The 9th round of the Tata Steel Chess 2024 went On Tour, and the boards were temporarily moved to the Hague. The AFAS Circus Theater hosted yesterday’s round which saw many turnovers on the board.
It was a good day for whites and five games finished in a decisive result: Alexander Donchenko defeated Alireza Firouzja, Parham Maghsoodloo prevailed against Max Warmerdam, Nodirbek Abdusattorov overwhelmed Jorden van Foreest, Wei Yi took a victory against Ian Nepomniachtchi, and Praggnanandhaa scored against Ju Wenjun.
With only four rounds to go, four players tie for the first place scoring 5.5/9 points: Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Anish Giri, Gukesh D and Praggnanandhaa, and Vidit Santosh Gujrathi, Alireza Firouzja and Wei Yi follow with the score of 5 points.
Alexander Donchenko vs Alireza Firouzja | 1-0
Alexander Donchenko opted for a very sharp position against Alireza Firouzja and it seemed that Firouzja had it all under control. However, the French grandmaster started making mistakes and Donchenko earned a clear advantage. Alireza made a huge blunder with 33…Rh6? and Donchenko forced him to resign after only two moves.
Parham Maghsoodloo vs Max Warmerdam | 1-0
Parham Maghsoodloo had nerves of steel in yesterday’s game against Max Warmedam and bravely defended a completely lost position from the openings. Things started to be complicated in an endgame where Warmerdam had a pawn up, but Maghsoodloo had the initiative. Max started pushing his two connected passed pawns, and it looked like Iranian could not escape. Nonetheless, Maghsoodloo found an amazing tactical motive to trick the Dutch grandmaster and eventually won the game.
Nodirbek Abdusattorov vs Jorden Van Foreest | 1-0
Nodirbek Abdusattorov overwhelmed Jorden Van Foreest in a short game which concluded after only 24 moves of play. It seems that Van Foreest forgot the tricky line and Abdusattorov earned a clear advantage already in the 10th move! Nodirbek pushed further and Jorden Van Foreest resigned shortly after.
Wei Yi vs Ian Nepomniachtchi | 1-0
Wei Yi won the pawn in the early part of the game but it looked like Nepomniachtchi had compensation. But the Chinese grandmaster improved his advantage step by step and won the game after a technique masterpiece.
Praggnanadhaa vs Ju Wenjun | 1-0
Praggnanandhaa opted for Fried Liver attack against the reigning Women’s World Chess Champion Ju Wenjun and took a pawn in the early stage of the game. Of course, Ju Wenjun had the counterplay, but Pragg managed to neutralize it and created an unusual Kingside mating attack which was fatal for Ju Wenjun.
Standings after 9 played rounds:
| 1 | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | 5½/9 | 2727 |
| 2 | Giri, Anish | 5½/9 | 2749 |
| 3 | Praggnanandhaa | 5½/9 | 2743 |
| 4 | Gukesh | 5½/9 | 2725 |
| 5 | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | 5/9 | 2742 |
| 6 | Firouzja, Alireza | 5/9 | 2759 |
| 7 | Wei Yi | 5/9 | 2740 |
| 8 | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | 4½/9 | 2769 |
| 9 | Ding Liren | 4/9 | 2780 |
| 10 | Warmerdam, Max | 4/9 | 2625 |
| 11 | Ju Wenjun | 3½/9 | 2549 |
| 12 | Donchenko, Alexander | 3½/9 | 2643 |
| 13 | Maghsoodloo, Parham | 3½/9 | 2740 |
| 14 | Van Foreest, Jorden | 3/9 | 2682 |
The players are back in Wijk aan Zee for the 10th round which starts today (24 January, 2024) at 14:00 CET. The pairings are:
- Alireza Firouzja vs Anish Giri
- Ian Nepomniachtchi vs Ding Liren
- Jorden Van Foreest vs Wei Yi
- Max Warmerdam vs Nodirbek Abdusattorov
- Ju Wenjun vs Parham Maghsoodloo
- Vidit Santosh Gujrathi vs Praggnanandhaa
- Alexander Donchenko vs Gukesh D
Live games with computer analysis can be followed here, and live video broadcast of the round will be available on the following link.
Photos by Tata Steel Chess / Jurriaan Hoefsmit
