Tata Steel Chess R10: Gukesh wins again, Abdusattorov keeps up the pace

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
1/30/2025 – Round 10 of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament saw the frontrunners in both the Masters and Challengers sections claiming crucial victories. In the Masters, Gukesh Dommaraju held onto his lead by beating Max Warmerdam, while Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu also won to keep the title race tight. Similarly, in the Challengers, Thai Dai Van Nguyen remained in first place with a win, with Erwin l'Ami and Aydin Suleymanli also scoring full points to stay in the race for overall victory. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lennart Ootes

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Gukesh, Abdusattorov and Pragg score

Gukesh Dommaraju remains in the sole lead at the Tata Steel Masters after scoring his fifth victory of the event, this time against Max Warmerdam with the black pieces. The world champion has shown remarkable consistency, collecting five wins and five draws in his first ten games. His closest chasers also won on Wednesday, with Nodirbek Abdusattorov beating Alexey Sarana to stay half a point behind, while Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu got the better of Vladimir Fedoseev to stand in sole third place, a full point behind the leader.

Gukesh surprised Warmerdam right from the opening, responding to 1.e4 with 1...d6 and prompting an unusual 2.g3 from his opponent. In the complex struggle ensued, both players eventually found themselves in time trouble. Warmerdam faltered amid a tricky middlegame, allowing Gukesh to break through and convert his advantage.

Abdusattorov, meanwhile, played an aggressive early 7.g4 against Sarana, leading to a wild tactical battle. The Serbian grandmaster blundered in severe time pressure with 39...Kf8 instead of 39...Kg8, missing a crucial defensive resource.

Abdusattorov v. Sarana

After the text move, 40.Nxf6+ left Black unable to recapture with 40...Rxf6 due to 41.Qa8+, with checkmate incoming on e8. Had the king been on g8, it could have escaped via h7. Sarana tried 40...Qd1+, but White's king escaped the checks and Abdusattorov went on to convert his material advantage into a crucial victory.

Pragg’s victory was more straightforward, as Fedoseev misplayed the opening and found himself on the back foot early on. The Slovenian grandmaster put up stiff resistance, complicating the position, but Pragg showed good technique to convert his advantage.

In Friday's round 11, Gukesh will face defending champion Wei Yi with the white pieces, while Abdusattorov will take on Vincent Keymer with black.

Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu

Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Jurriaan Hoefsmit

Warmerdam 0 - 1 Gukesh

Analysis by Johannes Fischer

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1.e4 d6 2.g3 c5 3.Bg2 g6 4.c3 Bg7 5.Ne2 Nc6 6.d4 cxd4 7.cxd4 Via a different move order, an unusual c3-Sicilian has arisen. White has a comfortable position, but Black has counterplay. Nf6 8.Nbc3 0-0 9.h3 Bd7 10.0-0 Rb8 11.Be3 b5 12.b3 Warmerdam has emerged with a good position from the opening and has a slight advantage with pleasant play. However, as the game progresses, Gukesh gradually outplays him. b4 13.Na4 e6 14.Nb2 a5 15.a4 bxa3 16.Rxa3 Nb4 17.Nc3 Bb5 18.Re1 d5 19.e5 Nd7 20.Qd2 Ba6 21.Rc1 Rc8 22.Raa1 Qb6 23.Nca4 Qb8
24.Bf1? Exchanging the light-squared bishop is not a good idea. Engines evaluate the position as equal and suggest 24.Nc3 after which Qb6 25.Nca4 Qb8 26.Nc3 could lead to a repetition of moves. 24...Bxf1 25.Kxf1 f6! The typical counterthrust in such positions. 26.exf6 Nxf6 27.Rxc8 Qxc8
28.Rc1? With this attack on the queen, White overlooks a strong intermediate move that puts Black in a winning position. Better was 28.Nc3 with only a slight advantage for Black. 28...Ne4! 29.Qd1 After 29.Rxc8 Nxd2+ Black captures White's queen with check and wins the exchange. 29...Qb8! A very strong move, targeting White's king position. 30.Kg1 After 30.Kg2 Black wins with Bh6! e.g. 31.f4 Or 31.Bxh6 Rxf2+ 32.Kh1 Rh2+ 33.Kxh2 Qxg3+ 34.Kh1 Nf2# 31...Nxg3 32.Kxg3 Bxf4+ 33.Bxf4 Qxf4+ 34.Kg2 Qe4+ 35.Kg1 Qe3+ and White is mated in a few moves. 30...Nxg3 31.Nc5 Nf5 Black is a pawn up and has a clearly superior position. 32.Qg4 Qe8 33.Nbd3 Nc6 34.Nf4 Bxd4 After losing the second pawn, White resigned. He did not wish to see the rest.
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Warmerdam,M2646Gukesh,D27770–1202587th Tata Steel Masters 202510.4

