Tata Steel 2024 R6: Gukesh wins two in-a-row, Praggnanandhaa draws against Nepomniachtchi
D Gukesh scored his second consecutive win at 86th Tata Steel Chess Masters 2024. The teenager felt he surprised his opponent with Qf6 in reply to the Netherlands no.2's choice of Scotch opening. In a chaotic position, Jorden blundered a pawn and Gukesh does not let these opportunities slip by. R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi drew against Ian Nepomniachtchi and Wenjun Ju (CHN) respectively. GM Harika Dronavalli bounced back with a victory against IM Stefan Beukema (BEL). IM Eline Roebers (NED) won against the second seeded GM Mustafa Yilmaz (TUR). Vidit v Alireza Firouzja, Gukesh v Max Warmerdam, Praggnanandhaa v Jorden, IM Divya v GM Liam Vrolijk, Harika v Korobov and GM Leon v IM Stefan in Round 7. It starts today at 2 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit/Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024
Dutchmen maintain their sole lead in both Masters and Challengers
"Oh no, I thought I was the one to surprise him actually. Qf6 is (how) I surprised him first. It turned out he knew the line and I knew it till d6. Then I kind of knew the plan like what black is supposed to do but not the exact moves." - Gukesh on if he felt surprised by Jorden van Foreest's (NED) choice of Scotch opening.
Jorden - Gukesh: 0-1
D Gukesh (2725) has never lost a Classical rated game against Jorden van Foreest (NED, 2682). He even won their last Classical battle in May last year. The Netherlands no.2 opted for the Scotch opening with the white pieces. However, Gukesh felt that it was him who brought the element of surprise when he played 4...Qf6.
Gukesh mentioned in the post-game interview that the critical moment of the game was 20...g5. After 21.fxg6 Qxg6 here White should have gone 22.Qh4 instead of 22.Qf2? which is not a good move as it dropped a pawn. 22...Nbxd3 23.cxd3 Nxd3 24.Qd4 Rg8 and he thought that Jorden missed this.
Giri - Parham: 0.5-0.5
Anish Giri (NED, 2749) has never beaten Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI, 2740) in a Classical rated game. Both of their encounters ended in draws. This time Giri had a great opportunity to score a win.
Find out the winning continuation for White in the above diagram which Giri missed in the game. It was certainly not easy to find. The game continued 37.Kh3 hxg3 and White once again one final opportunity to maintain his decisive advantage.
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Schedule
Starting from Saturday 13th to 27th January, all round starts at 2 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Only Sunday 28th January, the final round will start at 12 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Rest days are same for both Masters and Challengers section - 17th, 22nd and 25th January 2024.
Time Control
100 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for the remaining moves with 30 seconds increment for each move starting from the first move.
