Nodirbek Abdusattorov still leads the Tata Steel Masters with 5.5/8 even after losing to Anish Giri

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88th Tata Steel 2026 (8)

Nodirbek Abdusattorov still leads the Tata Steel Masters with 5.5/8 even after losing to Anish Giri

Mark Crowther - Sunday 25th January 2026

Giri beat Abdusattorov in Round 8. Photo © Michiel Abeln

Giri beat Abdusattorov in Round 8. Photo © Michiel Abeln | https://theweekinchess.com

The Tata Steel Masters reached its second rest day with Nodirbek Abdusattorov leading by half a point over fellow Uzbek Javokhir Sindarov. Abdusattorov had the disappointment of losing to Anish Giri, he almost pulled off a miracle save but failed at the last hurdle. Sindarov drew against Vincent Keymer, maybe Keymer had a small chance in the opening but otherwise it was a steady draw.

The only other decisive game of the day was Gukesh's fine win against Vladimir Fedoseev. There was uncompromising chess from both players but in the end it was Gukesh that brought home the full point. Matthias Bluebaum spent several minutes at the board trying to come to terms with how he botched a winning position on the board and clock against Thai Dai Van Nguyen and allowed his opponent to escape with a draw.

The other drawn games were Hans Moke Niemann against Jorden Van Foreest where the American had a significant advantage at one stage, Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus was close to winning against Praggnanandhaa just before first time control and Chithambaram Aravindh escaped from a very bad position against Arjun Erigaisi.

There was a bloodbath in Round 8 of the Challengers with only the final game to finish ending in a draw. MarcAndria Maurizzi who beat Miaoyi Lu and Andy Woodward who defeated Faustino Oro lead the event with 6.5/8 half a point clear of Aydin Suleymanli. Vasyl Ivanchuk is half a point further back, he had about a half dozen moves to make against Max Warmerdam in only a few seconds but once he did he forced resignation.

Round 8 Standings: 1st Abdusattorov 5.5pts 2nd Sindarov 5pts 3rd= Erdogmus, Niemann, Van Foreest 4.5pts 6th= Keymer, Gukesh, Giri, Fedoseev, Bluebaum 4pts 11th Erigaisi 3.5pts 12th= Praggnanandhaa, Nguyen 3pts 14th Aravindh 2.5pts

Rest Day Monday 26th January 2026

Round 9 1pm Tuesday 27th Jan 2026: Sindarov-Abdusattorov, Van Foreest-Keymer, Erigaisi-Niemann, Praggnanandhaa-Aravindh, Nguyen-Erdogmus, Gukesh-Bluebaum and Giri-Fedoseev.

Round 8 Summary

Anish Giri won his second game in a row, this time beating the leader Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Giri praised Abdusattorov's enthusiastic defence once he got a lost position after 23.Bh3? and 31.e4? After they made time control at move 40 Giri expected the game to finish soon but it proved surprisingly tricky. 42....Rc1+ was even Giri's plan, but 42...R7b5! was the best. 45.a4 would have given white strong saving chances but instead 45.Kc3? was the final mistake.

Tata Steel Round 8 Fedoseev-Gukesh Photo © Michiel Abeln.

Tata Steel Round 8 Fedoseev-Gukesh Photo © Michiel Abeln

Gukesh won the game of the day against Vladimir Fedoseev, this was a full blooded game by both players. 25.Rb5 allowing black to push white's knight into the corner was the start of problems. 32.Bb5?! was also not great, the final error was 38.Nxc3? which allowed a fatal pin and a win of this knight.

Tata Steel Round 8 Bluebaum-Nguyen Photo © Michiel Abeln.

Tata Steel Round 8 Bluebaum-Nguyen Photo © Michiel Abeln

Matthias Bluebaum sat at the board long after his game had finished against Thai Dai Van Nguyen had finished looking extremely unhappy with himself. Nguyen played 11...Qa5 with the idea it was part of his preparation, most likely he was confusing it with an other line altogether, in trying to get this to work over the next few moves he got a lost position and left himself with half an hour on the clock. He did however get one trump card, a threatening pawn on a2, and then smartly opening the b-file for practical chances. Bluebaum started to go off track with 28.Be4?! but this only led to worse with 30.f4? after the position was equal with the trend in favour of black. Nguyen was left with 6 moves to make in 40 seconds and missed some small chances to be better but he was delighted with the draw at move 41, Bluebaum less so.

Vincent Keymer against Javokhir Sindarov was a fairly straightforward draw, the computer preferred 17.b4 but other than that it was a regulation game. Hans Moke Niemann built a nice advantage but 27.Qh2 wasn't the best and the game was soon level.

Tata Steel Round 8 Erdogmus-Praggnanandhaa Photo © Michiel Abeln.

Tata Steel Round 8 Erdogmus-Praggnanandhaa Photo © Michiel Abeln

Praggnanandhaa started to go wrong against Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus with 33...Be6 and on moves 36 and 37 Nxg4! would have put him under severe pressure according to the engine, by move 40 things were equal.

32.Rxg4? was the start of Chithambaram Aravindh's problems against Arjun Erigaisi, the game continued to be difficult but after the inaccurate 48...Re4?! the game returned to something like balance and was drawn in 77 moves.

