Tata Steel Chess R12: Riveting draws, Donchenko wins Challengers

Sharp battles

All three games that featured contenders for first place in the Masters ended drawn, but out of the three only the encounter between Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Wesley So was a safe, ‘grandmasterly’ draw. The remaining two games were nothing short of dazzling, with Jorden van Foreest trying a risky line against Anish Giri and Magnus Carlsen failing to make the most of a very promising position against Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu.

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Let our authors show you how Carlsen tailored his openings to be able to outplay his opponents strategically in the middlegame or to obtain an enduring advantage into the endgame.

While Van Foreest and Giri joked around during their post-game interview — noting that “you can appreciate playing an interesting game” — Carlsen was extremely disappointed after all but losing his chances to win the tournament for a ninth time. Although he still has mathematical chances, he wistfully confessed:

[It is] really frustrating. I feel like I should have gotten a lot more from the position I had from the opening. He defends really well. [...] I fell like this was a bit of a backbreaker, to be honest. Tournament victory is obviously gone, so we’ll see if I can find some motivation to try again tomorrow.

In Sunday’s final round, which kicks off two hours earlier than usual, Carlsen will play black against an out-of-form Arjun Erigaisi, but in order to reach a tiebreak for first place he needs for Abdusattorov to lose against Van Foreest (with white) and for Giri not to beat Richard Rapport (also with white). The same goes for So, who is still tied for third place with the world champion, a full point behind the leader.

During round 12 most eyes were focused on the aforementioned (drawn) games, but that does not mean there were no decisive encounters — Parham Maghsoodloo defeated Arjun in his second consecutive victory over an Indian prodigy, while Rapport got the better of Ding Liren with the white pieces. Apparently, the confirmation of the dates for the World Championship match have affected the Chinese’s concentration: uncharacteristically, he has lost twice and has not grabbed a single victory in the second half of the event.

Magnus Carlsen | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit / Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2023

Van Foreest ½ - ½ Giri

 

Van Foreest, Jorden2681

½–½

Giri, Anish2764

85th Tata Steel Masters 2023 Wijk aan Zee28.01.2023[Besenthal,Klaus-Günther]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nc3 Bb4 6.Bf4 Ne4 7.Rc1 Nc6 8.h4

With this novelty, Van Foreest launches an uncompromising attack that includes an exchange sacrifice. 8...Bf5 9.e3 Nxc3 10.bxc3 Ba3 11.Rb1 Bxb1 12.Qxb1 Rb8 13.Qb3 Bd6 After 13...Be7 14.Bd3 0-0 15.Qc2 White has compensation for the exchange thanks to his attacking chances. 14.Qxd5 Bxf4 15.Qe4+ Qe7 16.Qxf4 Qa3 17.Qe4+ Ne7 18.Qc2 Nd5 19.c4 Nc3 20.c5 b6 21.Bc4 bxc5 22.0-0 0-0 23.h5

23...Qb4? This is actually a losing move. The correct piece that should have been place on b4 was the rook: 23...Rb4! 24.Ng5 g6 25.Qd3 Now Black simply captures the dangerous bishop: Rxc4 26.Qxc4 Qb4= 24.Ng5 g6 25.Qd3 Rb6 26.dxc5?! but this was not the strongest alternative. Better was to start with 26.Rc1! gaining a tempo, and turning dxc4 into a real threat. cxd4 27.Qxd4 Na4 28.hxg6 hxg6 29.Nxf7 Rxf7 30.Bxf7+ Kxf7 31.Rxc7+ with a sweeping attack for White. 26...Rc6 27.hxg6?! Better was 27.Nxf7 Rxf7 28.Qd8+ Kg7 29.h6+ Kxh6 30.Bxf7 Ne2+ 31.Kh2 Qxc5 32.g3 Qd6 33.Qe8 Rc5 34.Kg2 Qc6+ 35.Qxc6 Rxc6 White has the better minor piece and the better structure. 27...Rxg6 28.f4 Rg7? Black had just saved himself, and he is already in trouble again. Correct was 28...c6 followed by Nd5, neutralizing the c4-bishop. 29.Rc1 29.Nxf7 Rgxf7 30.Kh2! wins. There is a threat of Rf3, a2-a3, Qd4. 29...Na4 30.Ne4? 30.Nxf7 Better was: Rgxf7 31.a3 Qb2 31...Qb8 32.Qd7 32.Bxf7+ Rxf7 33.Rc4 30...Nb2 31.Qb3 Qxb3 32.Bxb3

