Five way tie for first place on 1.5/2 in the Tata Steel Masters

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87th Tata Steel 2025 (2)

Five way tie for first place on 1.5/2 in the Tata Steel Masters

Mark Crowther - Sunday 19th January 2025

Nodirbek Abdusattorov beat Leon Luke Mendonca whose confidence may have been hit by yesterday's loss. Photo ©

Nodirbek Abdusattorov beat Leon Luke Mendonca whose confidence may have been hit by yesterday's loss. Photo © | https://tatasteelchess.com/en

The second round of the Tata Steel Masters was not quite as crazy as the first but there were still three decisive games and a couple of near decisive ones. At the end of the day Praggnanandhaa, Caruana, Gukesh, Abdusattorov and Keymer lead on 1.5/2.

Fabiano Caruana started the tournament with a non-event in the first game against Wei Yi, today he chose the London System to surprise his opponent Jorden Van Foreest but ended up with a slightly inferior position. Van Foreest then played a series of inferior moves and lost the endgame. Nodirbek Abdusattorov played a side-line of the French 6.a4, deviating from a game last year against his opponent Leon Luke Mendonca, this turned out to be a bullseye as Mendonca quickly went wrong and after the misguided 13.0-0-0 was lost, the game lasted only 31 moves. The other winner was Praggnanandhaa who beat Pentala Harikrishna. The game saw a sharp opening from Harikrishna but he was soon worse. The key was a Rook and Bishop endgame which both players misjudged. They thought exchanging rooks off would be lost for Harikrishna which was just wrong, in the end, with rooks on, Praggnanandhaa won.

The other games were drawn, Arjun Erigaisi was much better, if not winning, against Anish Giri at several points but the Dutchman was allowed to escape with a draw. Gukesh was a bit worse as black against Vladimir Fedoseev but this advantage never got out of hand. Vincent Keymer voluntarily decided to give up the exchange against Max Warmerdam and it was just bad for him. After various ups and downs Keymer managed a miracle escape for the second day running. Poor old Wei Yi must feel he hasn't started his event yet, for the second day running he got a very dull position, this time as black against Alexey Sarana, and a draw was the result.

In the Challengers there were just three decisive games, half the field is tied for first on 1.5/2.

Masters Round 2 Standings: 1st= Praggnanandhaa, Abdusattorov, Gukesh, Caruana, Keymer 1.5pts, 6th= Sarana, Warmerdam, Wei Yi, Fedoseev, Harikrishna 1pt, 11th= Giri, Erigaisi, Van Foreest 0.5pts, 14th Mendonca 0pts,

Round 3 Pairings: Praggnanandhaa-Erigaisi, Mendonca-Harikrishna, Warmerdam-Abdusattorov, Wei Yi-Keymer, Van Foreest-Sarana, Gukesh-Caruana, Giri-Fedoseev.

Challengers Round 2 Standings: 1st= Lu Miaoyi, L'Ami, Vaishali, Frederik Svane, Bok, Nguyen, Yakubboev 1.5pts, 8th= Suleymanli, Gurel 1pt, 10th= Nogerbek, Divya, Pijpers 0.5pts, 13th= Oro, Bulmaga, 0pts

Round 2 Summary

My thanks to Michiel Abeln for notes and photos from the venue. PGN contains all the games annotated and is also displayed below.

Fabiano Caruana against Lucas Van Foreest Tata Steel 2025 Round 2 Photo © Michiel Abeln.

Fabiano Caruana against Lucas Van Foreest Tata Steel 2025 Round 2 Photo © Michiel Abeln

Fabiano Caruana got his event off to a proper start with a win against Jorden van Foreest. Caruana chose the London System which he rarely if ever plays, but seeing as a lot of people play it, maybe it doesn't really work as a surprise weapon. It was van Foreest who chose the rare 6...Nh6 and who emerged with a small advantage from the opening. Van Foreest is a dynamic player and his 16...d4 whilst sound did introduce some risk for him. After 21.Qc2 Caruana felt the risk of losing had gone and van Foreest started to make mistakes 22...Bb6?! was based on a concrete line which he quickly realised didn't work, 26...h6?! (26...g6) was another move Caruana was pleased to see and 28...Kf8? led to a lost endgame and Van Foreest resigned on move 34.

