Tata Steel Rd9: Carlsen leads by a point

The Tata Steel Chess Tournament has two main tournaments. They are played according to the 'round robin' system, whereby each competitor plays in turn against every other during the tournament. The Tata Steel Masters has 14 participants and the Tata Steel Challengers has 14 participants. Both groups start on January 10th 2015 and the last round is on January 25th. All rounds in Wijk aan Zee begin at 13.30 hours, except for the last round on January 25th, which begins at 12.00 hours. The time control is 100 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for 20 moves, then 15 minutes for the remaining moves with 30 seconds cumulative increment for each move starting from the first move.

Admission to the playing hall in Wijk aan Zee, Rotterdam and The Hague is free of charge

Round nine - Masters

Daniel King shows the game Carlsen vs Radjabov

Kaja Marie Snare has good news for her audience back in Norway

Aronian, Levon 1-0 Jobava, Baadur
Jobava played rather creatively, but his kingside was far too weak. Aronian walked all of his pieces over to that side of the board and smashed Jobava's position:

Levon Aronian with a much needed win

Wojtaszek, Radoslaw ½-½ Ivanchuk, Vassily
Ivanchuk put his own spin in a variation that is becoming increasingly popular. He equalized and the position became locked at some point, with both players finding difficulties improving their position. Ivanchuk broke the center with ...f6, but it seemed to give White some play. The final position seemed a little more pleasant for White, maybe considerably more pleasant.

Ivanchuk has let off the gas in the last few rounds, but he is still in the top positions (behind Carlsen)

So, Wesley ½-½ Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime
A pawn sacrifice in a Grunfeld (does Black always sacrifice a pawn in the Grunfeld? It increasingly looks like it) left MVL down a pawn but with plenty of compensation. So blundered with the move 28.Re7, missing his opponent's reply. However in time pressure MVL was not able to use his passed a-pawn and powerful bishop, and the game fizzled into a draw.

MVL's arsenal. He likes to skip lunch, so chocolate gives him energy during the game.

Carlsen, Magnus 1-0 Radjabov, Teimour
Carlsen convincingly outplayed Radjabov:

This duel was one sided in favor of Norway

Caruana, Fabiano ½-½ Hou Yifan
What an exciting game! Both in time pressure and after the time control was reached. Hou Yifan missed a brilliant chance against Caruana:

Giri, Anish 1-0 Ding Liren
Giri played a fantastic game against Ding Liren's King's Indian Defense. He beat back the attack with precise and powerful moves. His winning advantage was almost enough for Ding Liren to resign, but the Chinese fought on and Giri's technique was certainly lackluster. He made it very hard on himself, but eventually converted.

Ding Liren tried very hard to save a hopeless situation

Giri started out playing amazing today, and although
his finish was not the best he still wrapped up the full point

Saric, Ivan ½-½ Van Wely
Van Wely played the Pirc, an unusual guest in these types of tournaments. Saric obtained a nearly decisive advantage in the queenless middlegame, obtaining an extra pawn and retaining the superior piece placement. He, however, completely underestimated Van Wely's counterplay. Saric kept digging his own grave, until eventually Van Wely reached a winning rook endgame... that he blundered away:

Replay Masters games

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Joshua Friedel Josh was born in 1986 in New Hampshire, USA and is currently living in Wisconsin. He obtained his international master title in 2005 and his grandmaster in 2008. He has participated in six US Championships, including a tie for fourth in 2008. Major Open tournament victories include: the 2003 Eastern Open, 2005 Berkeley Masters, 2008 National Open, 2009 Edmonton International, 2009 North American Open, 2010 Saint Louis Open, 2010 American Open, 2013 Chicago Open.

Masters standings after nine rounds

Round nine - Challengers

We will bring you a separate report recapping the event so far, with highlights from the previous round as well as today's, by Sagar Shah! Keep a look out for it.

Replay Challengers games

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Challengers standings after nine rounds

Photos by Alina l'Ami for the official website

Schedule and results - Masters group

Schedule and results - Challengers group

Venues

The tournament has a slight change this year. Most of the rounds will be played in the traditional De Moriaan Community Centre in Wijk aan Zee, but two of the rounds will be played elsewhere. Last year the tournament traveled to the National Museum in Amsterdam and the High Tech Campus in Eindhoven.

This year the fifth round will be held in De Rotterdam. De Rotterdam is a building on the Wilhelminapier in Rotterdam, designed by Rem Koolhaas in 1998.

Rotterdam is ready to host Tata Steel!

The tenth round will be played in the International Press Cnetre Niewuspoort in the Hague. Councillor Karsten Klein of The Hague had this to say: "The Hague is honored to be able to host the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2015 at the heart of the Dutch parliamentary democracy. Our city has a long history of international chess tournaments, a tradition which is continued in this manner. "

Commentary on Playchess

This being the first major event of the year, it is clear that we will be bringing you live commentary on our server www.playchess.com!

Links Official tournament site Master Games in PGN Challenger Games in PGN The games will be 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 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.