Tata Steel Chess R1: Nepo, Wei, Giri and Firouzja score with black

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
1/14/2024 – The much-anticipated Tata Steel Masters kicked off on Saturday in Wijk aan Zee. A lively first round saw four players scoring full points, all with the black pieces — Ian Nepomniachtchi, Alireza Firouzja, Anish Giri and Wei Yi are sharing the lead after the first day of action. The Challengers also saw four players grabbing wins right off the bat. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess Tournament / Lennart Ootes

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A lively start

The last time Magnus Carlsen did not travel to Wijk aan Zee in January was in 2014 (before that, his previous absence goes back to 2003). The Norwegian has won the main event a record eight times, but decided not to play this year. Despite his non-attendance, though, the organizers have once again managed to put together a very attractive lineup in the Masters.

Besides the presence of world champion Ding Liren, who did not participate in any rated classical tournaments since May last year, the elite tournament counts with a number of combative, ambitious players — including five GMs that will participate in the Candidates Tournament in April: Ian Nepomniachtchi, Alireza Firouzja, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Vidit Gujrathi and Dommaraju Gukesh.

Notably, women’s world champion Ju Wenjun also accepted the invitation to play in the Masters, which means we will get to see a battle between the two current world champions: Ding will play white against Ju in the final round.

Tarjei J. Svensen asked on X how many times this encounter of champions has been seen in the past, with @OnTheQueenside (most likely) giving the correct answer:

  • Menchik v. Alekhine (5x: 1932, 1933, 1938, 1938, 1939)
  • Gaprindashvili v. Spassky (1971)
  • Hou Yifan v. Carlsen (2015)

Ju Wenjun

Ju Wenjun | Photo: Tata Steel Chess Tournament / Lennart Ootes

The first round of the event lived up to the hype, with four players grabbing wins, all with the black pieces.

  • Ian Nepomniachtchi needed 29 moves to take down Max Warmerdam after the Dutch GM underestimated his opponent’s attacking chances on the kingside.
  • Alireza Firouzja got the better of 2021 champion Jorden van Foreest in 37 moves. Van Foreest faltered in a tricky endgame with rooks and minor pieces (*).
  • Wei Yi, who had played the event for the last time in 2018, defeated the winner of last year’s Challengers tournament, Alexander Donchenko.
  • Defending champion Anish Giri beat Ju Wenjun in the longest game of the day (*).

(*) Game analysed by GM Karsten Müller below.

Van Foreest 0 - 1 Firouzja

Game analysis by Robert Ris

Alireza Firouzja

Alireza Firouzja | Photo: Tata Steel Chess Tournament / Lennart Ootes

Ju 0 - 1 Giri

Anish Giri

Anish Giri — trying to remember his preparation? | Photo: Tata Steel Chess Tournament / Jurriaan Hoefsmit

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.e3 0-0 5.Be2 c5 6.d5 e6 7.Nc3 d6 8.0-0 exd5 9.cxd5 Bg4 10.Nd2 Bxe2 11.Qxe2 Na6 12.e4 Re8 13.Nc4 b5 14.Nxb5 Nxe4 15.Qf3 Qd7 16.a4 Nb4 17.Bf4 Nc2 18.Rad1 Nd4 19.Rxd4 cxd4 20.Ncxd6 Nxd6 21.Nxd6 Red8 22.b3 g5 23.Bg3 f5 24.Qxf5 Qxf5 25.Nxf5 Bf6 26.Nd6 h5 27.h3 h4 28.Bh2 Be7 29.Nb5 Bc5 30.d6 Rac8 31.Be5 d3 32.Bf6 Rd7 33.Bxg5 a6 34.Nc3 Bxd6 35.Ne4 Be7 36.Rd1 Bxg5 37.Nxg5 d2 38.Kf1 Re7 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Donchenko,A2643Wei,Y27400–12024E6086th Tata Steel Masters1.1
Van Foreest,J2682Firouzja,A27590–12024C1186th Tata Steel Masters1.2
Vidit,S2742Ding,L2780½–½2024E2086th Tata Steel Masters1.3
Ju,W2549Giri,A27490–12024B4086th Tata Steel Masters1.4
Gukesh,D2725Abdusattorov,N2727½–½2024C5586th Tata Steel Masters1.5
Warmerdam,M2625Nepomniachtchi,I27690–12024D3786th Tata Steel Masters1.6
Praggnanandhaa,R2743Maghsoodloo,P2740½–½2024B9586th Tata Steel Masters1.7

