2017 Tata R3 Express: Bloody round with tough games

by ChessBase
1/16/2017 – The third round was a very exciting round to follow, with decisive results all over, and some epic games. By far the most exciting was the battle between Wesley So and Richard Rapport. The Hungarian brought in all his imagination and verve and reached a dead won game only to blunder it away in a couple of moves. Tragic. Nepomniachtchi also tried his hardest to save a hard endgame, but slipped at the end and lost to Wei Yi. The Challengers saw all games but one end in wins. Express report.
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The elite Tata Steel tournaments in Wijk aan Zee are underway and take place from January 13-29, with two main tournaments, the Masters with both Magnus Carlsen and Serget Karjakin as headliners, as well as Wesley So, Levon Aronian, Anish Giri, Baskaran Adhiban, Radoslaw Wojtaszek, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Richard Rapport, Dmitri Andreikin, Wei Yi, Pavel Eljanov, and Loek van Wely. All rounds in Wijk aan Zee begin at 1.30pm, except for the last round on 29 January 2017, which begins at 12.00pm. Both rounds on the Chess On Tour days start at 2.00pm.

Full report with grandmaster annotations to follow...

Masters tournament

Round 3 - Monday, January 16
Adhiban, B.
½-½
 Aronian, L.
Eljanov, P.
½-½
 Harikrishna, P.
Karjakin, S.
1-0
 Van Wely, L.
So, W.
1-0
 Rapport, R.
Wojtaszek, R.
½-½
 Giri, A..
Andreikin, D.
½-½
 Carlsen, M.
Wei, Y.
1-0
 Nepomniachtchi, I.

In spite of all the big names, Pavel Eljanov has risen to the top of the interest list with his super start. In round three he was finally held to a draw by Pentala Harikrishna.

There were no pretenses by Dmitri Andreikin at anything other than to keep the wolves at bay, and an uneventful draw was the result against Magnus Carlsen.

A classy performance by Sergey Karjakin saw him beat Loek Van Wely, and join the pack at 2.0/3

By far the most exciting game of the day, Richard Rapport played beautifully to reach a totally winning position, until a couple of blunders inverted this to a dead lost situation. Tragic, and Wesley So will heave a big sigh of relief.

It was the longest game of the day in the Masters. Wei Yi nursed a nasty advantage against Ian Nepomniachtchi. They finally reached a theoretical draw, though the burden was on Black to defend. It never really came to that as the Russian blundered and lost shortly after.

Some of the following games contain tweets posted by interested parties watching the event on the Internet:

Current Masters standings

Challengers tournament

Round 3 - Monday, January 16
Guramishvili, S. -
0-1
 Grandelius, N.
Smirin, I -
1-0
 Jones, G.
Tari, A. -
0-1
 Lu, S.
Bok, B. -
0-1
 Dobrov, V.
Ragger, M. -
1-0
 Hansen, E..
van Foreest, J. -
0-1
 Tingjie, L.
l'Ami, E. -
½-½
 Xiong, J.

Current Challengers standings

Schedule, pairings, and results

Tata Steel Masters 2017

Round 1 - Saturday, January 14
Harikrishna, P.
½-½
  Aronian, L.
Adhiban, B.
½-½
  Van Wely, L.
Eljanov, P.
1-0
  Rapport, R.
Karjakin, S.
½-½
  Giri, A.
So, W.
½-½
  Carlsen, M.
Wojtaszek, R.
½-½
  Nepomniachtchi, I.
Andreikin, D.
½-½
  Wei, Y.
Round 2 - Sunday, January 15
Aronian, L.
½-½
 Wei, Y.
Nepomniachtchi, I.
½-½
 Andreikin, D.
Carlsen, M.
1-0
 Wojtaszek, R.
Giri, A.
½-½
 So, W.
Rapport, R.
½-½
 Karjakin, S.
Van Wely, L.
0-1
 Eljanov, P.
Harikrishna, P.
1-0
 Adhiban, B.
Round 3 - Monday, January 16
Adhiban, B.
½-½
 Aronian, L.
Eljanov, P.
½-½
 Harikrishna, P.
Karjakin, S.
1-0
 Van Wely, L.
So, W.
1-0
 Rapport, R.
Wojtaszek, R.
½-½
 Giri, A..
Andreikin, D.
½-½
 Carlsen, M.
Wei, Y.
1-0
 Nepomniachtchi, I.
Round 4 - Tuesday, January 17
Aronian, L.
 
 Nepomniachtchi, I.
Carlsen, M.
 
