First round wins for Niemann, Keymer and Erigaisi following delayed start for the Tata Steel Masters 2026

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88th Tata Steel 2026 (1)

First round wins for Niemann, Keymer and Erigaisi following delayed start for the Tata Steel Masters 2026

Mark Crowther - Saturday 17th January 2026

Gukesh against Sindarov was the longest game of the day. Photo © Michiel Abeln.

Gukesh against Sindarov was the longest game of the day. Photo © Michiel Abeln. | https://theweekinchess.com

There were three decisive games in the first round of the Tata Steel Masters, there could even have been a couple more. The first story was that the start to the tournament was delayed, climate protesters targeting Tata Steel drew attention to their heavy use of coal and the environmental damage it causes. The start of play was delayed for a couple of hours but perhaps this disruption caused early uncharacteristic blunders from a couple of the players. Hans Moke Niemann was still in theory when Vladimir Fedoseev miscalculated and he had to resign in 16 moves. Anish Giri played the inferior 21...Rb8 then just blundered a piece with 22...Bxd4 and also had to resign immediately. Arjun Erigaisi beat defending champion Praggnanandhaa in 32 moves.

Javokhir Sindarov hung on to draw a lost position against World Champion Gukesh. Jorden Van Foreest drew a 27 move Petroff against Thai Dai Van Nguyen but it might have been a very different matter if Nguyen had played 21...f5!. Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus drew against Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Chithambaram Aravindh drew against Matthias Bluebaum. My thanks to Michiel Abeln for photos and notes to a couple of the games.

There were wins for Assaubayeva, Miaoyi Lu, Aydin Suleymanli and Vedant Panesar in the Challengers.

Masters Round 1 Standings: 1st= Niemann, Keymer, Erigaisi 1pt, 4th= Erdogmus, Aravindh, Sindarov, Van Foreest, Nguyen, Gukesh, Bluebaum, Abdusattorov 0.5pts. 12th= Praggnanandhaa, Giri, Fedoseev 0pts.

Round 2 Pairings Sunday 18th Jan 1pm GMT: Abdusattorov-Praggnanandhaa, Nguyen-Erigaisi, Gukesh-Van Foreest, Giri-Sindarov, Fedoseev-Keymer, Bluebaum-Niemann, Erdogmus-Aravindh.

Round 1 Details

Extinction Rebellion delayed the start of the 88th Tata Steel chess tournament when they protested against the sponsor's use of coal by dumping 2,025 kg of coal in front of the venue and blocking access to players and spectators. 12 months ago several protesters mounted a dangerous protest at the coal depot, it perhaps occurred to them then they'd get more publicity and less jeopardy if they protested a chess event instead.

The event itself is the youngest ever with an average age of just 23. In addition this event will likely be the last test for Anish Giri, Matthias Bluebaum, Javokhir Sindarov and Praggnanandhaa before they play the Candidates tournament at the end of March. To that end the time control has been changed to the same as the Candidates; 2 hours for 40 moves followed by 30 minutes + 30 seconds a move to finish the game.

Michiel Abeln has annotated Arjun Erigaisi's win against Praggnanandhaa which was a Queen's Gambit Accepted where Praggnanandhaa's new move 11...Ba5? was poor and his position deteriorated fast, 16.Qb3?! wasn't the most accurate but after 16...Be6? it was practically all over. Praggnanandhaa's poor form in the last six months continues, he says he's not worried about the Candidates in a couple of months as he will have a much needed break to prepare, but he won't want a catastrophe here.

Giri vs Keymer Tata Steel Round 1 Photo © Michiel Abeln.

Giri vs Keymer Tata Steel Round 1 Photo © Michiel Abeln

Another Candidate with a poor start was Anish Giri, Vincent Keymer didn't have a lot out of the opening, 21...Bc6! would even have given Giri a tiny edge, instead 21...Rb8 left him worse and 22...Bxd4? 23.Rc4 just won a piece and the game for Keymer.

Vladimir Fedoseev played a solid Petroff against Hans Moke Niemann, it's very possible he confused something as 13...Bg6 wasn't the best and it was followed by 14...Nxc5 which lost trivially.

14 year old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus was apparently asked if he wanted to play the Masters or the Challengers, he had no doubt he was ready for the big time, he took things steadily against Nodirbek Abdusattorov and the game was drawn in 41 moves.

Bluebaum vs Aravindh Tata Steel Round 1 Photo © Michiel Abeln.

Bluebaum vs Aravindh Tata Steel Round 1 Photo © Michiel Abeln

Chithambaram Aravindh had a little something against Matthias Bluebaum but after 22.Nxd5?! Nxd5?! the position was equal and drawn after 41 moves.

