Carlsen Leads Tata Steel Chess Before Clash With Giri
Magnus Carlsen goes into the final round of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament with a half-point lead over his final round opponent Anish Giri. The Dutchman needs to win, and it's already clear that there won't be a playoff this year.
We're in the middle of the final weekend of the 81st Tata Steel Chess tournament, and that's usually the weekend when the tournament receives a number of special guests. This time, the list included GMs Ken Rogoff and Judit Polgar and also FIDE's Director General Emil Sutovsky and even President Arkady Dvorkovich, who arrived on Friday.
Arkady Dvorkovich taking a photo with his phone... | Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.
...and hitting the gong to open the round. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.
These distinguished chess people and other chess fans saw Carlsen taking the sole lead today thanks to another successful endgame grind, this time against Jan-Krzysztof Duda. The world champ was expected to win much faster when his opponent erred straight out of the opening.
"I don't know if it was winning but it was certainly considerably better," said Carlsen about that moment. "I don't know if he fell for a trap or what he did, but I think after ...h6 his position is, well, what happens is worse and then it's very difficult for him."
So why didn't he win quicker? "I think I played a bit inaccurately early on. Then I sort of got back on track but it was still very difficult to win and I think practically he had very decent drawing chances."
Carlsen interviewed after the game. | Video: Tata Steel Chess.
Judit Polgar, Arkady Dvorkovich and Emil Sutovsky watching Carlsen-Duda. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.
Giri dropped half a point behind, and that could have been a full point. He was under serious pressure against Teimour Radjabov, even in the final position. “I thought I was completely lost,” Giri admitted. “I played badly for sure. What I did was too adventurous and not good. I was very fortunate.“
Giri interviewed after the game. | Video: Tata Steel Chess.
Giri vs Radjabov. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.
With Giri half a point behind Carlsen, the runner-up is in a must-win situation. Or so it seems! In his interview, Giri pulled a face and remarked: “You assume I want to win the tournament or something? I am going to defend with the white pieces and see what happens.”
Carlsen said: "I'm a bit sad that last year's playoff won't be repeated but apart from that I'm happy. It's always better to be ahead."
It's going to be a fight tomorrow only between these players (the same as last year!) because Ian Nepomniachtchi lost, and terribly, we may add. The Russian player experimented a bit in the opening, which backfired completely against Sam Shankland, who thus recovered nicely from yesterday's "hallucination" against Giri.
Shankland giving Nepo the look, with Bareev and Anand watching. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.
Vladimir Kramnik won his second straight game (“It seems I would like another 13 rounds!” he said), vs Vladimir Fedoseev. The two are now sharing last place with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Jorden van Foreest.
“I don’t know why but I think today I played quite decently. I was not expecting this but it happened,” said Kramnik.
Kramnik interviewed after the game. | Video: Tata Steel Chess.
Vidit Gujrathi was close to scoring his third win in a row, but this time he only got a draw, vs Richard Rapport. “I got into time pressure and I messed up the win. It was really very complex. He did well to complicate the matters,” the young Indian player said.
Vidit interviewed after the game. | Video: Tata Steel Chess.
Almost a third straight win for Vidit. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.
Tata Steel Chess Masters | Standings
| # | Fed | Name | Rating | TPR | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Score | SB |
| 1 | Carlsen | 2835 | 2902 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 8.5 / 12 | 47 | |||
| 2 | Giri | 2783 | 2869 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 8.0 / 12 | 42.75 | |||
| 3 | Nepomniachtchi | 2763 | 2809 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 7.0 / 12 | 42.25 | |||
| 4 | Ding Liren | 2813 | 2806 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 7.0 / 12 | 41 | |||
| 5 | Anand | 2773 | 2813 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7.0 / 12 | 37.75 | |||
| 6 | Vidit | 2695 | 2785 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6.5 / 12 | 35.5 | |||
| 7 | Radjabov | 2757 | 2752 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 6.0 / 12 | 36.5 | |||
| 8 | Shankland | 2725 | 2724 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 5.5 / 12 | 33 | |||
| 9 | Rapport | 2731 | 2738 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 5.5 / 12 | 31.25 | |||
| 10 | Duda | 2738 | 2692 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 5.0 / 12 | 27.25 | |||
| 11 | Fedoseev | 2724 | 2663 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4.5 / 12 | 28.75 | |||
| 12 | Mamedyarov | 2817 | 2663 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 4.5 / 12 | 26.5 | |||
| 13 | J. van Foreest | 2612 | 2680 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 0 | 4.5 / 12 | 25.75 | |||
| 14 | Kramnik | 2777 | 2666 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 4.5 / 12 | 24.75 |
Pairings for round 13 (Sunday): Giri-Carlsen, Nepomniachtchi-Radjabov, Kramnik-Shankland, Mamedyarov-Fedoseev, Rapport-Van Foreest, Anand-Vidit, Duda-Ding Liren.
