Tata Steel Chess R5: Abdusattorov catches Pragg, Fedoseev stuns Caruana

by André Schulz
1/23/2025 – Round 5 of the Tata Steel Masters saw Nodirbek Abdusattorov taking down Jorden van Foreest in a sharp encounter to join Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu in the lead, each with 4/5 points. Meanwhile, Gukesh Dommaraju collected a second win as world champion and Vladimir Fedoseev obtained an upset victory over Fabiano Caruana. In the Challengers, Erwin l'Ami beat Divya Deshmukh to grab the sole lead. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Jurriaan Hoefsmit
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Gukesh, Fedoseev and Abdusattorov score

Vladimir Fedoseev is one of the players who has been performing well at the Tata Steel Masters. He began with three draws, against Jorden van Foreest, world champion Gukesh Dommaraju and Anish Giri, before stepping up his game. In round four, the Russian player, who has now switched to the Slovenian Chess Federation, defeated world number four Arjun Erigaisi, albeit with some luck. In round five, Fedoseev followed this up with a victory over world number two Fabiano Caruana.

Fedoseev had the white pieces, and after opening with the Ragozin Defence, the game remained balanced until the time control. In the minor piece endgame, however, the tide turned in Fedoseev's favour as he managed to establish a passed pawn on the e-file.

Interview with Vladimir Fedoseev:

Vincent Keymer had 1½ points after four rounds, benefiting from a bit of good fortune. Against Leon Luke Mendonca, Keymer, with the black pieces, found himself in trouble in a long theoretical line of the Two Knights Defence but managed to win the game. Against Max Warmerdam, the German number one held on in a position that seemed beyond saving for a long time, earning a draw for his tenacious defence. The draws against Wei Yi and Jorden van Foreest were relatively uneventful. Apart from Wei, the major challenges are still ahead for the German star.

In the final round before the rest day, Keymer faced a world-class challenge. He went up against Gukesh, who is playing his first tournament as World Champion on the chilly North Sea coast. Keymer, with the black pieces, opted for the Nimzo-Indian Defence in response to Gukesh's 1.d4. The world champion chose the Rubinstein variation (4.e3) and then the trendy move 5.Bd2. This move was once considered unlikely to provide an advantage, but times have changed. Players like Spielmann, Tarrasch, Tartakower and Alekhine used 5.Bd2 or 6.Bd2 in the 1920s to avoid doubled pawns. Perhaps the merit of this move was simply forgotten.

Keymer emerged well from the opening, but then became overambitious on the kingside, losing a pawn. Gukesh created a passed pawn on the queenside, patiently advancing it towards the promotion square to secure victory.

Gukesh's perspective on the game:

Nodirbek Abdusattorov secured the third victory of the day, first successfully defending a tough position against Van Foreest. In the Advance variation of the Caro-Kann Defence, Abdusattorov castled long, while the Dutchman launched an uncompromising attack, sacrificing material. However, the Uzbek star defended carefully and emerged victorious in the end.

Abdusattorov's analysis:

The other games ended in draws. Wei Yi and Pentala Harikrishna played a short game in the Classical Variation of the French Defence.

Co-leader Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lennart Ootes

Max Warmerdam and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu also explored a French Defence, though Warmerdam quickly altered the pawn structure with the Exchange Variation, leading to a highly symmetrical position. Arjun Erigaisi opted for the rarely seen Blumenfeld Gambit against Mendonca and managed to obtain compensation sufficient for a draw. The Italian Game between Anish Giri and Alexey Sarana also ended in a draw.

With his win, Nodirbek Abdusattorov has now joined Praggnanandhaa at the top of the standings.

Thursday is the first rest day of the tournament.

Expert commentary

Analysis by GM Daniel King

Analysis by IM Sagar Shah

Round 5 results

Standings

All games

Challengers: L'Ami takes the lead

In the Challengers tournament, Erwin L'Ami has now taken the lead. In one of the main lines of the Catalan Opening, the experienced player, with the white pieces, sacrificed material to gain superior coordination and secured victory in a model game against Divya Deshmukh.

Divya Deshmukh | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lennart Ootes

Benjamin Bok won the second male-female duel of the day, as she beat the dangerous 14-year-old Chinese rising star Lu Miaoyi. In a highly exciting game in the Classical Variation of the Sicilian Defence, Bok's attack against the long-castled white king was decisive.

Vaishali Rameshbabu and Frederik Svane signed a draw, while Irina Bulmaga was defeated by Nogerbek Kazybek. Aydin Suleymanli won his Bb5 Sicilian game against Nodirbek Yakubboev. The young players Faustino Oro and Ediz Gürel each scored half a point in their games against Artur Pijpers and Thai Dan Van Nguyen, respectively.

Faustino Oro | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lennart Ootes

Round 5 results

Standings

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Links

André Schulz started working for ChessBase in 1991 and is an editor of ChessBase News.