After the exchange of queens the game is no longer exciting. In painstaking work lasting hours, the players played out the draw. 32...Kh8 33.Rb1 Nd3 34.Bc2 f5 35.Bxd3 fxe4 36.Bxe4 Re7 37.Rb4 Rd8 38.Kf2 Rd2+ 39.Kf3 Rxa2 40.g4 h6 41.f5 Kg7 42.Kf4 Ra3 43.Rd4 Kf6 44.Bd3 Ra2 45.e4 Rf2+ 46.Ke3 Rg2 47.Kf3 Rd2 48.Rd8 Ke5 49.Ke3 Rg2 50.Kf3 Rd2 51.c6 a5 52.Ke3 Rg2 53.Be2 Kf6 54.Bf3 Rc2 55.Kf4 a4 56.Rg8 a3 57.Rf8+ Kg7 58.Ra8 a2 59.e5 Re8 60.Ra7 Kf8 61.e6 Rf2 62.Kg3 Rd2 63.Kf4 Rf2 64.Ke3 Rb2 65.Kd4 Kg7 66.Rxc7+ Kf6 67.Rf7+ Kg5 68.Ra7 Rd8+ 69.Kc3 Rf2 70.Be4 Re2 71.Bc2 Rd6 72.Rxa2 Rxc6+ 73.Kd3 Rh2 74.e7 Rc8 75.Ra6 Rcxc2 76.e8Q Rhd2+ 77.Ke3 Re2+ 78.Kd3 Red2+ 79.Ke3 Re2+ ½–½

Jorden van Foreest’s experiment in the opening almost gave him a win over Anish Giri | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit / Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2023

Carlsen ½ - ½ Praggnanandhaa

 

Carlsen, Magnus2859

½–½

Praggnanandhaa R2684

85th Tata Steel Masters 2023 Wijk aan Zee28.01.2023[Besenthal,Klaus-Günther]

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.e3 e6 5.d4 d5 6.a3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 a6 8.Bd3 cxd4 9.exd4 g6 10.Bg5 Bg7 11.Be4 Ne7 12.h4 h6 13.Bxf6 Bxf6 14.Qd2 Nd5 15.h5 g5 16.Ne5 Bg7 17.Bxd5 exd5 18.0-0 Be6 19.Rae1 0-0 20.Re3 Bf5 21.Qd1

21...Re8?! Pragg threatens to capture on e5 twice and then play d5-d4. But the move weakens the f7-pawn already attacked by the e5-knight. A crucial factor that had to be considered. Safer was 21...Be6 22.Rfe1 Carlsen eliminates the black threat, but misses a better alternativa. White had a remarkable move at his disposal, with which he could have turned the tables: 22.Nxf7 Qd7 23.Ne5 Rxe5 24.Rxe5 Bxe5 25.dxe5 d4 26.Ne2 Rd8 27.Ng3 Bh7 28.Qb3+ Qd5 29.Qb6 d3 30.Rd1± 22...Be6 23.Na4 b6 24.Rb3 Qc7 25.Nxb6 Rab8 26.Na4 Rxb3 27.Qxb3 Bxe5 28.dxe5 Qa5 29.Qd1 Bg4 30.f3 Bd7 31.Nc3 Qc5+ 32.Kh2 d4 33.Re4 dxc3 34.Qxd7

There was a lot to calculate in this exciting position. 34...c2! This works! Also good was 34...Rxe5 35.b4 Qd5= 35.Qxe8+ Kg7 36.b4 Qc3 37.f4 c1Q 38.f5 Qc7 39.f6+ Kh7 40.Qf8 Qxe5+