Despite (or perhaps because of!) being one of the late-night heroes who are almost daily frequenting the local bars, Vladislav Kovalev took the sole lead with one round to go in the challenger group. With black he defeated Elisabeth Paehtz, who blundered early on.
Andrey Esipenko scored a quick win against Dinara Saduakassova with a nice final move:
Esipenko vs Saduakassova. | Photo: Maria Emelianova/Chess.com.
Tata Steel Chess Challengers | Standings
| # | Fed | Name | Rating | SB | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Score | TPR |
| 1 | Kovalev | 2687 | 51.5 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 9.0 / 12 | 2773 | |||
| 2 | Esipenko | 2584 | 47.25 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 8.5 / 12 | 2732 | |||
| 3 | Chigaev | 2604 | 44.25 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8.5 / 12 | 2733 | |||
| 4 | Gledura | 2615 | 39.25 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 7.5 / 12 | 2670 | |||
| 5 | Korobov | 2699 | 38.75 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 7.0 / 12 | 2634 | |||
| 6 | L'Ami | 2643 | 37.75 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 6.5 / 12 | 2612 | |||
| 7 | Maghsoodloo | 2679 | 31.75 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6.5 / 12 | 2608 | |||
| 8 | Bareev | 2650 | 30.75 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 6.0 / 12 | 2574 | |||
| 9 | L. van Foreest | 2502 | 30.25 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 5.5 / 12 | 2548 | |||
| 10 | Keymer | 2500 | 23.25 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 5.0 / 12 | 2522 | |||
| 11 | Praggnanandhaa | 2539 | 24.5 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 4.5 / 12 | 2506 | |||
| 12 | Paehtz | 2477 | 18.5 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 3.5 / 12 | 2425 | |||
| 13 | Kuipers | 2470 | 16.75 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 3.0 / 12 | 2387 | |||
| 14 | Saduakassova | 2472 | 16.5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 3.0 / 12 | 2400 |
Pairings for round 13 (Sunday): Van Foreest-Korobov, Gledura-Chigaev, Saduakassova-Praggnanandhaa, Bareev-Esipenko, Kovalev-Kuipers, L'Ami-Paehtz, Keymer-Maghsoodloo.
Replay the live broadcast of the 12th round.
The official video broadcast is "proudly powered" by Chess.com, which you can watch on both tatasteelchess.com and Chess.com/TV. The remaining round starts at noon local time (6:00 a.m. New York, 3:00 a.m. Pacific) in Wijk aan Zee with commentary by GM Robert Hess and IM Sopiko Guramishvili.
Previous reports:
- Tata Steel Chess: Giri, Carlsen Lead After Shankland Resigns In Drawn Position
- Carlsen Grinds Down Anand In Leiden, Leads Tata Steel Chess
- Nepomniachtchi Joins Carlsen, Anand To Lead Tata Steel Chess
- Anand, Carlsen Lead Tata Steel Chess After Great Wins
- Anand Joins Leaders On Tata Steel Chess's Ladies Day
- Carlsen, Giri Join Leaders At Tata Steel Chess
- Ding Liren Catches Nepomniachtchi As Tata Steel Chess Visits Alkmaar
- Tata Steel Chess R4: Carlsen Beats Giri's Drawing Streak
- Tata Steel Chess R3: Nepomniachtchi Wins Again, Grabs Lead
- Dutch Comeback: Giri, Van Foreest Win In Tata Steel Chess Round 2
- Anand, Nepomniachtchi Start With Wins At Tata Steel Chess Tournament
- Carlsen, Mamedyarov, Ding Top Seeds At 81st Tata Steel Chess Tournament
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