Jorden Van Foreest drew against Thai Dai Van Nguyen in a Scotch, after the dubious 14.gxh5?! black was better and his position continued to improve, 21.h3? was another error and black had a serious edge, but 21...f6? (21...f5!) threw most of the advantage away and the game was drawn.

The final game to finish was a marathon struggle between Javokhir Sindarov and last year's runner up Gukesh. The 12 months has not been a happy one for the World Champion, the title seems to have weighed heavily on him, a win at the start would have been a great fillip to his confidence. 38...Nb4? and 39...Rxa4? mistakes by Sindarov led to a lost position but somehow Gukesh couldn't finish him off and the win became very difficult, 70...Nf6? ended black's winning chances.

88th Tata Steel Masters Wijk aan Zee (NED), 16 i-1 ii 2026																cat. XIX (2723)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Niemann, Hans Moke	g	USA	2725	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	1
2.	Keymer, Vincent	g	GER	2776	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	1
3.	Erigaisi, Arjun	g	IND	2775	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	.	1
4.	Erdogmus, Yagiz Kaan	g	TUR	2658	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	½	2751
5.	Aravindh, Chithambaram VR.	g	IND	2700	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	½	2679
6.	Sindarov, Javokhir	g	UZB	2726	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	½	2754
7.	Van Foreest, Jorden	g	NED	2703	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2656
8.	Nguyen, Thai Dai Van	g	CZE	2656	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2703
9.	Gukesh, D	g	IND	2754	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	½	2726
10.	Bluebaum, Matthias	g	GER	2679	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	½	2700
11.	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	g	UZB	2751	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	½	2658
12.	Praggnanandhaa, R	g	IND	2758	.	.	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	0
13.	Giri, Anish	g	NED	2760	.	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	0
14.	Fedoseev, Vladimir	g	SLO	2705	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	0

Round 1 (January 17, 2026)
Niemann, Hans Moke	- Fedoseev, Vladimir	1-0	16	C42	Petroff's Defence
Keymer, Vincent	- Giri, Anish	1-0	23	D27	QGA
Erigaisi, Arjun	- Praggnanandhaa, R	1-0	32	D20	QGA
Erdogmus, Yagiz Kaan	- Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	½-½	41	C69	Ruy Lopez Exchange
Aravindh, Chithambaram VR.	- Bluebaum, Matthias	½-½	41	E06	Catalan
Sindarov, Javokhir	- Gukesh, D	½-½	78	D37	QGD 5.Bf4
Van Foreest, Jorden	- Nguyen, Thai Dai Van	½-½	27	C43	Petroff's Defence

Tata Steel Challengers Wijk aan Zee (NED), 16 i-1 ii 2026																cat. XII (2544)
					1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	0	1	2	3	4
1.	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	g	KAZ	2497	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	1
2.	Lu, Miaoyi	m	CHN	2431	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	1
3.	Panesar, Vedant	f	IND	2406	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	.	1
4.	Suleymanli, Aydin	g	AZE	2628	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	1	.	.	.	1
5.	Ivanchuk, Vasyl	g	UKR	2605	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	½	2466
6.	Maurizzi, MarcAndria	g	FRA	2611	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	.	½	2604
7.	Ivic, Velimir	g	SRB	2638	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2516
8.	Oro, Faustino	m	ARG	2516	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	2638
9.	Yuffa, Daniil	g	ESP	2604	.	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	½	2611
10.	Yip, Carissa	m	USA	2466	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	.	½	2605
11.	L'Ami, Erwin	g	NED	2634	.	.	.	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	.	0
12.	Roebers, Eline	m	NED	2398	.	.	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	.	0
13.	Warmerdam, Max	g	NED	2576	.	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	0
14.	Woodward, Andy	g	USA	2608	0	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	.	*	0

Round 1 (January 17, 2026)
Assaubayeva, Bibisara	- Woodward, Andy	1-0	41	D38	QGD Ragozin
Lu, Miaoyi	- Warmerdam, Max	1-0	51	B23	Sicilian Closed
Ivanchuk, Vasyl	- Yip, Carissa	½-½	35	E21	Nimzo Indian 4.Nf3
Maurizzi, MarcAndria	- Yuffa, Daniil	½-½	36	B40	Sicilian Classical
Ivic, Velimir	- Oro, Faustino	½-½	46	E10	Blumenfeld Counter Gambit
L'Ami, Erwin	- Suleymanli, Aydin	0-1	45	D05	Colle System
Roebers, Eline	- Panesar, Vedant	0-1	34	E00	Catalan

View the games on this Page

Download the PGN from this page

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