	1	.	.	.	.	1	.	1	3	2693
4.	Santos Latasa, Jaime	g	ESP	2615	.	.	.	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	1	0	.	1	2½	2619
5.	Salem, A.R. Saleh	g	UAE	2630	.	½	1	½	*	.	.	.	.	.	0	.	.	.	2	2658
6.	Dardha, Daniel	g	BEL	2602	½	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	½	½	.	.	½	.	2	2540
7.	Maurizzi, Marc'Andria	g	FRA	2572	.	.	0	.	.	.	*	.	½	1	.	.	½	.	2	2549
8.	Vrolijk, Liam	g	NED	2573	½	0	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	1	.	½	.	2	2621
9.	Mendonca, Leon Luke	g	IND	2608	0	.	.	.	.	½	½	.	*	.	.	.	.	1	2	2545
10.	Beukema, Stefan	m	BEL	2428	.	.	.	.	.	½	0	.	.	*	.	½	.	1	2	2493
11.	Yilmaz, Mustafa	g	TUR	2665	.	½	.	0	1	.	.	0	.	.	*	.	.	.	1½	2540
12.	Divya, Deshmukh	m	IND	2420	.	0	0	1	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	*	.	.	1½	2512
13.	Dronavalli, Harika	g	IND	2500	0	.	.	.	.	½	½	½	.	.	.	.	*	.	1½	2506
14.	Roebers, Eline	m	NED	2381	.	.	0	0	.	.	.	.	0	0	.	.	.	*	0

Round 4 (January 16, 2024)
Niemann, Hans Moke	- Divya, Deshmukh	1-0	54	C50	Giuoco Piano
Korobov, Anton	- Maurizzi, Marc'Andria	1-0	34	D43	Anti-Meran Gambit
Santos Latasa, Jaime	- Roebers, Eline	1-0	46	E84	King's Indian Saemisch
Vrolijk, Liam	- Dronavalli, Harika	½-½	56	A15	English counter King's Fianchetto
Mendonca, Leon Luke	- L'Ami, Erwin	0-1	71	D36	QGD Exchange
Beukema, Stefan	- Dardha, Daniel	½-½	57	A14	Reti Opening
Yilmaz, Mustafa	- Salem, A.R. Saleh	1-0	53	A34	English Symmetrical

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