Tata Steel Masters 2024: Giri extends his lead

Anish Giri consolidated his lead in Round 5 of the Tata Steel Masters after drawing his game with Praggnanandhaa R as his closest rival, Alireza Firouzja, suffered a defeat at the hands of Ju Wenjun. Gukesh D toppled Ian Nepomiachtchi and joined a group of players trailing the leader by a point. 

Praggnanandhaa R – Anish Giri | ½-½, 41 moves

Playing on the black side of the Queen’s Pawn Opening, Anish Giri used the idea of knight retreat (Nf6-g8-e7) introduced by Praggnanandhaa in his game with Erigaisi back in 2022, but one move later. Being ahead in development, White immediately advanced on the queenside and got an advantage in the form of Black’s weaknesses on this wing. Trying to foil White’s plans, Giri struck in the center, and it eventually worked very well for him as Pragg discarded the most active continuations, traded the rooks and forced a draw by perpetual. 

Nodirbek Abdusattorov – Wei Yi | ½-½, 63 moves

In the Classical Variation of Gruenfeld, Nodirbek essayed 12.Bx7+ line, which was extremely popular in the Karpov – Kasparov title match (Sevilla, 1987). White emerged slightly better and pressured Black throughout the game, eventually winning a pawn in an ending. To his credit, Wei found a couple of excellent defensive manoeuvres, timely advanced his kingside pawns and engineered a counterplay that was sufficient for a draw. 

Parham Maghsoodloo – Ding Liren | ½-½, 31 moves

Ding Liren employed his favourite g7-g5 in the Giocco Piano, castled short, but prematurely pushed his g-pawn further with 13…g5-g4.

In this position, Parham stunned the World Champion with 14.Bh4! leaving the knight en prise. Black accepted the challenge and captured the knight, but after 14…gxf4 15. Qxf3 Kg7 16. Nf1, the pin along the h4-d8 diagonal was highly unpleasant for Black. After some thought Ding found the only defense parrying both threats Nf1-e3-d5 and Nf1-g3-h5, namely 16…Rh8! 17. Ne3 Raf8 18. Kh1 h5!  

After some interesting complications, White restored the material balance and forced a draw by repetition on move 31. 

Ju Wenjun – Alireza Firouzja | 1-0, 64 moves

The Women’s World Champion got some initiative at the queenside as White in the Exchange Variation of French Defense, but Alireza created sufficient counterplay in the center. On move 22, he overambitiously advanced his e-passer, but Ju did not take a chance to get a very promising endgame. Surprisingly, Firouzja erred on the very next move, and the Women’s World Champion did not miss this opportunity. 

After 23…Qf7 (instead of 23…Bxf3 with a roughly equal position) 24. Ng5! Qg6 25. Qxg6 Bxg6 26. Rxe2 h6 27. Nf3 Be4 28. Ne5 White liquidated into a technically winning endgame. 

Ju’s conversion was not optimal, while Alireza mounted stubborn resistance and had a chance to save the game or at least make White’s task much more difficult. 

After precise 52…Kc6, it is not easy for White to make progress. Unluckily for Firouzja, he got tempted by the active 52…Rf3? but it failed to 53. Nxe4 dxe4 54. Kg2 Rxa3 55. Rxe4 Rd3 56. Kf2 c6 57. Kg2 and the rook ending was hopeless for Black due to zugzwang. As soon as White activated both her rook and the king Alireza admitted his defeat. 

Vidit Gujrathi – Max Warmerdam | ½-½, 34 moves

The opponents tested a popular line of Ruy Lopez, following a recent game between Gukesh D and Andrey Esipenko but the Dutchman deviated first with 13…Bg4, preserving his light-squared bishop. This novelty helped Max to maintain balance after a tactical skirmish in the centre, where he demonstrated precise calculation. Black then sacrificed a pawn to liquidate into an opposite-colour bishop ending, in which he safely reached draw on move 34. 

Gukesh D – Ian Nepomniachtchi | 1-0, 49 moves

Ian essayed the Dutch-Peruvian Gambit of QGD, sacrificed a pawn and got sufficient compensation in the form of two bishops and some pressure on the queenside. After complex manoeuvring, Black made a seemingly active move with his dark-squared bishop 34…Bb4? but missed a crushing blow by his opponent.

35. Nxc6! and Black’s position collapsed. After 35. Nxc6 Rcxc6 36. Rxd5 h5 37. Qf4 Rd6 38. Rxd6 Bxd6 39. Rxd6 Rxd6 40. Qxd6 Qe1+ 41. Kh2 Qxf2 42. Nc3 Gukesh emerged with two passers on the queenside. 

At his point, Ian had a chance to regain one of the pawns and resist tenaciously in a queen ending with 42… Qxe3 (with the idea of 43. Nd5 Qf2 44. Ne7+ Kh7 45. Nxg6 fxg6), but after he turned it away, White quickly converted his advantage. 

Alexander Donchenko – Jorden Van Foreest | ½-½, 34 moves

The game saw a rare line of the English Opening with an early d7-d5 by Black, who achieved a comfortable position. The subsequent play revolved around the White’s e4-e5 advance in the center, which Jorden met with a timely pawn sacrifice, activating his pieces. After Black regained the pawn and traded the queens, the players split a point in an equal endgame.

Standings after Round 5:

Masters pairings

Photos: Jurriaan Hoefsmit – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024

Official website: tatasteelchess.com