Diese Materialrückgabe ist erzwungen. 41.Rxe5 Qf4+ 42.Kg1 Qc1+ 43.Kf2 Qf4+ 44.Ke2 Qxe5+ 45.Kd3 Qxf6 46.Qe8 Qf1+ 47.Kd4 Kg7 48.Qe5+ Kg8 49.Qb8+ Kg7 50.Qg3 Qd1+ 51.Kc5 Qxh5 52.Qe5+ Kg8 53.a4 Qd1 54.a5 Qg1+ 55.Qd4 Qxg2 56.b5 g4 57.bxa6 g3 58.a7 Qa8 59.Kd6 g2 60.Ke5 Qf3 61.Qd8+ Kh7 62.a8Q Qc3+ 63.Qd4 Qxd4+ 64.Kxd4 g1Q+ 65.Kd3 Qd1+ 66.Ke3 Qe1+ 67.Kd3 Qd1+ ½–½

The pre-game handshake | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2023

Standings after round 12 - Masters

Rk.		Name	Rtg.	Nt.	Pts.	n	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	TB	Perf.
1		Abdusattorov,N	2713		8.0	12		½	1	½	½	½	1	1	½	½	½		½	1	47.25	2873
2		Giri,A	2764		7.5	12	½		1	½	½	½		½	½	1	1	½	½	½	43.50	2834
3		Carlsen,M	2859		7.0	12	0	0		½	½	1	1	1	½	½	½	½	1		40.50	2790
4		So,W	2760		7.0	12	½	½	½		½	½	½	½		1	½	½	1	½	40.50	2801
5		Aronian,L	2735		6.5	12	½	½	½	½		½	½		½	½	½	½	1	½	38.00	2772
6		Caruana,F	2766		6.5	12	½	½	0	½	½		½	½	½	1		1	½	½	37.75	2762
7		Rapport,R	2740		6.5	12	0		0	½	½	½		½	1	½	1	½	½	1	34.75	2768
8		Maghsoodloo,P	2719		6.0	12	0	½	0	½		½	½		1	0	½	1	½	1	33.00	2743
9		Praggnanandhaa R	2684		5.5	12	½	½	½		½	½	0	0		0	1	1	½	½	32.00	2715
10		Gukesh D	2725		5.0	12	½	0	½	0	½	0	½	1	1		0	½		½	30.00	2689
11		Ding,L	2811		5.0	12	½	0	½	½	½		0	½	0	1		½	½	½	29.00	2676
12		Van Foreest,J	2681		5.0	12		½	½	½	½	0	½	0	0	½	½		½	1	28.50	2691
13		Keymer,V	2696		4.5	12	½	½	0	0	0	½	½	½	½		½	½		½	27.00	2659
14		Erigaisi Arjun	2722		4.0	12	0	½		½	½	½	0	0	½	½	½	0	½		23.75	2608
TBs: Sonneborn-Berger

All games - Masters

Donchenko secures Challengers’ title

By the end of round 8, Alexander Donchenko had grabbed the sole lead in the Challengers tournament. A loss against Erwin l’Ami followed, allowing Mustafa Yilmaz to leapfrog him in the standings. Since then, however, the German grandmaster had a remarkable run of three consecutive wins, which granted him tournament victory with a round to spare.

How to combat rare lines as Black

A complete repertoire for Black is set out to be used against moves such as 1.Nf3, 1.f4, 1.g3, 1.Nc3, 1.b3, 1.b4 and 1.g4. The author uses content from his own notebooks to provide a full explanation of how to proceed.

Despite only being one point ahead of Yilmaz, even if the Turkish champion wins and Donchenko loses, the first tiebreak criterion would give the latter overall first place — the Russian-born GM beat Yilmaz in their round-7 direct encounter.

Meanwhile, Javokhir Sindarov remains in sole third place, a half point behind Yilmaz. Further back, Velimir Ivic and Adhiban are sharing the fourth spot in the standings, with 7 points.

