1/29/2025 – Gukesh Dommaraju has taken sole lead at the Tata Steel Masters after the ninth round, marking a strong performance in his first tournament as world champion. While former co-leaders Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Nodirbek Abdusattorov both dropped points, Gukesh secured a win against Leon Luke Mendonca. Meanwhile, Vladimir Fedoseev moved into shared second place with a victory over Pentala Harikrishna. In the Challengers, Thai Dai Van Nguyen continues to be the sole leader. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Jurriaan Hoefsmit
Fritz has fascinated the chess world for 30 years. And the success story continues. In Vienna, the most popular chess program ever was once again able to underline its premier position: the newly developed neural engine with NNUE technology won the official Chess Software World Championship!
Winning starts with what you know The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
Unlock the secrets of one of the most resilient and strategic openings in chess with our comprehensive video course, “The Caro-Kann Defence.”
€69.90
Gukesh leads, Fedoseev joins chasing pack
In his first tournament after winning the World Championship, Gukesh Dommaraju has taken the sole lead after the ninth round of the Tata Steel Masters tournament. While the other two former co-leaders, Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu and Nodirbek Abdusattorov, both dropped points - Abdusattorov drawing with black against Fabiano Caruana and Praggnanandhaa suffering a defeat against Anish Giri - the world champion secured a full point against Leon Luke Mendonca. Out of a Spanish Opening, Mendonca held his own with black for a long time, but shortly before the time control, Gukesh gained the upper hand.
In this Fritztrainer: “Attack like a Super GM” with Gukesh we touch upon all aspects of his play, with special emphasis on how you can become a better attacking player.
Leon Luke Mendonca v. Gukesh Dommaraju | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Jurriaan Hoefsmit
87th Tata Steel Masters 2025 Wijk aan Zee28.01.2025[Schulz, A]
1.e4e52.Nf3Nc63.Bb5a64.Ba4Nf65.0-0b56.Bb3Bc57.a4Rb88.d3The main line is8.c3d69.d4Bb68...d69.Bg5Most often played here is9.axb5axb510.h3or10.c39...h610.Bh4g511.Bg311.Nxg5hxg512.Bxg5did not work at all here without Black having castled:Rg813.h4Bg414.Qd2Nd415.Nc3Qd716.Bxf6Bf317.Bxf7+Kxf70-1 (17) Evans, J (1715) - Adams, M (2670) Ebbw Vale 199811...0-012.c3Bb613.Na3A fairly recent predecessor game went as follows:13.Nbd2Ne714.axb5axb515.d4Ng616.dxe5Nh517.exd6Nxg318.dxc7Qxc719.hxg3Qxg320.Nd4Qh421.Re1Bg422.Qc2Nf423.e5Bh524.Ne4Bg625.g3Qh326.gxf4gxf427.f3Bxe428.Qxe4Kh829.Qxf4Rg8+30.Kf2Bd831.Rg1Bg532.Rxg51-0 (32) Vitiugov, N (2668) - Stefansson, H (2485) Petrovac 202413...Ne7
Black has equalised the position.14.Nc2Ng615.Ne3Bxe316.fxe3Kg717.Bc217.axb5axb518.Ra7=17...c518.axb5axb519.b4cxb419...c4!?20.cxb4Qe721.Ra5Bd721...h5!?with the idea22.Nxg5?Ng422.d4Bc623.Qa1Rfe824.Bb324.dxe5dxe525.Ra7!?24...Ra825.Nd2Rf826.Bc2Nh5?!This manoeuvre turns out to be a loss of tempo.26...h5=27.Be1Nf628.Rf528.d5!?Bb729.Bd3±28...Rxa5?!Allows White a passed pawn on the a-file.28...Rac8=29.bxa5Re830.d5Bd731.Rf2Bc832.Nf1Qa7
White now has a spatial advantage, a passed pawn on the a-file, and the bishop pair.33.Qa3Rd834.Bb4Ne835.Ng3Ne736.Bd1Ng837.Be2Qb738.Bd3White positions himself against Black’s weaknesses and prevents counterplay.Ngf639.Rc2Bd7A mistake with the last move before the time control.39...h5+-40.Bxd6Nxd641.Qxd6Qa742.Qxe5Qxe3+43.Rf21–0
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu was taken down by Anish Giri | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Jurriaan Hoefsmit
Giri's victory against Praggnanandhaa was the result of a fine positional game out of a Catalan Opening. In the endgame, Giri converted a small but lasting advantage into a win.
From Mating with a queen; a rook; two bishops; a knight and a bishop; to the basics of pawn endgames – here you will gain the necessary know-how to turn your endgame advantages into victories!
