Niemann, Sindarov and Abdusattorov lead the Tata Steel Masters on 3.5/5 going into the first rest day

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88th Tata Steel 2026 (5)

Niemann, Sindarov and Abdusattorov lead the Tata Steel Masters on 3.5/5 going into the first rest day

Mark Crowther - Wednesday 21st January 2026

Niemann and Abdusattorov discuss their round 5 draw. Photo © Tata Steel Chess

Niemann and Abdusattorov discuss their round 5 draw. Photo © Tata Steel Chess | https://theweekinchess.com

The leaders Hans Moke Niemann and Nodirbek Abdusattorov met in the fifth round of the Tata Steel Masters and drew allowing Javokhir Sindarov to join them in the lead. There were four decisive games with Vladimir Fedoseev beating Arjun Erigaisi, top seed Vincent Keymer got back to 50% with a win over Chithambaram Aravindh, Gukesh scored his first win when he defeated Thai Dai Van Nguyen. Jorden van Foreest drew with Matthias Bluebaum and Praggnanandhaa drew with Anish Giri.

In the Challengers leader Aydin Suleymanli drew with Max Warmerdam allowing 12 year old Faustino Oro and Andy Woodward to join him on 4/5.

The game file has two annotated games by Michiel Abeln based on player comments and the rest are annotated using Stockfish with additional comments and punctuation by me.

Masters Round 5 standings: 1st= Niemann, Sindarov, Abdusattorov 3.5pts, 4th= Van Foreest, Gukesh, Fedoseev 3pts, 7th= Keymer, Erigaisi, Bluebaum 2.5pts, 10th Erdogmus 2pts, 11th= Aravindh, Praggnanandhaa, Nguyen, Giri 1.5pts.

Rest day Thursday 22nd Jan.

Round 6 pairings Friday 22nd Jan: Abdusattorov-Gukesh, Giri-Nguyen, Fedoseev-Praggnanandhaa, Bluebaum-Erigaisi, Erdogmus-Van Foreest, Aravindh-Sindarov and Niemann-Keymer.

Summary Round 5

The leader Hans Moke Niemann and Nodirbek Abdusattorov drew in 48 moves. Niemann got a little something against the Petroff but he never got anywhere near increasing his advantage to something meaningful.

The draw allowed Javokhir Sindarov to join them in the lead but only after he lost winning advantages against Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus twice. In fact they had a balanced position for a long time before 32...Bd5? produced an unstable construction that Sindarov was able to exploit, Sindarov missed a direct win with 37.c4?! which was still advantageous but not as good as 37.Qh7+ which he couldn't calculate to the end. After 47...Qg5? Sindarov had a decisive advantage again but his 49.f3? should have led to a draw (49.Qf5+ went into a winning Rook and Pawn endgame), just when a draw seemed likely 66...Rg2? was the final and decisive error that led to a Sindarov win. Quite a battle.

Vincent Keymer will be feeling much better about things after a win against Chithambaram Aravindh, after 22...h4? Keymer quickly obtained a winning advantage which he never let go.

Gukesh has been pretty solid, today he scored his first win, 35.Rc3? (35.Re7=) turned out to be just losing, although it was only refuted by one move 35...Bd4!.

Another game finished by a single move was Vladimir Fedoseev's win against Arjun Erigaisi, in a wild position Erigaisi needed to find the only move 30.d7! instead 30.Ba2? led to a loss.

Jorden van Foreest was pushing in a favourable endgame against Matthias Bluebaum but couldn't make his small edge count. Anish Giri had a brief winning chance against Praggnanandhaa 31....Qxd4 was equal, 31...Qa3 was winning for him.

