After eight played rounds at the Tata Steel Chess Masters 2024, three players tie for the first place scoring 5/8 points (each): Anish Giri, Gukesh D and Alireza Firouzja.
The 8th round saw interesting encounters and exciting games, but only two finished with a decisive result. Alireza Firouzja defeated the reigning World Chess Champion Ding Liren to leap on the top, while Nodirbek Abdusattorov lost to Ian Nepomniachtchi to be in a group of four players who are trailing the leading trio by half a point.
Alireza Firouzja vs Ding Liren | 1-0
Firouzja opened with 1.d4 and Ding Liren chose Tarrasch defense as Black. All the pieces went hanging in a very early stage of the game, but Alireza benefited from it winning two minor pieces for a Rook. When the game transposed into the endgame, it was clear that the French grandmaster was close to scoring. Showing a perfect technique, Alireza Firouzja forced Ding Liren to resign and leaped on the top.
Ian Nepomniachtchi vs Nodirbek Abdusattorov | 1-0
Nepomniachtchi left the opening slightly better against the Uzbekistani grandmaster. Abdusattorov had a pawn up, but his pawn structure looked grisly. Nepo improved his advantage move by move, eventually reaching a completely winning endgame.
The event continues today (January 23, 2024) in the Hague. The AFAS Circus Theater will host the Tata Steel Chess On Tour round and the pairings are:
- Alexander Donchenko vs Alireza Firouzja
- Gukesh D vs Vidit Santosh Gujrathi
- Praggnanandhaa vs Ju Wenjun
- Parham Maghsoodloo vs Max Warmerdam
- Nodirbek Abdusattorovs vs Jorden Van Foreest
- Wei Yi vs Ian Nepomniachtchi
- Ding Liren vs Anish Giri
Live broadcast of the games can be followed here, and Live Video broadcast of the round will be available on the following link.
Standings after 8 rounds:
| 1 | Giri, Anish | 5/8 | 2749 |
| 2 | Gukesh | 5/8 | 2725 |
| 3 | Firouzja, Alireza | 5/8 | 2759 |
| 4 | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | 4½/8 | 2769 |
| 5 | Praggnanandhaa | 4½/8 | 2743 |
| 6 | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | 4½/8 | 2727 |
| 7 | Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi | 4½/8 | 2742 |
| 8 | Warmerdam, Max | 4/8 | 2625 |
| 9 | Wei Yi | 4/8 | 2740 |
| 10 | Ju Wenjun | 3½/8 | 2549 |
| 11 | Ding Liren | 3½/8 | 2780 |
| 12 | Van Foreest, Jorden | 3/8 | 2682 |
| 13 | Maghsoodloo, Parham | 2½/8 | 2740 |
| 14 | Donchenko, Alexander | 2½/8 | 2643 |
Photos by Tata Steel Chess / Lennart Ootes