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.	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	g	UZB	2751	*	.	½	½	.	0	1	.	1	.	.	1	1	½	5½	2864
2.	Sindarov, Javokhir	g	UZB	2726	.	*	½	1	.	½	½	½	½	1	.	.	.	½	5	2814
3.	Niemann, Hans Moke	g	USA	2725	½	½	*	½	½	.	0	1	.	½	.	.	.	1	4½	2755
4.	Erdogmus, Yagiz Kaan	g	TUR	2658	½	0	½	*	1	.	½	.	.	.	1	½	.	½	4½	2782
5.	Van Foreest, Jorden	g	NED	2703	.	.	½	0	*	1	.	½	½	½	.	.	½	1	4½	2747
6.	Giri, Anish	g	NED	2760	1	½	.	.	0	*	0	.	1	.	½	½	½	.	4	2737
7.	Keymer, Vincent	g	GER	2776	0	½	1	½	.	1	*	0	.	0	.	.	.	1	4	2713
8.	Fedoseev, Vladimir	g	SLO	2705	.	½	0	.	½	.	1	*	0	.	1	½	½	.	4	2734
9.	Gukesh, D	g	IND	2754	0	½	.	.	½	0	.	1	*	.	½	½	1	.	4	2729
10.	Bluebaum, Matthias	g	GER	2679	.	0	½	.	½	.	1	.	.	*	½	½	½	½	4	2727
11.	Erigaisi, Arjun	g	IND	2775	.	.	.	0	.	½	.	0	½	½	*	1	½	½	3½	2665
12.	Praggnanandhaa, R	g	IND	2758	0	.	.	½	.	½	.	½	½	½	0	*	½	.	3	2630
13.	Nguyen, Thai Dai Van	g	CZE	2656	0	.	.	.	½	½	.	½	0	½	½	½	*	.	3	2648
14.	Aravindh, Chithambaram VR.	g	IND	2700	½	½	0	½	0	.	0	.	.	½	½	.	.	*	2½	2583

Round 8 (January 25, 2026)
Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	- Giri, Anish	0-1	51	D38	QGD Ragozin
Niemann, Hans Moke	- Van Foreest, Jorden	½-½	50	B33	Sicilian Sveshnikov
Erdogmus, Yagiz Kaan	- Praggnanandhaa, R	½-½	46	B30	Sicilian Rossolimo
Keymer, Vincent	- Sindarov, Javokhir	½-½	48	A49	King's Indian Defence /c2-c4
Fedoseev, Vladimir	- Gukesh, D	0-1	41	E34	Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Bluebaum, Matthias	- Nguyen, Thai Dai Van	½-½	41	D35	QGD Exchange
Aravindh, Chithambaram VR.	- Erigaisi, Arjun	½-½	76	B44	Sicilian Paulsen

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.	Maurizzi, MarcAndria	g	FRA	2611	*	.	.	½	1	½	.	1	1	.	.	½	1	1	6½	2785
2.	Woodward, Andy	g	USA	2608	.	*	½	.	0	.	1	1	.	1	1	.	1	1	6½	2740
3.	Suleymanli, Aydin	g	AZE	2628	.	½	*	.	½	.	.	1	.	½	½	1	1	1	6	2695
4.	Ivanchuk, Vasyl	g	UKR	2605	½	.	.	*	½	.	.	½	1	1	.	0	1	1	5½	2672
5.	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	g	KAZ	2497	0	1	½	½	*	½	½	.	½	.	.	1	.	.	4½	2648
6.	Yuffa, Daniil	g	ESP	2604	½	.	.	.	½	*	.	.	½	½	½	1	1	0	4½	2566
7.	Oro, Faustino	m	ARG	2516	.	0	.	.	½	.	*	.	½	0	½	1	1	1	4½	2566
8.	Yip, Carissa	m	USA	2466	0	0	0	½	.	.	.	*	1	1	1	½	.	.	4	2588
9.	Ivic, Velimir	g	SRB	2638	0	.	.	0	½	½	½	0	*	.	.	1	.	1	3½	2498
10.	Warmerdam, Max	g	NED	2576	.	0	½	0	.	½	1	0	.	*	1	.	0	.	3	2446
11.	Panesar, Vedant	f	IND	2406	.	0	½	.	.	½	½	0	.	0	*	.	0	1	2½	2387
12.	L'Ami, Erwin	g	NED	2634	½	.	0	1	0	0	0	½	0	.	.	*	.	.	2	2377
13.	Lu, Miaoyi	m	CHN	2431	0	0	0	0	.	0	0	.	.	1	1	.	*	.	2	2376
14.	Roebers, Eline	m	NED	2398	0	0	0	0	.	1	0	.	0	.	0	.	.	*	1	2255

Round 8 (January 25, 2026)
Maurizzi, MarcAndria	- Lu, Miaoyi	1-0	35	A40	Unusual Replies to 1.d4
Ivanchuk, Vasyl	- Warmerdam, Max	1-0	43	B90	Sicilian Najdorf Variation
Yuffa, Daniil	- Panesar, Vedant	½-½	139	A07	Barcza System
Oro, Faustino	- Woodward, Andy	0-1	53	C78	Ruy Lopez Moeller Defence
Yip, Carissa	- Suleymanli, Aydin	0-1	36	B32	Sicilian Labourdonnais
Ivic, Velimir	- Roebers, Eline	1-0	32	D31	Semi-Slav Defence
L'Ami, Erwin	- Assaubayeva, Bibisara	0-1	32	B96	Sicilian Najdorf

Tata Steel Chess Wijk aan Zee 2026

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