Giri, Erdoğmuş win, Abdusattorov extends lead @ Wijk aan Zee

GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov beat the top seed GM Vincent Keymer and led the table with 5.5 points after the seventh round of the 88th TATA Steel Masters Chess tournament 2026 at the traditional De Moriaan Community Centre, Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands. Fellow Uzbek GM Javokhir Sindarov trailed behind the leader at 4.5 points. In the Challengers section, GMs Andy Woodward and Maurizzi MarcAndria shared the lead with a 5.5/7 score.

Picking up from where he left the London Chess Classic 2025 winner GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov powered his way over top seed GM Vincent Keymer. With his second win in a row at the half-way mark, Nodirbek has placed himself well on the march to the title. The Semi-Slav Defense game saw all aggression from the top seeded German. But the Uzbek star was ready for anything thrown at him and defended precisely while keeping himself ready for counter-attack. When Nodirbek tried to repeat moves early on Keymer preferred to change after which it was black domination all the way. Losing his exchange mid-way Keymer fought well but the ammunition was scarce and the game ended in favor of the Uzbek Grandmaster after 41 moves.

In a calamitous day for India three of their top Grandmasters including the world champion viz., Gukesh Dommaraju, Erigais Arjun and Aravindh Chithambaram went down to GMs Anish Giri, Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş, Jorden van Foreest respectively. When it rains it pours, goes the saying. For the youngest world champion in the history of chess, things haven’t been happening kindly. After blundering an equal game against GM Abdusattorov yesterday, GM Gukesh Dommaraju suffered his second loss in a row going down to TATA Steel Ambassador GM Anish Giri. The English Opening game saw the Dutch star equalising comfortably and when Gukesh started stretching beyond the defined borders, any possible advantage moved away from the Indian. Not to miss the chance, FIDE Grand Swiss winner Giri nailed the issue in 37 moves.

Another English Opening for the day and another win for the player with black pieces. In this case experienced GM Erigaisi Arjun met his Waterloo in the hands of GM Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş. Undermining the double edged position came at a heavy price as the rook vs bishop with passed pawns on the flanks proved fatal for the Indian. A second win in a row for the 14-year-old Grandmaster will go a long way in cementing Erdoğmuş as a future great. Scalping two successive ELO 2700 plus Grandmasters in a row says volumes about this prodigy.

Nothing went right in the King’s Indian game against GM Jorden van Foreest for the Prague Masters Champion GM Aravindh Chithambaram who went on to suffer his third loss in four games. But for the fortuitous draw in the earlier round against FIDE World Cup Champion GM Javokhir Sindarov, it could have been four successive losses for the Indian. It’s time to stop the bleeding and work on a remedy that would restore the necessary balance.

Other games between Sindarov vs Niemann, Praggnanandhaa vs Bluebaum, Nguyen vs Fedoseev ended in draws. For now, it appears to be a two horse race between Uzbek stars Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Javokhir Sindarov, unless the higher seeds wake up in time. It could be a case of camouflage story for the Candidates quartet viz., GM Praggnanandhaa, Bluebaum, Giri and Sindarov who need to hide their preparation and play albeit differently.

The second weekend of the event pulled in a massive crowd of eager watchers, perennial chess lovers, precocious kids and holiday hikers at the De Moriaan Community Centre which throbbed with excitement. The “Wimbledon of Chess” is truly living upto its name, as those who are privileged to be present here can feel the chess pulse.

The 8th round starts by Sunday, 25th January at 8 AM ET/ 2 PM CET / 6:30 PM IST.

Pairings (Round 8): Nodirbek – Giri, Fedoseev – Gukesh, Bluebaum – Nguyen, Erdogmus -Pragg, Aravindh – Erigaisi, Niemann – van Foreest, Keymer – Sindarov.

Results (Masters Round 7):  Keymer (3.5) lost to Abdusattorov (5.5), Sindarov (4.5) drew with Niemann (4.0), van Foreest (4.0) beat Aravindh (2.0), Erigaisi (3.0) lost to Erdogmus (4.0), Praggnanandhaa (2.5) drew with Bluebaum (3.5), Nguyen (2.5) drew with Fedoseev (4.0), Gukesh (3.0) lost to Giri (3.0).

Results (Challengers Round 7): L’Ami (2.0) drew with Yip (4.0), Assaubayeva (3.5) drew with Ivic (2.5), Roebers (1.0) lost to Maurizzi (5.5), Miaoyi (2.0) lost to Ivanchuk (4.5), Warmerdam (3.0) drew with Yuffa (4.0), Panesar (2.0) drew with Oro (4.5), Woodward (5.5) drew with Suleymanli (5.0).

Gukesh Dommaraju (2754) – Anish Giri (2760) 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Nf3 Nc6 4. g3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Bc5 7. d3 O-O 8. Qb3 Nde7 9. O-O h6 10. a3 Nd4 11. Nxd4 exd4 12. Ne4 Bb6 13. Qc2 a5 14. Bd2 a4 15. Bb4 Re8 16. Nc5 Bxc5 17. Bxc5 Nf5 18. Be4 Ra6 19. e3 dxe3 20. fxe3 Qg5 21. Rf4 b6 22. Qc4 Ra7 23. Bb4 c5 24. Qb5 Rae7 25. Bd2 Nd6 26. Qxb6 Nxe4 27. dxe4 Rxe4 28. Rxe4 Rxe4 29. Qc6 Qg4 30. Qxc5 Rc4 31. Qd6 Qe4 32. Kf2 Bb7 33. Rf1 Rc6 34. Qd8+ Kh7 35. Bc3 Rxc3 36. bxc3 Qg2+ 37. Ke1

37…Ba6 0-1

Erigaisi Arjun (2775) – Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş (2658) 1. c4 e5 2. g3 Nf6 3. Bg2 c6 4. Nf3 e4 5. Nd4 d5 6. d3 Qb6 7. Nb3 Ng4 8. O-O e3 9. f3 Nf2 10. Qc2 Nh3+ 11. Bxh3 Bxh3 12. Rd1 d4 13. c5 Qd8 14. Qc4 Na6 15. Qxd4 Qxd4 16. Nxd4 Bxc5 17. Bxe3 O-O-O 18. Nc2 Rhe8 19. Kf2 Nb4 20. Nba3 Rxe3 21. Nxe3 Be6 22. d4 Rxd4 23. Ke1 Rxd1+ 24. Nxd1 Nxa2 25. Kd2 b5 26. Nc2 a5 27. Nc3 Nxc3 28. bxc3 a4 29. e4 Kc7 30. f4 g6 31. Nd4 Bc4 32. e5 Be7 33. g4 c5 34. Nc2 Kc6 35. Ne3 Bb3 36. f5 Bg5 37. Kd3 Bf4 38. Ke4 g5 39. h4 Bxe3 40. Kxe3 gxh4 41. Kd2 Bd5 42. Re1 Kd7 43. Re3 a3 44. Kc1 Bg2 45. e6+ Ke8 46. exf7+ Kxf7 47. Re6 b4 48. g5 b3 49. Rf6+ Kg8 50. Re6 b2+ 51. Kc2 h3

52. Kd3 (52…b1Q & forced mate follows) 0-1

Complete Results

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