Tata Steel Masters wide open after 8 rounds

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Round 8 Summary

Ian Nepomniachtchi further fired the intrigue at the top of the Masters
when he defeated the leader Nodirbek Abdusattorov and moved within
half a point of the leaders himself. The opening was a d3 Giuoco Piano
(started as a Two Knights and I think this may be strictly
called the Giuoco Pianissimo) and the key moments were between moves
17 and 24 where the game went from basically balance to basically lost
for black. 18.c5!? broke up black’s pawns structure, the computers
still think black is alright but without dynamic compensation he’s
going to be worse. 18…dxc5 is probably not the best way, 18…Rad8
is preferred by the engines, 21…Rd8?! (21…Bd8!) seems the next
concession from black, 22…Qb4?! (22…Nb5) 23…Nb5?! (23…f6 protecting
the pawn) 24…Qc3?! (24….f6 again should be tried). After this
white quickly becomes a pawn up and has all the compensation too.
Black fought on until move 65 but the game was as good as over.

Alireza Firouzja’s rollercoaster tournament continued with a win against
World Champion Ding Liren. Ding has been ghostly presence here with just his Round 3 win against Gukesh
making an real impact. Today Ding completely equalised before blundering
his position away with one bad move in a tactical sequence. 17.Rxe7 Nxe7 18.Rxd4 had to be met by
18… Nfd5 19. Bxe7 Qxe7 20.
Nxd5 Bxd5 21. Rxd5 Rac8 22. Qd2 bxa3 (or 22… Rfd8) as it was 18…Qc7?? 19.Ne4 Qxc2 20.Nxf6+
left him completely lost, whilst Ding was entitled to play on it was a bit pointless.

Santosh Vidit against Alexander Donchenko was a Ragozin defence
15.Rad1 (15.Qb3) was the novelty. After 25.Na5 it became
clear the position was absolutely equal and the game
was drawn in 43 moves.

Max Warmerdam drew against Praggnanandhaa in a Bogo-Indian in
43 moves. After 16…Nbd7 (16…c5) the engines suggest white
had a little something, something but 28.Bc4 (28.Bh3!) and
31.Bc4 were inaccuracies that led to a level position again.
Anish Giri got absolutely nothing out of the opening against
Wei Yi’s Schlechter Gruenfeld setup and after 10…c5, which
was a novelty pieces were traded steadily until a draw was
agreed in 33 moves.

Jorden van Foreest was clearly at least a little better
against Parham Maghsoodloo in a Moscow Variation of the
Sicilian. 23.a5 (23.b5) was perhaps a step in the wrong direction
but so probably was black’s 25…Ne8 (25…Nc4=) and then
also 26.f4 from white (26.Ng3 is recommended, I think with
the idea of a later Nf1-e3-d5). The position became
dead level after 38.Nxe4 (38.Bxg7 may have left something
to play for) and the game was drawn on move 41.

Ju Wenjun drew against Gukesh in 48 moves. The opening
was a Bogo Indian where white was allowed to set up a
broad centre before being immediately demolished with
6…d5 and 8…c5. Black flirted with equality until
he got it after 17.Be4 Nxe4. Taking Queen’s off with
24.Qxf7+ when black had the weaker King was a mistake
(24.Qe2 or Qc3 or Qc1, one of those should have been chosen)
leaving black with a modest advantage. It’s hard to say
whether 25…e4 26.f4 exf3 was a good sequence by either side
as there were alternatives but they quickly arrived at the
key position and Ju found strictly the only move, the
cheeky 35.Nf4+ relying on a tactical sequence not to
lose a piece, the only real alternative in fact was
35.Nc3 which would have left black better, as it was
this was dead equal and the game was soon drawn.

Tata Steel Chess Round 8 Commentary

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