Niemann, Erigaisi, Keymer off to wins @ Wijk aan Zee
GM Hans Moke Niemann making his debut was off to a miniature win against GM Vladimir Fedoseev at Wijk aan Zee better known as the “Wimbledon of Chess” after the first round of the 88th TATA Steel Chess at the traditional De Moriaan Community Centre, Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands. Also scoring wins in the inaugural round were GMs Erigaisi Arjun and Vincent Keymer respectively.
World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju regrettably missed a win after putting the noose on World Cup winner GM Javokhir Sindarov who squeaked out to a perpetual draw. Protests outside the venue by environmental & climate activists “Extinction Rebellion Nederland” delayed the start by 90 minutes. It might possibly be the answer for some early slips by GMs Fedoseev, Giri and Praggnanandhaa as the trio were unable to recover from their respective unforced errors.
First to come out smiling from the play arena was the American Grandmaster Hans Moke Niemann who got gifted with a quick point by GM Vladimir Fedoseev. The inexplicable piece blunder with 14…Nxc5?? saw GM Fedoseev giving up just two moves later. The resignation appeared to be the Russian Slovenian’s frustration with himself than anything else, while Niemann felt he’d try his hand with some fine Dutch cuisisine thanks to his opponent’s faux pas.
TATA Steel brand ambassador GM Anish Giri double-faulted himself to an early defeat against the top seed German Grandmaster Vincent Keymer. Quite unlike a normally cautious Anish, the Dutchman would just be furious with himself for this moment of chess blindness at his favorite tournament. Last year Anish went down in a winning position against World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju and this time around it was more a Hara-kiri. A rare blunder from the FIDE Grand Swiss champion will likely get sunk in the nearby North Sea and we’d surely get to see a fresh Giri on the morrow.
In the last game to conclude for the day, World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju got himself into a winning position against FIDE World Cup Goa winner Javokhir Sindarov thanks to some excellent middle-game play. Facing a forced mate Sindarov gave up his rook and kept his queen which turned out to be his saviour. With clock time ticking into final few seconds Gukesh let off the chance to deliver the final blow allowing Sindarov to get away with a precious half point. The six hours and 78 moves game show-cased remarkable resilience from both the Indian and Uzbek gladiators, a sure testament that the classical chess is here to stay.
Also settling for a draw was the fourth Indian Grandmaster in the fray Aravindh Chithambaram. The Prague Masters winner failed to put it across the Candidates 2026 qualifier from Germany GM Bluebaum Matthias. Aravindh, having arrived with his second, a highly reputed Indian strategist Grandmaster Sundararajan Kidambi, appeared to be in full throttle in the Catalan closed game. And, the rook and minor piece ending appeared heading towards the Indian’s way when a perpetual draw appeared in the horizon, putting paid to the Indian’s hopes.
Earlier, the Queen’s Gambit Accepted game between the two Indian prodigies saw GM Erigaisi getting the better of his friend and FIDE Circuit 2025 winner GM Praggnanandhaa. The black monarch caught up in the centre was all the magician from Warangal required. The rest of the moves came up with an elegance of an Olympic gymnast for GM Erigaisi who put down GM Praggnanandhaa in 32 moves. A fine start for the genial Erigaisi, while it should be a wake up call for the Candidates 2026 star Pragg.
Round two starts by Sunday, 18th January at 8 AM ET/ 2 PM CET / 6:30 PM IST.
Results (Masters Round 1): Erdogmus drew with Abdusattorov, Aravindh drew with Bluebaum, Niemann beat Fedoseev, Keymer beat Giri, Sindarov drew with Gukesh, van Foreest drew with Nguyen, Erigaisi beat Praggnanandhaa.
Results (Challengers Round 1): Ivanchuk drew with Yip, Maurizzi drew with Yuffa, Ivic drew with Oro, L’Ami lost to Suleymanli, Assaubayeva beat woodward, Roebers lost to Panesar, Miaoyi beat Warmerdam.
Hans Moke Niemann (2725) – Vladimir Fedoseev (2705) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Nxe5 d6 4. Nf3 Nxe4 5. d4 d5 6. Bd3 Bd6 7. O-O O-O 8. c4 c6 9. Re1 Bf5 10. Qb3 Qd7 11. c5 Bc7 12. Nc3 Re8 13. Be3 Bg6 14. g3 Nxc5?? 15. dxc5 Bxd3
16. Qxb7 1-0
Arjun Erigaisi (2775) – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (2758) 1. d4 d5 2. c4 dxc4 3. e4 e5 4. Nf3 exd4 5. Bxc4 Nc6 6. Qb3 Bb4+ 7. Nbd2 Qf6 8. O-O Nge7 9. e5 Qg6 10. Nh4 Qh5 11. Ndf3 Ba5 12. h3 d3 13. Qxd3 Nxe5 14. Nxe5 Qxe5 15. Nf3 Qd6 16. Qb3 Be6 17. Bxe6 fxe6 18. Rd1 Qb6 19. Qa4+ c6 20. Qe4 Qb5 21. Qxe6 Qf5 22. Qe2 Rf8 23. Rd3 Bb6 24. Bg5 Rf7 25. g4 Qg6 26. Re1 Bxf2+ 27. Kxf2 Qxg5 28. Kg2 Qc5 29. Ne5 Rf4 30. Nd7 Qg5 31. Qe6 O-O-O
32. Nf6+ 1-0
Complete Results
Official Site: https://tatasteelchess.com/en
Photo courtesy: Jurriaan Hoefsmit / Lennart Ootes / TATA Steel Chess 2026