Nodirbek Abdusattorov against Leon Luke Mendonca Tata Steel 2025 Round 2 Photo © Tata Steel Chess.

Nodirbek Abdusattorov against Leon Luke Mendonca Tata Steel 2025 Round 2 Photo © Tata Steel Chess

Nodirbek Abdusattorov won easily against Leon Luke Mendonca in what must be a very concerning defeat for the latter. They had played a French in Qatar last year and Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Abdusattorov's second, suggested the rare 6.a4 to take Mendonca out of book and Mendonca just fell apart quickly. 6...cxd4 was probably too early and lost a tempo and 13...0-0-0 was an awful decision for a player at this level. Abdusattorov certainly had attacking chances on the kingside but on the queenside the attack practically played itself, then Abdusattorov found 23.Ng3! which led to the complete disintegration of Mendonca's pawn structure, he resigned on move 31 with no time left.

Pentala Harikrishna against Praggnanandhaa Tata Steel 2025 Round 2 Photo © Michiel Abeln.

Pentala Harikrishna against Praggnanandhaa Tata Steel 2025 Round 2 Photo © Michiel Abeln

Praggnanandhaa scored his first win beating Pentala Harikrishna in a strange game where both players misjudged the consequences of an endgame quite badly. The opening was a sharp Sicilian where Harikrishna had a pawn storm on the Kingside, Praggnanandhaa defended well and after 24...f6 25.g6? (25.dxc4 or 25.gxf6 were about equal) he was a bit better. After 30...Qf4 the game was about equal but Praggnanandhaa did have an extra pawn. Then on several moves Praggnanandhaa tried to exchange rooks and Harikrishna avoided it, both were under the impression the Bishop endgame was lost for white when in fact it wasn't a particularly tricky draw. After 47.Rb8?? avoiding the rook exchange for the final time black won another pawn and with it the game.

Arjun Erigaisi against Anish Giri Tata Steel 2025 Round 2 Photo © Michiel Abeln.

Arjun Erigaisi against Anish Giri Tata Steel 2025 Round 2 Photo © Michiel Abeln

Arjun Erigaisi drew a Najdorf Sicilian against Anish Giri but he had all the opportunities couldn't make the most of his chances, even late on a blunder 45...Kd4 would have led to big trouble had Erigaisi found 46.Rc7.

Vincent Keymer against Max Warmerdam Tata Steel 2025 Round 2 Photo © Michiel Abeln.

Vincent Keymer against Max Warmerdam Tata Steel 2025 Round 2 Photo © Michiel Abeln

Vincent Keymer got himself into very big trouble against Max Warmerdam after he decided to give up the exchange with 29.Rc6? which was just a very poor decision. Keymer kept finding ways to continue but Warmerdam missed a couple of clean wins and then it was about calculating how to make the best of running pawns, Warmerdam didn't get it right and the game was drawn.

Vladimir Fedoseev played a sharp Queen's Gambit against Gukesh, neither player remembered the theory, Fedoseev had the feeling he must have missed a big chance but it doesn't seem so, after 28.Kf2 the game became equal and the pieces came off fairly rapidly and a draw was agreed after 43 moves.

Alexey Sarana played the Spanish Four Knights, which has attracted some interest recently but really the fundamental truth that it's very drawish hasn't changed and a dull draw resulted.

