Tata Steel Masters 2024: Giri joins Firouzja in the lead

It was another feisty round in the Tata Steel Masters 2024 with four victories in seven games, and just like in Round 1, all scored by Black. Anish Giri outplayed Alexander Donchenko and caught up with Alireza Firouzja, who drew his game with Max Warmerdam. Jorden Van Foreest, Nodirbek Abdusattorov and the World Champion Ding Liren scored their first wins in the event. 

Vidit Gujrathi – Ian Nepomniachtchi | ½-½, 35 moves

Ian Nepomniachtchi demonstrated excellent preparation as Black in the Petroff Defence and emerged slightly better out of the opening. Vidit patiently defended an inferior position with the isolated d-pawn and eventually reached a draw in a minor-piece endgame. 

 Max Warmerdam – Alireza Firouzja | ½-½, 30 moves

As early as move 11, the players quickly stepped into uncharted territory in the Nimzo-Indian, with White getting an advantage. Max proceeded solidly but somewhat slowly, allowing Alireza to equalize. After some interesting complications in the center most of the pieces were exchanged, but White still had a slight edge. Warmerdam, however, reasoned it was not worth it to continue the fight and a draw was agreed on move 30. 

Ju Wenjun – Jorden Van Foreest | 0-1, 37 moves

The opponents got a fresh position in the Modern Defence very early and waged a battle in a complicated endgame. On move 23, Ju struck in the center, but two moves later sacrificed the “wrong” piece. 

After 24. Bxb5 cxb5 25. Nxd5 Ra7 26. Ne7+ Rxe7 27. Bxe7 White would have had a rook and two pawns for two minor pieces in a slightly better position. Instead, the Women’s World Champion sacrificed her knight with 24. Nxd5 cxd5 25. Bxb5 axb4 26. axb4 Re6 27. Rxd5 Nf8 28. c4 Rb6 29. Rbd1 Bb7, but it was not nearly as effective as Black seized the initiative. 

Jorden managed to coordinate his pieces for an attack, but Ju could have put up a very stubborn resistance with 31.Be7, giving up her f4 pawn but getting a good chance for a draw. After she played more natural 31.Bh6, Van Foreest came up with a powerful 31…g5! and eventually got to White’s king. Ju Wenjun resigned on move 37, facing an imminent checkmate. 

Alexander Donchenko – Anish Giri | 0-1, 41 moves

Anish Giri essayed a rare line of the Kings’s Indian Defence and reached an equal but playable position. Up to a certain point, the opponents played sensibly, but on move 28, Alexander moved his knight to a passive position on f1. Anish immediately seized the opportunity and exerted long-lasting pressure on White. With his position gradually getting worse, Donchenko tried to disentangle himself with 36.f4, but it immediately backfired.

After 36… cxd4 37. fxe5 Nb4 38. Qb5 Rc8 39. Kg1 f4 40. gxf4 Qxf4 41. Qd7 Rf8 White resigned, unable to parry Black’s threats.

Gukesh D – Ding Liren | 0-1, 37 moves

The players entered uncharted waters in the Giocco Piano very early, and after Gukesh castled to the opposite wing and struck in the center, he had a chance to grasp the initiative. However, with a couple of sluggish moves, he handed it to the World Champion, who correctly traded his dark-squared bishop for the knight, brought his queen into action and won a pawn. The young Indian could have resisted more stubbornly, but his 24. Re3 became the last straw. 

After 24… Ng7! 25. Nxg7 Kxg7 26. d5 Rxe3 27. fxe3 Nb4 28. Qxb7 Re8 29. Bf4 Qf5 30. Qb5 Na2+ Ding got a decisive attack, which he saw through to the victory. 

Parham Maghsoodloo – Nodirbek Abdusattorov| 0-1, 43 moves

The game saw a rare line of English Opening, and as soon as move seven, the opponents sidestepped the theory. Both played very creatively in the opening stage and found themselves in a very sharp, double-edged position. On move 15, Nodirbek chose the wrong square for his queen and quickly was on the rocks. Black decided on the last desperate measure and sacrificed a knight with 19…Nxc5.

White could have gained a decisive advantage with 19. Qa3 Qc4+ 20. Kb1 a5 21. e4 Qb4 22. Qxb4 axb4 23. e5 Nd5 24. Bxc5 Bxe5 25. Nge4 +-

Luckily for Nodirbek and unluckily for Praham, the Iranian chose the wrong way to grab the piece, and the situation turned around completely. After 19. Qc2? Qxa2 20. Bxc5 Rb8 21. b4 Qa3+ 22. Kd2 Nd5 23. Rh3 Abdusattorov delivered a spectacular blow 23…Re3!!

Black got a crushing attack, and Maghsoodloo soon admitted his defeat. 

Praggnanandhaa R – Wei Yi | ½-½, 47 moves

In a popular line of the Najdorf Sicilian, Pragg sacrificed a pawn for long-lasting pressure on the light squares and engineered dangerous initiative on the kingside. To Wei’s credit, he found an excellent defensive maneuver Nc6-d8-e6, returned a pawn and reached a draw in an equal endgame.

Standings after Round 3:

Masters pairings

Photos: Jurriaan Hoefsmit and Lennart Ootes – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024

Official website: tatasteelchess.com