 Wei, Y.
Giri, A.
 
 Andreikin, D.
Rapport, R.
 
 Wojtaszek, R.
Van Wely, L.
 
 So, W.
Harikrishna, P.
 
 Karjakin, S.
Adhiban, B.
 
 Eljanov, P.
Round 5 - Thursday, January 19
Eljanov, P.
 
 Aronian, L.
Karjakin, S.
 
 Adhiban, B.
So, W.
 
 Harikrishna, P.
Wojtaszek, R.
 
 Van Wely, L.
Andreikin, D.
 
 Rapport, R.
Wei, Y.
 
 Giri, A.
Nepomniachtchi, I.
 
 Carlsen, M.
Round 6 - Friday, January 20
Aronian, L.
 
 Carlsen, M.
Giri, A.
 
 Nepomniachtchi, I.
Rapport, R.
 
 Wei, Y.
Van Wely, L.
 
 Andreikin, D.
Harikrishna, P.
 
 Wojtaszek, R.
Adhiban, B.
 
 So, W.
Eljanov, P.
 
 Karjakin, S.
Round 7 - Saturday, January 21
Karjakin, S.
 
 Aronian, L.
So, W.
 
 Eljanov, P.
Wojtaszek, R.
 
 Adhiban, B.
Andreikin, D.
 
 Harikrishna, P.
Wei, Y.
 
 Van Wely, L.
Nepomniachtchi, I.
 
 Rapport, R.
Carlsen, M.
 
 Giri, A.
Round 8 - Sunday, January 22
Aronian, L.
 
 Giri, A.
Rapport, R.
 
 Carlsen, M.
Van Wely, L.
 
 Nepomniachtchi, I.
Harikrishna, P.
 
 Wei, Y.
Adhiban, B.
 
 Andreikin, D.
Eljanov, P.
 
 Wojtaszek, R.
Karjakin, S.
 
 So, W.
Round 9 - Tuesday, January 24
So, W.
 
 Aronian, L.
Wojtaszek, R.
 
 Karjakin, S.
Andreikin, D.
 
 Eljanov, P.
Wei, Y.
 
 Adhiban, B.
Nepomniachtchi, I.
 
 Harikrishna, P.
Carlsen, M.
 
 Van Wely, L.
Giri, A.
 
 Rapport, R.
Round 10 - Wednesday, January 25
Aronian, L.
 
 Rapport, R.
Van Wely, L.
 
 Giri, A.
Harikrishna, P.
 
 Carlsen, M.
Adhiban, B.
 
 Nepomniachtchi, I.
Eljanov, P.
 
 Wei, Y.
Karjakin, S.
 
 Andreikin, D.
So, W.
 
 Wojtaszek, R.
Round 11 - Friday, January 27
Wojtaszek, R.
 
 Aronian, L.
Andreikin, D.
 
 So, W.
Wei, Y.
 
 Karjakin, S.
Nepomniachtchi, I.
 
 Eljanov, P.
Carlsen, M.
 
 Adhiban, B.
Giri, A.
 
 Harikrishna, P.
Rapport, R.
 
 Van Wely, L.
Round 12 - Saturday, January 28
Aronian, L.
 
 Van Wely, L.
Harikrishna, P.
 
 Rapport, R.
Adhiban, B.
 
 Giri, A.
Eljanov, P.
 
 Carlsen, M.
Karjakin, S.
 
 Nepomniachtchi, I.
So, W.
 
 Wei, Y.
Wojtaszek, R.
 
 Andreikin, D.
Round 13 - Sunday, January 29
Andreikin, D.
 
 Aronian, L.
Wei, Y.
 
 Wojtaszek, R.
Nepomniachtchi, I.
 
 So, W.
Carlsen, M.
 
 Karjakin, S.
Giri, A.
 
 Eljanov, P.
Rapport, R.
 
 Adhiban, B.
Van Wely, L.
 
 Harikrishna, P.
  