Standings

87th Tata Steel Masters Wijk aan Zee (NED), 18 i-2 ii 2025																cat. XX (2726)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Praggnanandhaa, R	g	IND	2741	*	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	.	.	.	1½	2924
2.	Caruana, Fabiano	g	USA	2803	.	*	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	1	.	.	.	1½	2908
3.	Gukesh, D	g	IND	2777	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	1	.	1½	2917
4.	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	g	UZB	2768	½	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	1½	2883
5.	Keymer, Vincent	g	GER	2733	.	.	.	.	*	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	1½	2835
6.	Wei, Yi	g	CHN	2751	.	½	.	.	.	*	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	1	2740
7.	Warmerdam, Max	g	NED	2646	.	.	.	.	½	.	*	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	1	2705
8.	Fedoseev, Vladimir	g	SLO	2717	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	½	.	.	.	1	2728
9.	Sarana, Alexey	g	SRB	2677	.	.	.	.	.	½	½	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	1	2698
10.	Harikrishna, Pentala	g	IND	2695	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	1	.	.	1	2771
11.	Van Foreest, Jorden	g	NED	2680	.	0	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	*	.	.	.	½	2567
12.	Erigaisi, Arjun	g	IND	2801	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	0	.	*	½	.	½	2520
13.	Giri, Anish	g	NED	2731	.	.	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	*	.	½	2596
14.	Mendonca, Leon Luke	g	IND	2639	.	.	.	0	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	0

Round 2 (January 19, 2025)
Caruana, Fabiano	- Van Foreest, Jorden	1-0	34	D02	Queen's Pawn Game
Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	- Mendonca, Leon Luke	1-0	31	C02	French Advance
Keymer, Vincent	- Warmerdam, Max	½-½	67	A06	Zukertort Opening
Fedoseev, Vladimir	- Gukesh, D	½-½	43	D37	QGD 5.Bf4
Sarana, Alexey	- Wei, Yi	½-½	54	C48	Four Knights Rubinstein
Harikrishna, Pentala	- Praggnanandhaa, R	0-1	55	B30	Sicilian Rossolimo
Erigaisi, Arjun	- Giri, Anish	½-½	51	B92	Sicilian Najdorf with 6.Be2

Tata Steel Challengers Wijk aan Zee (NED), 18 i-2 ii 2025																cat. XII (2547)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Bok, Benjamin	g	NED	2583	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	1	.	.	.	.	.	1½	2816
2.	Lu, Miaoyi	m	CHN	2429	.	*	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	1	.	.	.	.	1½	2688
3.	Nguyen, Thai Dai Van	g	CZE	2668	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	1	.	.	1½	2675
4.	Yakubboev, Nodirbek	g	UZB	2659	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	½	1	.	.	.	1½	2695
5.	Svane, Frederik	g	GER	2664	.	.	.	.	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	1½	2723
6.	L'Ami, Erwin	g	NED	2614	.	.	.	.	½	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	1½	2718
7.	Vaishali, Rameshbabu	g	IND	2476	.	½	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	1½	2631
8.	Suleymanli, Aydin	g	AZE	2623	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	½	.	.	1	2528
9.	Gurel, Ediz	g	TUR	2624	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	1	1	2484
10.	Nogerbek, Kazybek	g	KAZ	2514	.	0	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	½	2351
11.	Divya, Deshmukh	m	IND	2490	.	.	½	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	½	2470
12.	Pijpers, Arthur	m	NED	2474	.	.	0	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	*	.	.	½	2452
13.	Oro, Faustino	m	ARG	2447	.	.	.	.	0	.	0	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	0
14.	Bulmaga, Irina	m	ROU	2386	.	.	.	.	.	0	.	.	0	.	.	.	.	*	0

Round 2 (January 19, 2025)
Bok, Benjamin	- Gurel, Ediz	1-0	30	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Yakubboev, Nodirbek	- Nogerbek, Kazybek	½-½	31	D37	QGD 5.Bf4
Svane, Frederik	- Oro, Faustino	1-0	55	D35	QGD Exchange
Vaishali, Rameshbabu	- Lu, Miaoyi	½-½	34	E06	Catalan
Divya, Deshmukh	- Nguyen, Thai Dai Van	½-½	34	B92	Sicilian Najdorf with 6.Be2
Pijpers, Arthur	- Suleymanli, Aydin	½-½	15	C58	Two Knights Defence
Bulmaga, Irina	- L'Ami, Erwin	0-1	51	B52	Sicilian Rossolimo