Challengers: Four winners on opening day

Much like in the Masters, an exciting round in the Challengers saw four players getting off to winning starts. The rating favourite in this event is the ever-ambitious Hans Niemann, who recently gave an interview for Belgian newspaper De Standaard. Olimpiu Di Luppi translated an excerpt from the interview and shared it on X:

What’s the point of wanting to be second? I am only satisfied with success. I don’t play chess to become famous, but to win. Colleagues who are content with being in the top 10, therefore, do not progress and do not become world champions.

Niemann beat Liam Vrolijk with the white pieces on Saturday, which means he is now sharing first place with Saleh Salem, Jaime Santos and Leon Luke Mendonca.

Game analysis by Robert Ris

Jaime Santos

Jaime Santos | Photo: Tata Steel Chess Tournament / Lennart Ootes

Salem emerged victorious from a sharp, tactical struggle against Anton Korobov. The Emirati grandmaster got to finish the game in style.

Salem v. Korobov

52.Rxf8+ is the classiest winning move for White here. Importantly, getting rid of the bishop creates a back rank weakness that eventually led to Black’s defeat.

There followed 52...Rxf8 53.exd5 Qf1+ 54.Kb2 Qh3 55.f4 Qxh5 and resignation came after the good-looking 56.Qc8

The queen cannot defend the rook from f5 nor give a check from e5. Game over.

Anton Korobov

Anton Korobov | Photo: Tata Steel Chess Tournament / Lennart Ootes

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1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Qa4 a6 8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc2 Bb7 10.Bd2 Ra7 11.Rc1 Be4 12.Qb3 Nc6 13.e3 Qa8 14.Nc3 Bxf3 15.Bxf3 Nxd4 16.exd4 Qxf3 17.Nxb5 Qxb3 18.axb3 Rb7 19.Nxc7 Rxb3 20.Rc2 Ne4 21.Nxa6 Ra8 22.Ra4 Nxd2 23.Rxd2 h5 24.Nc5 Rxa4 25.Nxa4 Bg5 26.f4 Bf6 27.Nc3 Rb4 28.Ne2 g5 29.Kf2 Rb3 30.Nc3 Kg7 31.Ke3 Kg6 32.Ke4 Bg7 33.f5+ exf5+ 34.Kd5 Bf8 35.Kc6 Bb4 36.d5 Bxc3 37.bxc3 Rxc3+ 38.Kb5 Rb3+ 39.Kc4 Rb8 40.d6 f4 41.gxf4 gxf4 42.d7 Rd8 43.Kc5 Kf5 44.Kd6 f3 45.Ke7 Rxd7+ 46.Rxd7 Ke4 47.h4 f2 48.Rd1 Kf3 49.Kf6 Kg4 50.Ke5 Kg3 51.Ra1 f6+ 52.Kf5 Kh3 53.Ra3+ Kg2 54.Ra2 Kg3 55.Ra3+ Kg2 56.Ra1 Kh3 57.Ra3+ ½–½
  • Start an analysis engine:
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  • Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Maurizzi,M2572Dronavalli,H2500½–½2024E06Tata Steel Challengers1.1
Dardha,D2602L'Ami,E2627½–½2024B13Tata Steel Challengers1.2
Roebers,E2381Mendonca,L26080–12024B94Tata Steel Challengers1.3
Salem,A2630Korobov,A26631–02024B94Tata Steel Challengers1.4
Niemann,H2692Vrolijk,L25731–02024C50Tata Steel Challengers1.5
Divya,D2420Beukema,S2428½–½2024D10Tata Steel Challengers1.6
Yilmaz,M2665Santos Latasa,J26150–12024D38Tata Steel Challengers1.7

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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