Tata Steel Challengers 2017

Round 1 - Saturday, January 14
Jones, G.
½-½
 Grandelius, N.
Guramishvili, S.
½-½
 Lu, S.
Smirin, I
½-½
 Dobrov, V.
Tari, A.
½-½
 Hansen, E.
Bok, B.
1-0
 Tingjie, L.
Ragger, M.
1-0
 Xiong, J.
van Foreest, J.
1-0
 l'Ami, E.
Round 2 - Sunday, January 15
Grandelius, N.
½-½
 l'Ami, E.
Xiong, J.
1-0
 van Foreest, J.
Tingjie, L.
0-1
 Ragger, M.
Hansen, E.
½-½
 Bok, B.
Dobrov, V.
½-½
 Tari, A.
Lu, S.
½-½
 Smirin, I
Jones, G.
1-0
 Guramishvili, S.
Round 3 - Monday, January 16
Guramishvili, S. -
0-1
 Grandelius, N.
Smirin, I -
1-0
 Jones, G.
Tari, A. -
0-1
 Lu, S.
Bok, B. -
0-1
 Dobrov, V.
Ragger, M. -
1-0
 Hansen, E..
van Foreest, J. -
0-1
 Tingjie, L.
l'Ami, E. -
½-½
 Xiong, J.
Round 4 - Tuesday, January 17
Grandelius, N.
 
 Xiong, J.
Tingjie, L.
 
 l'Ami, E.
Hansen, E.
 
 van Foreest, J.
Dobrov, V.
 
 Ragger, M.
Lu, S.
 
 Bok, B.
Jones, G.
 
 Tari, A.
Guramishvili, S.
 
 Smirin, I
Round 5 - Thursday, January 19
Smirin, I
 
 Grandelius, N.
Tari, A.
 
 Guramishvili, S.
Bok, B.
 
 Jones, G.
Ragger, M.
 
 Lu, S.
van Foreest, J.
 
 Dobrov, V.
l'Ami, E.
 
 Hansen, E.
Xiong, J.
 
 Tingjie, L.
Round 6 - Friday, January 20
Grandelius, N.
 
 Tingjie, L.
Hansen, E.
 
 Xiong, J.
Dobrov, V.
 
 l'Ami, E.
Lu, S.
 
 van Foreest, J.
Jones, G.
 
 Ragger, M.
Guramishvili, S.
 
 Bok, B.
Smirin, I
 
 Tari, A.
Round 7 - Saturday, January 21
Tari, A.
 
 Grandelius, N.
Bok, B.
 
 Smirin, I
Ragger, M.
 
 Guramishvili, S.
van Foreest, J.
 
 Jones, G.
l'Ami, E.
 
 Lu, S.
Xiong, J.
 
 Dobrov, V.
Tingjie, L.
 
 Hansen, E.
Round 8 - Sunday, January 22
Grandelius, N.
 
 Hansen, E.
Dobrov, V.
 
 Tingjie, L.
Lu, S.
 
 Xiong, J.
Jones, G.
 
 l'Ami, E.
Guramishvili, S.
 
 van Foreest, J.
Smirin, I
 
 Ragger, M.
Tari, A.
 
 Bok, B.
Round 9 - Tuesday, January 24
Bok, B.
 
 Grandelius, N.
Ragger, M.
 
 Tari, A.
van Foreest, J.
 
 Smirin, I
l'Ami, E.
 
 Guramishvili, S.
Xiong, J.
 
 Jones, G.
Tingjie, L.
 
 Lu, S.
Hansen, E.
 
 Dobrov, V.
Round 10 - Wednesday, January 25
Grandelius, N.
 
 Dobrov, V.
Lu, S.
 
 Hansen, E.
Jones, G.
 
 Tingjie, L.
Guramishvili, S.
 
 Xiong, J.
Smirin, I
 
 l'Ami, E.
Tari, A.
 
 van Foreest, J.
Bok, B.
 
 Ragger, M.
Round 11 - Friday, January 27
Ragger, M.
 
 Grandelius, N.
van Foreest, J.
 
 Bok, B.
l'Ami, E.
 
 Tari, A.
Xiong, J.
 
 Smirin, I
Tingjie, L.
 
 Guramishvili, S.
Hansen, E.
 
 Jones, G.
Dobrov, V.
 
 Lu, S.
Round 12 - Saturday, January 28
Grandelius, N.
 
 Lu, S.
Jones, G.
 
 Dobrov, V.
Guramishvili, S.
 
 Hansen, E.
Smirin, I
 
 Tingjie, L.
Tari, A.
 
 Xiong, J.
Bok, B.
 
 l'Ami, E.
Ragger, M.
 
 van Foreest, J.
Round 13 - Sunday, January 29
van Foreest, J.
 
 Grandelius, N.
l'Ami, E.
 
 Ragger, M.
Xiong, J.
 
 Bok, B.
Tingjie, L.
 
 Tari, A.
Hansen, E.
 
 Smirin, I
Dobrov, V.
 
 Guramishvili, S.
Lu, S.
 
 Jones, G.
  

Links

The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 14 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.
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