Giri downs leader Abdusattorov, Gukesh wins @ Wijk aan Zee

Dutch Grandmaster Anish Giri beat tournament leader GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov in the eighth round of the 88th TATA Steel Masters Chess tournament 2026 at the traditional De Moriaan Community Centre, Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands. GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov continued to lead with 5.5 points, followed by countryman GM Javokhir Sindarov at 5.0 points. In the Challengers section, Grandmasters Andy Woodward and Maurizzi Marc’Andria shared the lead with a 6.5/8 score.

In the game of the day, TATA Steel brand ambassador GM Anish Giri continued his fine run inflicting leader GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov his first defeat of the tournament. The Nimzo-Indian game saw Anish in a daring mood as black pieces were swarming for attack from the word go. After just about a dozen moves black’s kingside looked wide open, but surprisingly Nodirbek’s pieces were yet to take-off from the starting blocks. A little later the white knight went off-side, got trapped and remained there for almost the whole game. Try as he did, the Uzbek was unable to extricate himself from the Dutchman’s positional squeeze, until it was too late. A sparkling knight sacrifice, little after the first time control, sewed up the game for the FIDE Grand Swiss champion in 51 moves.

Another Nimzo-Indian and another black win was the order of the day. The second winner of the round turned out to be world champion Gukesh Dommaraju who scored a comfortable win over GM Vladimir Fedoseev. Unusually passive play by the Slovenian GM was adequately exploited by black who seized the first chance. An intervening exchange of pieces saw Fedoseev going for the bishop grab which further compromised his position. With white’s position getting deteriorated every move, Gukesh decided to up the ante and Fedoseev cracked under pressure conceding his queen and the game after 41 moves.  The cushion of the second rest day & 50% score would give both the winner’s – World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju & GM Anish Giri – time to rest, reflect and resume in the right manner.

The games between GMs Aravindh vs Erigaisi, Niemann vs van Foreest, Keymer vs Sindarov, Erdogmus vs Pragg and Bluebaum vs Nguyen ended evenly.

Being the weekend, crowds thronged the famed De Moriaan Community centre with fans waiting to catch the glimpse of the top Grandmasters. Chess lovers travelled from as far as Brussles to Wijk aan Zee (around 237 kms) waiting hours to get the autographs and pictures with their favorite players. Thoughtfully, TATA Steel had printed autograph cards containing the pictures of all the Grandmasters in action which proved to be big hit with the kids.

After a day of rest, the ninth round starts by Tuesday, 27th January at 8 AM ET/ 2 PM CET / 6:30 PM IST.

Pairings (Round 9): Sindarov – Abdusattorov, van Foreest – Keymer, Erigaisi – Niemann, Pragg – Aravindh, Nguyen – Erdogmus, Gukesh – Bluebaum, Giri – Fedoseev.

Results (Masters Round 8):  Aravindh (2.5) drew with Erigaisi (3.5), Fedoseev (4.0) lost to Gukesh (4.0), Niemann (4.5) drew with van Foreest (4.5), Keymer (4.0) drew with Sindarov (5.0), Abdusattorov (5.5) lost to Giri (4.0), Erdogmus (4.5) drew with Praggnanandhaa (3.0) Bluebaum (4.0) drew with Nguyen (3.0).

Results (Challengers Round 8): Yip (4.0) lost to Suleymanli (6.0), Oro (4.5) lost to woodward (6.5), Yuffa (4.5) drew with Panesar (2.5), Ivanchuk (5.5) beat Warmerdam (3.0), Maurizzi (6.5) beat Miaoyi (2.0), Ivic (3.5) beat Eline Roebers (1.0), L’Ami (2.0) lost to Assaubayeva (4.5).

Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2751) – Anish Giri (2760) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 d5 5. cxd5 exd5 6. Bf4 Ne4 7. Rc1 Nc6 8. Nd2 g5 9. Be3 Nxc3 10. bxc3 Ba3 11. Rb1 f5 12. g3 Bd6 13. Nf3 f4 14. Bc1 O-O 15. Rb5 g4 16. Nh4 Ne7 17. e3 c6 18. Rb2 f3 19. h3 b5 20. Qd3 Rf7 21. Kd1 Rb8 22. hxg4 Bxg4 23. Bh3 Bxh3 24. Rxh3 Qd7 25. Rh1 Qg4 26. Kc2 Ba3 27. Rb3 Bxc1 28. Kxc1 Nc8 29. Qf1 Kg7 30. Qd1 h5 31. e4 dxe4 32. d5 Qg5+ 33. Kb1 Qxd5 34. c4 Qxd1+ 35. Rxd1 Nb6 36. cxb5 Na4 37. Rd4 Nc5 38. Rc3 Rxb5+ 39. Kc2 Rfb7 40. Rcc4 Kf6 41. Kc3 Rb1 42. Rd2 Rc1+ 43. Rc2 Rxc2+ 44. Kxc2 Rb5 45. Kc3 Ke5 46. Ng6+ Kd6 47. Kd4 Rb2 48. Rxc5 Rb4+ 49. Rc4 c5+ 50. Kc3 e3 51. Rh4

51…Rb1 0-1

Vladimir Fedoseev (2705) – Gukesh Dommaraju (2754) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. Nf3 O-O 6. e3 b6 7. Be2 Bb7 8. cxd5 exd5 9. a3 Be7 10. b4 Nbd7 11. Rb1 c6 12. O-O Bd6 13. Nh4 Re8 14. Nf5 Bf8 15. f3 g6 16. Ng3 Rc8 17. Bd2 Bg7 18. e4 c5 19. bxc5 bxc5 20. e5 cxd4 21. exf6 dxc3 22. Bc1 Qxf6 23. Rxb7 Nc5 24. Rb4 a5 25. Rb5 h5 26. Rd1 h4 27. Nh1 Ne6 28. Rbxd5 Nd4 29. R5xd4 Qb6 30. Kf1 Bxd4 31. a4 Red8 32. Bb5 Be3 33. Bd3 Bxc1 34. Rxc1 Rd4 35. Nf2 Rb4 36. Nd1 Qd6 37. h3 Kg7 38. Nxc3 Rb3 39. Qd2 Qb4 40. Bxg6 Rbxc3

41. Bc2?? 0-1

Complete Results

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Photo courtesy: Jurriaan Hoefsmit / Lennart Ootes / TATA Steel Chess 2026