Tata Steel Chess R2: Five co-leaders

Wins for Pragg, Caruana and Abdusattorov

On Saturday, the prestigious tournament in Wijk aan Zee began, a competition closely tied to the steel factory in IJmuiden, as it has traditionally been its main sponsor. After changing ownership several times, the factory is now part of the Indian conglomerate Tata. Following the acquisition, the Indian owners continued the tradition and brought it to their homeland, inspired by the chess boom in India. There is now also a Tata Steel Tournament held in India.

With seven participants in both the Masters and Challengers, India fields the largest contingent of players. The Masters tournament invites players from the world elite or extended elite, along with the best Dutch players. Four Indian participants belong to the world-class category: Gukesh Dommaraju, competing in his first tournament as world champion, Arjun Erigaisi, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Pentala Harikrishna. Leon Mendonca is the fifth Indian player in the Masters, having qualified by winning the Challengers last year.

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Anish Giri, Max Warmerdam and Jorden van Foreest represent the host nation. Fabiano Caruana from the USA, as the world number two, is the rating favourite. German chess enthusiasts are pleased to see Vincent Keymer participating. Though no longer a youth player, he is hopefully still on his way up.

Also competing are Wei Yi from China, Alexey Sarana, now playing under the Serbian flag, Alexey Fedoseev, now competing under the Slovenian flag, and last but not least, Nodirbek Abdusattorov from Uzbekistan - a strong and interesting field. The tournaments in Wijk aan Zee are known for never being dull, thanks to the organisers' skilful selection of participants.

Saturday's opening day saw three decisive games in the Masters. Harikrishna, Gukesh and Keymer secured victories.

Gukesh Dommaraju

Gukesh achieved victory with the help of a chess miracle, as Giri missed a mate in a winning position and lost the game. Keymer had a tactical battle with Mendonca in a trendy line of the Two Knights Defence and emerged victorious. Harikrishna's win against Arjun was also remarkable.

Sunday continued in a similar vein, with three more decisive games. The 18-year-old Mendonca suffered his second loss, this time against Abdusattorov. Praggnanandhaa won the all-Indian duel against Harikrishna.

The third victory of the day came from Fabiano Caruana against Jorden van Foreest. The Dutch player responded to Caruana's London System with an interesting concept (a knight on h6) and had the initiative after the opening. However, in the critical moment, Van Foreest failed to find the best solution, and the game took a different turn.

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Interview with Caruana

Vincent Keymer appears to have set himself the goal of playing very complex games at this tournament in Wijk, perhaps even unintentionally on Sunday.

Keymer's opening against Warmerdam brought little for the German number one, and as the game progressed, he found himself in trouble. Analysis by the live engine showed a significant advantage for the Dutchman. However, Keymer demonstrated what sets great players apart: i.e. immense resilience in defence. His efforts were rewarded in the endgame despite being in a losing position.  

With 1½ points after two rounds, Keymer is now part of the five-player leading group in the Masters.

Round 2 results

Standings

All games

Challengers: Seven players share the lead

In recent years, the Challengers tournaments at Wijk aan Zee have often been even more entertaining than the Masters tournaments, primarily due to the wider range of playing strength among participants. This year, young German player Frederik Svane was invited to compete. Like Keymer, Svane has recently left the junior ranks but was one of the world's top juniors in his time. He is now ranked second in the German standings, behind Keymer. On Saturday, he drew against Challengers regular Erwin L'Ami. On Sunday, he outplayed the very young Argentine Faustino Oro. 

Svane is ranked third in the starting list and is therefore among the favourites for potential qualification to the Masters. Ahead of him are the strong Czech player Thai Dai Van Ngyuen and Uzbek Nodirbek Yakubboev. Both also scored 1½ points in the first two rounds. Special attention is also put on 16-year-old Turkish player Ediz Gürel. He won in the first round, but lost on Sunday to Benjamin Bok.

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Four women are enriching the tournament. Lu Miaoyi and Vaishali Rameshbabu scored full points in round one. Divya Deshmukh and Irina Bulmaga lost their games on Saturday. On Sunday, Divya managed to take half a point from one of the favourites, Ngyuen. Lu and Vaishali drew their game, while Bulmaga lost to L'Ami.

Divya Deshmukh

Round 2 results

Standings

All games

Links

• Official website
• Wei Yi brilliantly wins Tata Steel Masters in blitz playoff (2024)
• Anish Giri wins Tata Steel Masters after late twist (2023)
• Magnus Carlsen grabs eighth title in Wijk aan Zee (2022)
• Van Foreest beats Giri in Armageddon, wins Tata Steel Masters (2021)