Vladimir Fedoseev is now sharing second place | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Jurriaan Hoefsmit
The in-form Vladimir Fedoseev also secured another full point. He had opened with the London System, was gifted an exchange by Harikrishna, but had to keep his king in the centre. The white king survived, and Fedoseev was able to capitalise on his material advantage with attacking play.
The Dutch duel between Jorden van Foreest and his occasional second Max Warmerdam ended in a draw. The same result was seen in the game between Serbian GM Alexey Sarana and German star Vincent Keymer.
The game between Wei Yi and Arjun Erigaisi also ended drawn.
Doesn’t every chess game get decided by mistakes? Absolutely. But most players never truly comprehend that they are making the same kind of mistakes over and over again.
This course will enhance your understanding of the King’s Indian Defence. Perfect for anyone looking to improve their opening strategy, reduce mistakes, and develop a winning game plan.
In the Challengers, Thai Dai Van Nguyen defended his lead with a draw against Kazybek Nogebek, as his closest pursuer, Erwin l'Ami, was also unable to secure more than half a point against Nodirbek Yakubboev.
Frederik Svane also drew against Arthur Pijpers. The game featured the Dragon Variation, where Pijpers, facing the 9.Bc4 line, managed to find a safe equalising path.
Further draws occurred in the games between Lu Miaoyi and Aydin Suleymanli, as well as Vaishali Rameshbabu against Divya Deshmuk.
Additionally, the ninth round of the Challengers saw two victories with the black pieces. Ediz Gürel defeated Faustino Oro, while Benjamin Bok overcame Irina Bulmaga.
Round 9 results
Standings
Loading Table...
All games
New ...
New Game
Edit Game
Setup Position
Open...
PGN
FEN
Share...
Share Board (.png)
Share Board (configure)
Share playable board
Share game as GIF
Notation (PGN)
QR Code
Layout...
Use splitters
Swipe notation/lists
Reading mode
Flip Board
Settings
Move
N
Result
Elo
Players
Replay and check the LiveBook here
Please, wait...
1.e48c5342.Nf312d6203.d427cxd4484.Nxd412Nf685.f322e52:566.Nb31:08Be76:467.c455a5168.Be311 B55: Sicilian: 2...d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 Nxd4 Nf6 5 f3.0-05:069.Be21:50Nc69:5710.0-06:53 White has an edge.Nh52:0411.Qd223:11Nf423:4512.Bxf4N21:1212.a4Ne613.Rd1Bg514.Bxg5Nxg515.Ra3Qb6+16.Kh1Ne617.Nc3Ncd418.Nxd4Qxd41-0 Solozhenkin,E (2454)-Hacker,J (2275) Pardubice Czech op-A 27th 2016 (4)12...exf41513.Nc31:29Bf66:0514.Rad18:29Be620:0915.Nb53:5115.Qxf4?a416.Qe316.Rxd6?Qb8-+16...axb317.axb3Ra1-+15.Qxd6a416.Qxf4Qb6+17.c5Qb4-+15...Be53:4916.N3d45:02Nxd44:0817.Nxd41a44:4318.Qb44:14Qc72619.Rd28:16Qc58:1120.Qxc520dxc5121.Nb528g62:4622.Rfd129Ra65623.Kf23:36Kg71024.Rg15:04Kf62:2825.g47:03Raa83:1226.h32:05h51:0827.Rc12:3027.g5+Ke728.h427...Rh8-+1:1228.Bf11Rad84729.Rcd13:25Ra821 Black is more active.30.Rc1!1hxg43031.fxg41:14Kg54432.Rcc21:15Rad84933.Kf341Rd74133...Kf6-+34.a3Ra834.Nc344 Loses the game.34.Rxd7is a better defense.Bxd735.Rd234...Rxd22135.Rxd21
Chess Festival Prague 2025 with analyses by Aravindh, Giri, Gurel, Navara and others. ‘Special’: 27 highly entertaining miniatures. Opening videos by Werle, King and Ris. 10 opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more.
Experts examine the games of Max Euwe. Let them show you which openings Euwe chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were, which tactical abilities he had or how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame.
This interactive video course of over 8 hours, provides an in-depth exploration of the Pirc Defence, a favoured opening for people looking to play for the win with the black pieces.
Pirc Defence Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 10027 games from Mega 2025 or the Correspondence Database 2024; of these 874 are annotated.
The Pirc Defence Powerbook 2025 consists for a greater part of engine games (168 000), to which has been added high value material from Mega and the Correspondence Database (115 000).
The free app from ChessBase! ChessBase Mobile has everything you need as a chess player on the go:
access your chess data in cloud databases - and 13 million games.
€0.00
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.