Tata Steel Chess: Erdogmus and Van Foreest climb to shared second place

Erdogmus, Van Foreest, Bluebaum and Pragg score wins

Round nine of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee featured several notable games and further tightened the race behind the leader.

Although Gukesh Dommaraju is currently ninth in the world rankings rather than first, he is the reigning world champion and, on paper, the favourite when playing white against Matthias Bluebaum. In this encounter, however, Bluebaum produced one of his most convincing performances of the tournament. From the opening onwards he held the initiative, and Gukesh never managed to generate serious counterplay. Bluebaum's play was controlled and consistent from start to finish, and he secured a well-earned victory.

This result stood in contrast to Bluebaum's earlier trajectory in the event. On several occasions, he had played very strong chess only to falter at key moments: he turned a drawn position into a loss against Javokhir Sindarov, and allowed clear winning positions to slip to draws against Arjun Erigaisi and Thai Dai Van Nguyen.

Against Gukesh, by contrast, he maintained his advantage throughout. With 5 points from 9 games, Bluebaum now stands half a point above the 50-percent mark. If the tournament in Wijk aan Zee is viewed as preparation for the Candidates Tournament, his overall play - irrespective of the score - has repeatedly shown that he can outplay the world's top competitors.

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Matthias Bluebaum, Gukesh Dommaraju

Matthias Bluebaum defeated Gukesh Dommaraju | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lennart Ootes

Top seed Vincent Keymer experienced a difficult day. Facing Jorden van Foreest, Keymer ran into trouble early, failing to bring his king to safety in time. Van Foreest seized the initiative in the opening phase and never relinquished it, converting his advantage in just 26 moves.

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Vincent Keymer, Jorden van Foreest

Jorden van Foreest beat Vincent Keymer to climb to shared second place | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lennart Ootes

Another decisive result came from defending champion Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, who scored his first win of the event by defeating Aravindh Chithambaram. The game was a long technical struggle, eventually decided in an 84-move endgame.

Meanwhile, 14-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus continued to gain momentum. He defeated Thai Dai Van Nguyen in round nine and now has 5 points from 9 games. Erdogmus joins Sindarov and Van Foreest in shared second to fourth place, half a point behind leader Nodirbek Abdusattorov. The Uzbek frontrunner drew a 40-move encounter with his compatriot Sindarov and remains at the top of the standings.

Nodirbek Abdusattorov

Nodirbek Abdusattorov remains at the top of the standings in the Masters | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lennart Ootes

Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, Thai Dai Van Nguyen

Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus, aged 14, stands in shared second place after beating Thai Dai Van Nguyen | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lennart Ootes

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Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu

Defending champion Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lennart Ootes

Round 9 results

Standings after round 9

All games

Woodward sole leader

Round nine of the Challengers section again underlined the fighting spirit in the group. Six of the seven previous rounds had featured a high number of decisive games, and this trend largely continued.

Andy Woodward defeated Daniil Yuffa to move into sole first place. After the rest day, Woodward had travelled to Amsterdam, visiting the Max Euwe Centrum, where he looked at historical photographs, games and books. In his post-game comments, he described his victory over Yuffa as lacking a single spectacular moment, noting that in analysis neither player could identify a clearly critical turning point.

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Andy Woodward

Challengers' sole leader Andy Woodward | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lennart Ootes

Former co-leader Marc'Andria Maurizzi lost to Max Warmerdam, dropping to third place. Warmerdam had earlier described the tense time scramble in his previous game against Vasyl Ivanchuk, and in this round he capitalised on his chances against Maurizzi.

Aydin Suleymanli took advantage of the situation by defeating Faustino Oro, moving into sole second place. Suleymanli, runner-up in last year's Challengers, now stands just half a point behind Woodward. Oro, who had started the event strongly with 4 points from his first 5 games, has since managed only ½ point in the next 4 rounds.

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Faustino Oro

Faustino Oro | Photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lennart Ootes

Further down the table, Lu Miaoyi ended a difficult run of six consecutive losses by beating Velimir Ivic. Despite the win, she remains near the bottom of the standings, as Erwin l'Ami also scored, defeating Eline Roebers, who continues in last place. A draw between Vedant Panesar and Ivanchuk completed the round's results.