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	*	.	½	1	.	.	½	.	.	½	1	.	.	.	3½	2847
2.	Sindarov, Javokhir	g	UZB	2726	.	*	.	½	½	.	1	.	.	1	.	½	.	.	3½	2860
3.	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	g	UZB	2751	½	.	*	.	.	.	.	.	.	½	½	.	1	1	3½	2848
4.	Fedoseev, Vladimir	g	SLO	2705	0	½	.	*	.	½	.	1	1	.	.	.	.	.	3	2813
5.	Gukesh, D	g	IND	2754	.	½	.	.	*	½	.	½	.	.	.	.	1	½	3	2795
6.	Van Foreest, Jorden	g	NED	2703	.	.	.	½	½	*	½	.	.	.	.	1	½	.	3	2782
7.	Bluebaum, Matthias	g	GER	2679	½	0	.	.	.	½	*	.	1	.	½	.	.	.	2½	2726
8.	Erigaisi, Arjun	g	IND	2775	.	.	.	0	½	.	.	*	.	.	.	½	½	1	2½	2726
9.	Keymer, Vincent	g	GER	2776	.	.	.	0	.	.	0	.	*	½	1	1	.	.	2½	2700
10.	Erdogmus, Yagiz Kaan	g	TUR	2658	½	0	½	.	.	.	.	.	½	*	½	.	.	.	2	2663
11.	Aravindh, Chithambaram VR.	g	IND	2700	0	.	½	.	.	.	½	.	0	½	*	.	.	.	1½	2568
12.	Giri, Anish	g	NED	2760	.	½	.	.	.	0	.	½	0	.	.	*	.	½	1½	2598
13.	Nguyen, Thai Dai Van	g	CZE	2656	.	.	0	.	0	½	.	½	.	.	.	.	*	½	1½	2599
14.	Praggnanandhaa, R	g	IND	2758	.	.	0	.	½	.	.	0	.	.	.	½	½	*	1½	2590

Round 5 (January 21, 2026)
Niemann, Hans Moke	- Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	½-½	48	C42	Petroff's Defence
Sindarov, Javokhir	- Erdogmus, Yagiz Kaan	1-0	74	C24	Bishop's Opening
Van Foreest, Jorden	- Bluebaum, Matthias	½-½	74	C43	Petroff's Defence
Erigaisi, Arjun	- Fedoseev, Vladimir	0-1	46	D38	QGD Ragozin
Keymer, Vincent	- Aravindh, Chithambaram VR.	1-0	36	D35	QGD Exchange
Nguyen, Thai Dai Van	- Gukesh, D	0-1	51	E15	Queens Indian
Praggnanandhaa, R	- Giri, Anish	½-½	37	B87	Sicilian Sozin Attack

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.	Suleymanli, Aydin	g	AZE	2628	*	.	.	.	.	½	.	.	1	1	½	.	1	.	4	2747
2.	Oro, Faustino	m	ARG	2516	.	*	.	.	.	½	.	.	1	1	.	½	1	.	4	2759
3.	Woodward, Andy	g	USA	2608	.	.	*	.	.	0	.	.	1	.	1	.	1	1	4	2701
4.	Maurizzi, MarcAndria	g	FRA	2611	.	.	.	*	1	.	½	½	.	½	.	1	.	.	3½	2738
5.	Yip, Carissa	m	USA	2466	.	.	.	0	*	.	½	.	.	.	1	1	.	1	3½	2716
6.	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	g	KAZ	2497	½	½	1	.	.	*	½	½	.	.	.	.	.	.	3	2664
7.	Ivanchuk, Vasyl	g	UKR	2605	.	.	.	½	½	½	*	.	.	0	.	1	.	.	2½	2569
8.	Yuffa, Daniil	g	ESP	2604	.	.	.	½	.	½	.	*	.	1	.	½	0	.	2½	2555
9.	Lu, Miaoyi	m	CHN	2431	0	0	0	.	.	.	.	.	*	.	1	.	.	1	2	2474
10.	L'Ami, Erwin	g	NED	2634	0	0	.	½	.	.	1	0	.	*	.	.	.	.	1½	2443
11.	Warmerdam, Max	g	NED	2576	½	.	0	.	0	.	.	.	0	.	*	.	.	1	1½	2358
12.	Ivic, Velimir	g	SRB	2638	.	½	.	0	0	.	0	½	.	.	.	*	.	.	1	2320
13.	Roebers, Eline	m	NED	2398	0	0	0	.	.	.	.	1	.	.	.	.	*	0	1	2312
14.	Panesar, Vedant	f	IND	2406	.	.	0	.	0	.	.	.	0	.	0	.	1	*	1	2255

Round 5 (January 21, 2026)
Assaubayeva, Bibisara	- Ivanchuk, Vasyl	½-½	40	D38	QGD Ragozin
Lu, Miaoyi	- Oro, Faustino	0-1	27	C48	Four Knights Rubinstein
L'Ami, Erwin	- Maurizzi, MarcAndria	½-½	49	E94	King's Indian Classical
Warmerdam, Max	- Suleymanli, Aydin	½-½	44	D35	QGD Exchange
Ivic, Velimir	- Yip, Carissa	0-1	54	E20	Nimzo Indian
Roebers, Eline	- Yuffa, Daniil	1-0	41	B89	Sicilian Sozin Attack
Panesar, Vedant	- Woodward, Andy	0-1	51	D37	QGD 5.Bf4

Tata Steel Chess Wijk aan Zee 2026

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