Tata Steel Chess R5: Abdusattorov defeats Carlsen, takes the lead

Not quite unprecedented

With apologies to Jon Speelman, we had to use the ‘u-word’ while referring to the fact that Magnus Carlsen has just lost two classical chess games in a row (according to the English GM, ‘unprecedented’ is often used as a “screen behind the comforting foliage of which gormless politicians have hidden”).

Before the rest day at the Tata Steel Masters, Carlsen had lost to Anish Giri, and in the very next round, he was shockingly defeated by 18-year-old Nodirbek Abdusattorov. The last time Carlsen had lost two classical games in a row was in 2015, at the Norway Chess event, where he lost to Veselin Topalov and Fabiano Caruana in the first two rounds of the super-tournament.

The Benoni is back in business

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To illustrate how surprising this is, Norwegian journalist Tarjei J. Svensen shared on Twitter the number of losses Carlsen has suffered per year since 2013:

...and we are only about to reach the fourth week in January.

The shock is compounded by the fact that Abdusattorov had the black pieces. For the youngster, the victory not only gained him 7 rating points (he is now among the top 20 players in the world) but also allowed him to climb to sole first place in the standings, with 4 points to his name. The Uzbek star already defeated Richard Rapport and Parham Maghsoodloo in his debut at the Masters section of the traditional Dutch festival.

Thursday’s results left Giri in sole second place a half point back, while three players are now sharing third place on 3/5: Praggnanandhaa, Fabiano Caruana and Levon Aronian. The latter joined this group by beating Vincent Keymer with the white pieces.

The Masters took a trip to Amsterdam to play round 5 at the Johan Cruyff Arena, home of the legendary Ajax Football Club | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit / Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2023

Carlsen’s bold approach backfires

Round 5 saw the Masters’ participants making their way to the Johan Cruyff Arena in Amsterdam as part of the now traditional ‘Chess on Tour’ foray. The stadium is home to the long-established Ajax Football Club, which had Cruyff as its top star in different periods between 1964 and 1983 (Cruyff also coached the team between 1985 and 1988). The Dutch football legend was known for his dynamic style both as forward and as attacking midfielder.

A well-known fan of football, Carlsen was perhaps inspired by the splendid venue — and the player it pays tribute to — as he bravely opted for a continuation (with 14.Ba3) that gave up an exchange while preventing his opponent from castling kingside.

Abdusattorov grabbed the material and eventually gained the initiative. An entertaining fight ensued, with Carlsen showing his usual resourcefulness throughout and eventually managing to simplify into a queen endgame a pawn down. The distinctively difficult ending could have easily ended in a draw, but Carlsen was the one making the last mistake.

The Norwegian resigned the game on move 60.

 

Carlsen, Magnus2859

0–1

Abdusattorov, Nodirbek2713

85th Tata Steel Masters 2023 Wijk aan Zee19.01.2023[Schulz,A]

1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.e3 e5 5.Be2 d5 6.cxd5 Nxd5 7.0-0 Be7 7...Nc7 8.Bb5 Nxc3 9.bxc3 9.dxc3 Qxd1 10.Rxd1 f6 11.e4 Be6 12.Be3 Kf7 13.Nd2 Na5 14.Kf1 Rhd8 15.Be2 a6 16.h3 Rd7 17.Bg4 Rad8 18.Ke2 g6 19.Bxe6+ Kxe6 20.b3 f5 21.f3 b5 22.Rab1 Rd3 23.Rbc1 R8d7 24.Nf1 Rxd1 25.Rxd1 Rxd1 26.Kxd1 c4 27.Nd2 cxb3 28.axb3 Nb7 29.b4 a5 30.bxa5 Nxa5 31.Kc2 Nc4 32.Nxc4 bxc4 33.g4 f4 34.Bf2 1/2-1/2 (34) Carlsen,M (2837)-Vachier Lagrave,M (2789) Riadh 2017 9...Qc7 10.d4 cxd4 11.cxd4 exd4 12.Nxd4 Bd7 12...0-0 13.Qc2 Bd6 14.Bxc6 bxc6 15.h3 Bd7 16.Bb2 Rab8 17.Rfd1 Rfd8 18.Nf3 h6 19.Rxd6 Qxd6 20.Be5 Qa3 21.Bxb8 Rxb8 22.Rd1 Be6 23.Nd4 Bd5 24.Nxc6 Bxc6 25.Qxc6 Qxa2 26.Qc7 Rf8 27.Qe5 a6 28.Ra1 Qc4 29.Qa5 Ra8 30.Kh2 Qc6 31.Qe5 Rd8 32.Qa5 Qd6+ 33.f4 Re8 34.Qxa6 Qxa6 35.Rxa6 1/2-1/2 (35) Vakhidov,J (2525)-Sjugirov,S (2664) Abu Dhabi 2015 13.Nf3 Bf6 14.Ba3!?

