Tata Steel Masters 2024: Firouzja rejoins the leaders

Gukesh D, Anish Giri and Alireza Firouzja are going to the rest day as joint leaders of the Tata Steel Masters 2024 after the French GM beat the World Champion with white pieces. Ian Nepomniachtchi scored a very important victory over Nodirbek Abdusattorov and joined his opponent, Vidit Gujrathi and Praggnanandhaa R. With just a half point between the leaders and this quartet tied for fourth place, the event is still wide open. 

Alireza Firouzja – Ding Liren | 1-0, 43 moves

The game saw a rare line of the QGA in which White sacrificed a pawn and got more than sufficient compensation. The World Champion tried to disentangle with b5-b4, which Alireza met with an exchange sacrifice. 

In this critical position, Black could have held his ground with either 18…Nfd5 or 18…Ned5. Instead, Ding played 18…Qc7? most likely missing 19. Ne4! and after 19…Qxc2 White captured the f6-knight with check. With two minor pieces for a rook, it did not take Alireza long to wrap up the game. 

Anish Giri – Wei Yi | ½-½, 33 moves

The Chinese GM comfortably equalized in the Gruenfeld Defence and after Anish’s sluggish maneuver Nf3-d1-d3-f4 got a real chance to grab the initiative. 

After a simple 19… Nxd5 20. exd5 Bf5, it is not that easy for White to complete the development of his queenside. Wei, however, sacrificed a pawn with 19…Be6 but after 20. Nxe7+ Kh8 21. Nd5 Nxd5 22. exd5 Bxd5 23. Qxe5 Bxe5 24. Re1 Bxg2 25. Kxg2 Rd5 26. Re2 Kg7 27. Be3, the position became dead-equal. A draw was agreed upon three moves down the road. 

Ian Nepomniachtchi – Nodirbek Abdusattorov | 1-0, 65 moves

In a calm line of the Two Knights, Ian got a slight edge, which he increased by sacrificing a pawn to shatter Black’s pawn structure. 

18. c5! dxc5 19. Nb2 Nd4 20. Qd3 Qb8 21. Rea1 At this point, Black should have regrouped with Bd8-c7, but after missing this maneuver, Nodirbek fell under heavy pressure. On move 34, Ian could have won a pawn, but he preferred not to rush things, offering Nodirbek some drawing chances. 

However, instead of 35…g5, Black played pseudo-active 35…e4+? and after 36. Kf4 Ke7 37. Rd6 Rc8 38. h3 Ne8 39. Rd1 Nf6 40. Rd6 Ne8 41. Rd2 Nf6 42. Nd6 Ra8 43. Nxe4 Ian won a pawn. The rest was smooth sailing for Nepomniachtchi, who confidently converted his advantage. 

Vidit Gujrathi – Alexander Donchenko | ½-½, 43 moves

Interestingly, up to move 14, the opponents followed the game Bu Xiangzhi – Vidit (2019), which ended in a draw. Now, playing on the white side, the Indian introduced a novelty 14.Rfe1, and after advancing his d5-pawn, managed to sideline Black’s knight. White then pressed on the queenside, but Alexander was up to the task. Following a tactical skirmish, most of the pieces were swept from the board, and the opponents agreed upon a draw in a dead-even position.  

Max Warmerdam – Praggnanandhaa R | 1-0, 43 moves

The Dutchman obtained a very promising position on the wide side of the Bogo-Indian and exerted heavy pressure on Black’s backward pawns. Most likely, White’s best chance was 28. Bh3, tying Black’s bishop to f5-pawn and gradually preparing Rc1-c6. After Max missed this chance, Pragg managed to trade his a7-pawn to White’s d5-pawn and reached a draw in a rook endgame. 

Ju Wenjun – Gukesh D | ½-½, 52 moves

Gukesh essayed a rare line of Bogo-Indian trying to outplay the Women’s World Champion in an unbalanced position. After some complicated maneuvering the opponents liquidated into an endgame in which Black had a dangerous initiative. To Ju’s credit, she found several the only moves to maintain the balance. 

After the precise 33. g3! f3 34. Re3 Ke6 35. Nf4+! Kf5 36. Nh5 Rd2+ 37. Kf1 Rd1+ 38. Kf2 Rd2+ 39. Kf1 Rd5 40. g4+ Kg6 41. Ng3 White avoided all the dangers, and the players split a point ten moves later. 

Jorden Van Foreest – Parham Maghsoodloo | ½-½, 41 moves

True to his active style, Parham sacrificed a pawn on the black side of the Moscow Variation of Sicilian for an active play. However, with several natural but imprecise moves, he allowed Jorden to consolidate while Black’s activity petered out. Soon, the Dutchman returned the favour by unforcedly damaging his pawn structure with 26.f4, and Black almost equalized. In the end, Van Foreest made his last attempt to break through, but Maghsoodloo was on his guard and forced drawing exchanges with several precise moves. 

Masters pairings

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

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