Abdusattorov 1 - 0 Sarana

Analysis by Johannes Fischer

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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Nb3 e6 7.g4 Abdusattorov wants to win and chooses an aggressive opening system. b5 8.a3 Bb7 9.Bg2 Nc6 10.g5 Nd7 11.h4 Rc8 12.Qe2 Be7 13.f4 h6 14.0-0 hxg5 15.hxg5 Nb6 Black does not allow himself to be intimidated by White's attacking gestures in the opening and emerges from it with a good position. The engines even slightly prefer Black in this double-edged position. 16.a4 Nc4 17.axb5 axb5 18.Qf2 b4 19.Nd1 Ra8 20.Rxa8 Qxa8 21.Nd2 Nxd2 22.Bxd2 Bd8 23.b3 Qa5 24.Be3 Ba6 25.Re1 e5 26.Qd2 Bc7 27.f5 Nd4 28.Bf2 Rh5 29.g6 Bd8 30.gxf7+ Kxf7 31.Ne3
31...Bg5? This natural-looking move, pinning the knight on e3, is inaccurate. Better was 31...Bh4! e.g. 32.Qd1 Bxf2+ 33.Kxf2 Rh4 34.Bf1 Bxf1 35.Rxf1 Qd8! and White's exposed king gives Black a clear advantage. After the text move, White's pieces come back into play. 32.Qd1 Rh8 33.Qg4 Qd8 34.Nd5 Rh6 35.Bxd4! exd4 36.e5 dxe5 37.Rxe5 Qd6 38.Qxd4 Bf6 39.Qa7+
39...Kf8? Just before the time control, Black makes the decisive mistake. After 39...Kg8 40.Nxf6+ Rxf6 41.Qa8+ Kh7 the game should be drawn. White has an extra pawn, but his king is too exposed to make use of this advantage. 40.Nxf6 Qd1+ 41.Kf2 Qxc2+ 42.Kg3 Rxf6 43.Bd5! With this cool-headed bishop move, White secures victory. Black is facing mate and cannot seriously threaten White's king. Qd3+ 44.Re3 Rg6+ 45.Kf4 White could have taken the rook but prefers to continue playing for mate. Qf1+ 46.Bf3 Rg4+ 47.Kxg4 Qg1+ 48.Kf4 Qh2+ 49.Ke4 Qh4+ 50.Kd5 Qd8+ 51.Kc6
1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Abdusattorov,N2768Sarana,A26771–0202587th Tata Steel Masters 202510.5

Nodirbek Abdusattorov

Nodirbek Abdusattorov | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lennart Ootes


Expert commentary

Analysis by GM Daniel King

Analysis by IM Sagar Shah


Round 10 results

Standings

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Challengers: Nguyen beats Vaishali, leads

Similarly to the Masters section, the frontrunners in the Challengers scored important victories in round 10. Thai Dai Van Nguyen (like Gukesh) remained in the sole lead after winning his game, Erwin l'Ami (like Abdusattorov) grabbed a full point to stay half a point behind, while Aydin Suleymanli (like Pragg) won to join Benjamin Bok in third place, a further half point back. Unlike the top section, which saw only three decisive games, five players claimed victories in the Challengers on Wednesday, with Frederik Svane and Arthur Pijpers also scoring wins.

With three rounds to go and three players within a point of the leader, the race for first place remains wide open. The ultimate prize at stake is a spot in next year's Masters, making each remaining game crucial. The only remaining direct clash between the top four contenders will take place in the final round on Sunday, when Bok will have the white pieces against Nguyen.

Before that, in Friday's round 11, Nguyen and l'Ami will both have to navigate difficult challenges with the black pieces. The leader is set to face Svane, who comes from a victory, while his closest rival will take on the ambitious Lu Miaoyi, who has already proven to be a tough opponent in Wijk aan Zee.

Divya 0 - 1 Svane

Analysis by Johannes Fischer

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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c5 4.dxc5 Bg7 5.Bg2 Qa5+ 6.Nc3 Qxc5 7.Qa4 Ng4 8.Ne4 Qc6 9.Qxc6 dxc6 10.Nf3 Na6 11.Rb1 Bf5 12.Nh4 Bxe4 13.Bxe4 0-0-0 14.0-0 Nc5 15.Bc2 Ne6 16.Nf3 Ne5 17.Nxe5 Bxe5 18.Be3 White has carefully avoided all sharp lines and now has a perfectly balanced position. White has the bishop pair, but Black has more active pieces. Bd4 19.Bc1 h5 20.h4 Rd7 21.b4 Rhd8 22.Kg2 Kb8 23.c5 Nc7 24.Bf4 Kc8 25.Bb3 e6 26.Bc4 Bf6 27.Rfc1 Nd5 28.Bxd5 Rxd5 29.a4 Be5 30.Bxe5 Rxe5
This double rook endgame is objectively a draw, but it is easier for Black to play, since White's queenside pawns can become weak. 31.Rb2 Red5 32.Rcc2 Kc7 33.Kf3 Rd1 34.b5 R8d7 35.b6+ Kb8 36.a5?! Better was 36.bxa7+ Kxa7 37.Ke3 to play against the weakness on b7. 36...a6 37.Ra2 Kc8 38.e3 Kd8 39.Ra4 Ke7 40.g4 hxg4+ 41.Kxg4 R7d2 42.Raa2 Rg1+ 43.Kf4 Rxc2 44.Rxc2 Ra1 Now the a-pawn falls, and Black is winning. 45.f3 Rxa5 46.e4 Rb5 47.Ke5 Rb4 48.Rc1 a5 49.Kf4 a4 50.Kg5 a3 51.Ra1 Ra4 52.e5 a2 53.f4 Kf8 54.h5 gxh5 55.Kxh5 Kg7 56.Rg1+ Kf8 57.Ra1 Ke7 58.Kg5 Ra3 59.Kh5 f6 60.Kg6 Rg3+ 61.Kh5 Ra3 62.Kg6 Rg3+ 63.Kh5 Rg2 64.Kh4 Kf7 65.Kh3 Rb2 66.Kg4 Kg6 67.f5+ exf5+ 68.Kf4 Rb4+
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Deshmukh,D2490Svane,F26640–1202587th Tata Steel Challengers 202510.6

Frederik Svane

Frederik Svane | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lennart Ootes

Round 10 results

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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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