White prevents the short castle and gives up an exchange in return. 14.Rb1 0-0= 14...Bxa1 15.Qxa1 0-0-0 Also playable was 15...f6 16.Rc1 0-0-0 16.Rc1 Kb8 17.Qxg7 wins another pawn, but also opens the g-file for the opponent. Rhg8 18.Qb2 White is on the defensive after this move. 18.Qxh7!? 18...Bg4 19.Ne1 Rd1 20.Rxd1 Bxd1 21.Bf1 21.h3 21...Ne5 21...Bg4!? 22.h3 Bf3 Not a particularly productive move. 23.Qd4 23.Qb1!? with the idea -- 24.Qxh7 is the shorter path compared to Carlsen's choice. 23...Rd8 24.Qh4 Bd5 25.Qxh7 Bc4 26.Bb2 Bxf1 27.Kxf1 Qc4+ 28.Kg1 Nc6 29.Nf3 Qxa2 30.Bf6 Rd1+ 31.Kh2 a5

A tough game for both sides. The black king is somewhat insecure, but the a-pawn is dangerous for White. The chances are equal. 32.Nd4 Qd5 33.Qc2 Qd6+ 34.f4 Rxd4 Black gives back the exchange and gets an extra pawn. 34...Rf1? 35.Nxc6+ Qxc6 36.Qxc6 bxc6 37.h4+- 35.Bxd4 Nxd4 36.exd4 Qxf4+ 37.g3 Qxd4 38.h4 a4 39.Qa2 f5 40.h5 Qh8 41.Qxa4?! White would have held the draw with 41.Qf7 z.B.: a3 42.Qxf5 Qb2+ 43.Kh3 a2 44.Qf8+ Ka7 45.Qc5+ Qb6 46.Qa3+ Qa6 47.Qe3+= 41...Qxh5+ 42.Kg1 42.Qh4 Qe2+ 43.Kh3 Qe5 44.Qc4= 42...Qf3 43.Kh2 Qe2+

44.Kg1? 44.Kh3 44...Qe5-+ 45.Kf2 b5 46.Qb4 Kb7 47.g4 fxg4 48.Qxg4 Kb6 49.Qg8 b4 50.Kf3 Kb5 51.Kg2 Qe2+ 52.Kg3 Qe3+ 53.Kg2 b3 54.Qb8+ Kc4 55.Qg8+ Kc3 56.Qc8+ Kd2 57.Qh8 Kc2 58.Qc8+ Kd1 59.Qh8 Qd2+ 60.Kg3 b2 0–1

Players and spectators intrigued by the most anticipated game of the round | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit / Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2023

Arjun finds tactical counterpunch against Ding

In another lively encounter, Ding Liren found himself in a position with dangerous attacking chances against Arjun Erigaisi. The Chinese star, playing black, went for a tempting exchange sacrifice on move 31, one that turned out to be mistaken — but there was only one move that saved White in the sharp setup.

Ding’s 31...Rxf3 removes the defender of the h4-square, threatening to infiltrate with the queen along the dark squares. An immediate 32.Qxf3 would fail to 32...Qh4+ 33.Qh3 Be1, threatening both ...Rf1# and ...Nf2+, grabbing the queen.

However, White can escape these lines with the zwischenzug 32.Qd5+, which Arjun found after roughly two minutes and a half. After 32...Rf7, as seen in the game, White has 33.Bd8 and Black’s attack has lost momentum. 

And in case of 32...Kh8, White can now play 33.Qxf3, and there is a crucial difference with the aforementioned line since 33...Qh4+ 34.Qh3 Be1 fails to 35.Be5+ — yet another vital intermediate check!

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Now Black is forced to play 35...Nxe5, and the knight has left its attacking post. Like in the game, this continuation ‘only’ leads to a draw. But what a draw! This half point achieved against the world number two might go a long way in Arjun’s tournament. 

A packed auditorium paying close attention to commentary given by guest of honour Vishy Anand | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit / Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2023

Aronian and Maghsoodloo score

Parham Maghsoodloo bounced back from his loss against Abdusattorov by taking down a Jorden van Foreest in shaky form, while Levon Aronian grabbed his first victory of the event in his game with white against Vincent Keymer.

White is a pawn up in this technical ending, and here found the correct way to break through Black’s defences — 66.h5 gxh5 67.Bxf5 clears a path for the white monarch to infiltrate on the kingside (via g3-h4).

Aronian continued to show good technique until securing the full point twelve moves later. The US grandmaster will face Ding and Giri in the following two rounds. 

Levon Aronian facing Vincent Keymer | Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit / Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2023

Standings after round 5 - 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		4.0	5				½				1		1	1		½		8.75	3002
2		Giri,A	2764		3.5	5			½	½				½		1			1		7.75	2900
3		Praggnanandhaa R	2684		3.0	5		½			½	½			1			½			7.75	2818
4		Caruana,F	2766		3.0	5	½	½					½				½			1	7.50	2804
5		Aronian,L	2735		3.0	5			½			½	½			½		1			6.50	2816
6		Erigaisi Arjun	2722		2.5	5			½		½		½		½			½			6.25	2737
7		So,W	2760		2.5	5				½	½	½					½			½	6.00	2729
8		Maghsoodloo,P	2719		2.5	5	0	½							½			½		1	5.25	2733
9		Ding,L	2811		2.5	5			0			½		½		½			1		5.00	2742
10		Carlsen,M	2859		2.0	5	0	0			½				½			1			4.25	2672
11		Rapport,R	2740		2.0	5	0			½			½						½	½	4.25	2657
12		Keymer,V	2696		1.5	5			½		0	½		½		0					4.00	2595
13		Gukesh D	2725		1.5	5	½	0							0		½			½	3.75	2593
14		Van Foreest,J	2681		1.5	5				0			½	0			½		½		3.00	2593
TBs: Sonneborn-Berger

All games - Masters

Links

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• Tata Steel 2023: The youngest Wijk tournament of all time
• Ten trivia about the Tata Steel Tournament series, the Wimbledon of Chess