Wei Yi Moves To Clear 2nd At Tata Steel
Thanks to a win against Sergey Karjakin, Wei Yi is suddenly in clear second place at the Tata Steel Chess Tournament. In the challengers, Jeffery Xiong defeated Ilia Smirin to grab clear first with two rounds to go.
Photo: Alina l'Ami.
His rise was rather quiet, and almost went unnoticed. All of a sudden, Wei Yi is in clear second place in Wijk aan Zee!
It's a bit of a surprise when taking into account that only two players in the masters have a lower rating. On the other hand, for a few years now, the Chinese grandmaster has been branded as one of the biggest rising stars in chess.
But... is he ready to win his first super tournament? We'll know more tomorrow, since he'll be facing tournament leader Wesley So!
Today's win against Sergey Karjakin was largely based on opening preparation. Wei was more familiar with this specific variation in the Berlin, which he had specially prepared.
Karjakin, who needed much time on the clock, mixed up things and then missed a tactic, as he later tweeted.
Mix up preparation is not big deal,but when you go to the force line and blunder that 16...Qd4 does not work because of 18.Rad1 that is bad😏
— Sergey Karjakin (@SergeyKaryakin) January 27, 2017
After yet another draw, it's now even less likely for Magnus Carlsen to win the tournament. Today he faced Baskaran Adhiban, the fans' favorite in Wijk aan Zee—both for playing off-beat openings, and holding his own in those!
Today the Indian grandmaster went for the 2...Nf6 Scandinavian, also known as "Smerdon's Scandinavian" since the Australian grandmaster published an excellent book about it.
Carlsen has probably read at least parts of it (the world champ is known for reading almost any good chess book that comes out), but not this morning. His treatment was rather tame.
Holding the world champ to a draw isn't bad PR for Smerdon's Scandinavian. | Photo: Alina l'Ami.
Nonetheless, he won a pawn in the opening, but he had to weaken a lot of light squares for it. Adhiban countered with the excellent 20...b5 and really took over.
If he had found 34...Qg4! with the point 35.Re1 Re3!!, he could even have beaten the world champ, who is said to be not happy at all with his play in Wijk aan Zee.
"I play badly" Carlsen tells me after his 7th draw in #TataSteelChess https://t.co/7laugvpToB
— Tarjei J. Svensen (@TarjeiJS) January 27, 2017
Anish Giri missed an excellent chance to move to "plus one" today. He was playing a fantastic game, rather untypical for his style actually.
He went for the kill right from the start against Pentala Harikrishna, but at a crucial moment, he failed to find the key tactic. A real pity for the Dutchman.
All other games ended in draws as well. On Saturday, the pairings for round 12 are Aronian-Van Wely, Harikrishna-Rapport, Adhiban-Giri, Eljanov-Carlsen, Karjakin-Nepomniachtchi, So-Wei, and Wojtaszek-Andreikin.
Tata Steel Masters | Round 11 Standings
| # | Fed | Name | Rtg | Perf | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Pts | SB |
| 1 | So | 2808 | 2881 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7.5/11 | |||||
| 2 | Wei Yi | 2706 | 2847 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7.0/11 | |||||
| 3 | Aronian | 2780 | 2818 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 6.5/11 | 36.75 | ||||
| 4 | Carlsen | 2840 | 2804 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 6.5/11 | 34.00 | ||||
| 5 | Eljanov | 2755 | 2804 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 6.5/11 | 32.25 | ||||
| 6 | Adhiban | 2653 | 2794 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 6.0/11 | 32.25 | ||||
| 7 | Karjakin, | 2785 | 2771 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 6.0/11 | 30.25 | ||||
| 8 | Harikrishna | 2766 | 2760 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 5.5/11 | 31.75 | ||||
| 9 | Giri | 2773 | 2758 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 5.5/11 | 28.50 | ||||
| 10 | Andreikin | 2736 | 2687 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 4.5/11 | 24.75 | ||||
| 11 | Nepomniachtchi | 2767 | 2678 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 4.5/11 | 23.25 | ||||
| 12 | Wojtaszek | 2750 | 2693 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 4.5/11 | 21.75 | ||||
| 13 | Rapport | 2702 | 2666 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 4.0/11 | |||||
| 14 | Van Wely | 2695 | 2540 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 2.5/11 |
Games from TWIC.
Jeffery Xiong is a rising star of U.S. chess, and he is doing wonderfully in Wijk aan Zee. With two rounds to go, the 16-year-old is the sole leader of the challengers. He defeated co-leader Ilia Smirin in an excellent technical game and saw the other leader Markus Ragger draw his game.
Jeffery Xiong, now on 8/11 in the challengers. | Photo: Alina l'Ami.
The pairings for the penultimate round in the challengers are Grandelius-Lu, Jones-Dobrov, Guramishvili-Hansen, Smirin-Tingjie, Tari-Xiong, Bok-l'Ami, and Ragger-Van Foreest.
| # | Fed | Name | Rtg | Perf | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Pts | SB |
| 1 | Xiong | 2667 | 2755 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8.0/11 | |||||
| 2 | Ragger | 2697 | 2712 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7.5/11 | 37.50 | ||||
| 3 | Jones | 2665 | 2725 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 7.5/11 | 36.50 | ||||
| 4 | Smirin | 2667 | 2693 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 7.0/11 | |||||
| 5 | Hansen | 2603 | 2669 | 1 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 6.5/11 | 34.50 | ||||
| 6 | Grandelius | 2642 | 2648 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6.5/11 | 30.25 | ||||
| 7 | Lu Shanglei | 2612 | 2643 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 6.5/11 | 30.00 | ||||
| 8 | L'Ami | 2605 | 2612 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 6.0/11 | |||||
| 9 | Tari | 2584 | 2598 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 5.5/11 | |||||
| 10 | Bok | 2608 | 2520 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 4.5/11 | |||||
| 11 | Dobrov | 2499 | 2483 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 3.5/11 | 17.25 | ||||
| 12 | Van Foreest | 2612 | 2445 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 3.5/11 | 15.00 | ||||
| 13 | Lei Tingjie | 2467 | 2466 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3.5/11 | 14.75 | ||||
| 14 | Guramishvili | 2370 | 2221 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1.0/11 |
Games from TWIC.
Previous Reports
- Carlsen Closing In On So After Beating Van Wely
- Rapport Beats Carlsen; Aronian Bounces Back
- Carlsen Misses Mate In 3 Vs Giri
- Giri Wins In Tata Steel
- So Grabs Tata Lead; Carlsen Plays Football
- Eljanov Ahead of Carlsen, So At Tata Steel
- Rapport Spoils Brilliancy, Loses To So
- Inspired By Karjakin, Carlsen Gets 1st Tata Steel Win
- Eljanov Starts With Sole Lead In Tata Steel
- Carlsen vs So Kicks Off Tata Steel Chess
- 2017 Tata Steel Chess Tournament: Preview
Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms. Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools. Between 2007 and 2013 Peter was running ChessVibes, a major source for chess news and videos acquired by Chess.com in October 2013. As our Director News & Events, Peter writes many of our news reports. In the summer of 2022, The Guardian’s Leonard Barden described him as “widely regarded as the world’s best chess journalist.”
Peter's first book The Chess Revolution is out now!
Company Contact and News Accreditation:
Email: peter@chess.com FOR SUPPORT PLEASE USE chess.com/support!
Phone: 1 (800) 318-2827
Address: 877 E 1200 S #970397, Orem, UT 84097