Javokhir Sindarov | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit / Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2023

 

Beerdsen, Thomas2515

0–1

Donchenko, Alexander2627

85th Tata Steel Challengers 2023 Wijk aan Zee28.01.2023[Besenthal,Klaus-Günther]

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.h4 h5 5.c4 e6 6.Nc3 dxc4 7.Bxc4 Nd7 8.Nge2

What is good about placing the bishop on f5 is that it is outside the pawn chain. On the other hand, the bishop is also exposed to white attacks. With g2-g4 this is no longer possible, but White already considered the alternative Ng3 in the previous move. 8...Be7 With the attack on the h4-pawn Black already stars asking questions. 9.g3 White secures his pawn for good, but at the same time takes the g3-square away from his own knight. 9.Ng3 was also playable. Under no circumstances must Black take on h4 now:: Bxh4?? A quick draw would have been possible with 9...Bg6 10.Nge2 Bf5 with a balanced position. 10.Nxf5 exf5 11.Qb3 White is better. 9...Nh6 Black has little space available, but still finds a good square for his pieces. 10.Bf4 Qb6 11.0-0 Rd8 12.Qc1 a6

Black is in a good position - he doesn't really need to castle 13.Be3? With this natural-looking move White makes a serious mistake: the move makes his whole positional construct unstable. A very good move was 13.Bb3!= The bishop is safely covered by a pawn of its own and c6-c5 can be countered with d4-d5. 13...c5! Now this move is strong. 14.Rd1 14.d5? Nxe5 loses. 14.dxc5 Bxc5-+ is obviously not great for White either. After Nxe5, the c4-bishop always hangs. 14...Ng4 A splendid square for the knight. 15.Bb3 0-0 16.dxc5 Bxc5 17.Na4

This looks good after a quick glance, but no longer works. White is, in fact, losing. 17...Bxe3 18.Nxb6 Bxc1 19.Nxd7 Bxb2

Donchenko had already seen a very similar picture on the board the day before against Tabatabaei: his two super-strong bishops snatch an opponent's rook. 20.Nxf8 Rxf8 21.Nd4 Bg6 22.Rac1 Indispensable was 22.f4 but after Bxa1 23.Rxa1 Rd8 the position would not have been fun for White either. 22...Nxe5 This move threatens Bxd4 together with Nf3+, so that the c1-rook cannot simply escape the threat of the Bb2. White could have played on for a bit: 22...Nxe5 23.Nxe6 fxe6 24.Bxe6+ Kh7 25.Rc8 Rxc8 26.Bxc8 Be4 This position is also lost in the long run, but Black would still have had to work for the win. Simpler was 22...Bxc1 23.Rxc1 Nxe5-+ with two extra pawns. 0–1

Alexander Donchenko will be invited to next year’s Masters tournament | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit / Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2023

Standings after round 12 - Challengers

Rk.		Name	Rtg.	Nt.	Pts.	n	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	TB	Perf.
1		Donchenko,A	2627		9.0	12		1	½	½		1	½	1	1	0	½	1	1	1	49.75	2769
2		Yilmaz,M	2609		8.0	12	0		1	½	½	1	½	½	1	1	½	1	½		47.00	2721
3		Sindarov,J	2654		7.5	12	½	0		½	½	½	½		½	½	1	1	1	1	39.00	2674
4		Adhiban,B	2610		7.0	12	½	½	½		½	½	1	½		1	½	½	0	1	41.25	2631
5		Ivic,V	2585		7.0	12		½	½	½		½	0	0	½	½	1	1	1	1	35.75	2633
6		Tabatabaei,M	2686		6.5	12	0	0	½	½	½		½	1	½	1	½		1	½	35.25	2613
7		Supi,L	2608		6.0	12	½	½	½	0	1	½		½	½	½		0	½	1	35.75	2579
8		Beerdsen,T	2515		6.0	12	0	½		½	1	0	½		0	½	1	½	½	1	32.00	2579
9		Warmerdam,M	2616		6.0	12	0	0	½		½	½	½	1		0	½	1	1	½	31.00	2574
10		L'Ami,E	2627		5.5	12	1	0	½	0	½	0	½	½	1		1	½		0	35.50	2542
11		Mishra,A	2559		5.0	12	½	½	0	½	0	½		0	½	0		½	1	1	26.50	2522
12		Vaishali,R	2425		4.5	12	0	0	0	½	0		1	½	0	½	½		1	½	22.25	2497
13		Pechac,J	2637		3.0	12	0	½	0	1	0	0	½	½	0		0	0		½	18.50	2378
14		Roebers,E	2361		3.0	12	0		0	0	0	½	0	0	½	1	0	½	½		15.50	2403
TBs: Sonneborn-Berger

All games - Challengers

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