Giri's Double Sacrifice Stuns Gukesh, Carlsen Grinds Down Keymer
GMs Magnus Carlsen and Anish Giri joined GMs Ding Liren and Nodirbek Abdusattorov on 1.5/2 after scoring victories over GMs Gukesh D and Vincent Keymer in the second round of the 2023 Tata Steel Chess Tournament.
The world championship challenger Ding very nearly won his encounter with GM Parham Maghsoodloo but was held to a draw after some sublimed endgame defense, a theme which marked the remainder of the round's draws.
In the Challengers group, 17-year-old IM Eline Roebers stunned the reigning Dutch champion GM Erwin l'Ami, while GMs Alexander Donchenko and Amin Tabatabaei picked up their first victories.
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The live broadcast was hosted by GM Robert Hess and IM Tania Sachdev.
Day two in Wijk aan Zee was full of highlights and none more than Giri's barnstorming victory over Gukesh. The Indian GM was unlucky to lose his second game in a row after confronting the Dutchman who played inspired chess to win in 27 moves on his home soil.
Battling against a typically drawish setup in the Queen's Gambit Declined: Ragozin Defense, the game looked tame until the erroneous 17.Kh8 by Gukesh. Smelling blood in the water, Giri found a brilliant combination, leaving his opponent with little counterplay.
Our deserving game of the day is analyzed by GM Rafael Leitao.
Besides Giri's win, grinding endgames were the theme of round two, and the world champion was unsurprisingly able to secure his first win on Sunday in a classic endgame over the flourishing German, Keymer. Having dodged any significant theoretical novelties by employing the Grunfeld, Carlsen found himself in a position to liquidate into a winning rook and pawn endgame.
Despite possessing two extra pawns, Carlsen required care to convert the point and indicated that his "confidence waned" as it dawned on him that the endgame was trickier than he initially assumed. Fortunately, he was able to show the sufficient technique required to quash any chance of a fortress.
At this point, the Norwegian could change his career goal to singlehandedly disproving the adage that "all rook endings are drawn." Romanian IM Adrian Petrisor has provided his analysis of the clash below.
A perfect 2/2 start for Ding was marred by extraordinary endurance from Maghsoodloo who battled from a worse position for hours to steal his second draw of the event.
A 10-point rating gain from the Iranian number-one in Wijk aan Zee would see him move into the world top-20 for the first time in his career.
GM Fabiano Caruana showed his endgame prowess in round two, successfully drawing a rook-and-three-pawn versus a rook-and-four-pawn ending against Abdusattorov. Fascinatingly, the American's doubled f-pawns seemed to assist in the defense of the endgame which can often prove a challenge at the highest levels.
Regulation draws on the remaining boards make up the rest of the results of the round as four clear leaders have emerged in Carlsen, Ding, Abdusattorov, and Giri. The world's number one and two will face off in round three in their first clash since the 2019 Sinquefield Cup (Ding eventually won the tournament after beating Carlsen in a tiebreaker) in a game that, if statistics foretell, will go a long way for deciding a tournament victor.
Carlsen strikes back at #TataSteelChess! With his win today, he is back in the pole position. Four players are tied for first, but Magnus is the favorite once again. Magnus vs Ding tomorrow is a heavyweight bout to tune in for! #Chess https://t.co/PAYupjEXLj pic.twitter.com/4WhIKjERxY
— Pawnalyze (@pawnalyze) January 15, 2023
The Challengers event piqued the interest of viewers early on Sunday, courtesy of a move-six blunder from the top seed, Tabatabaei. Facing the King's Gambit Accepted against the ambitious GM Jergus Pechac, the Iranian hung a knight and immediately drew the attention of several of the biggest chess personalities.
2700 rated player hung a piece on move 6 😳 pic.twitter.com/i3cruZUwNV
— GothamChess (@GothamChess) January 15, 2023
Tabatabaei blundered a piece on move 7 in a classical game. He still won.
— agadmator (@agadmator) January 15, 2023
Never give up! pic.twitter.com/gT5wyUryos
In a remarkable renaissance, Tabatabaei recovered from the blunder and never gave up, avenging his wayward knight by snaring White's king in the middle of the board and eventually winning the game.
Roebers win over l'Ami was the other headliner of the day as the 266-point rating difference makes it the greatest upset of the event so far. A picturesque queen sacrifice on move 35 was the statement piece for the Dutch women's board one, and when the dust settled the 17-year-old had managed to win back all of her material plus interest.
GM Abhimanyu Mishra needed to pull out all the stops to draw his game against GM Mustafa Yilmaz, and the 13-year-old GM proved his mettle with a double-piece sacrifice to secure perpetual checks.
After two rounds of play, leading the Challengers are four players: Mishra, Donchenko, Tabatabaei, and GM Max Warmerdam, after his windmill tactic in round one ironically symbolic of Dutch culture.
All Masters Games - Round 2
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