Pragg & Abdusattorov lead, it’s 7/7 whitewash in Challengers @ Wijk
Indian ace Praggnanandhaa (2.5) continued his fine form inflicting a heavy defeat on his Olympiad mate Erigaisi Arjun in the third round of the 87th edition of the Tata Steel Masters Chess 2025, at Dorpshuis De Moriaan, Wijk aan Zee here today. In the Challengers section, all seven whites won their games, making it a 7/7 whitewash.
The win today kept Praggnanandhaa on top of the table along with the talented Uzbek Abdusattorov at 2.5 points after three rounds. Half a point behind at 2.0 points were world champion Gukesh Dommaraju, Fabiano Caruana and Vincent Keymer. While leaders Pragg & Abdusattorov won their games, other five were drawn at the Masters section.
Praggnanandhaa executed a positional beauty in Catalan that would be hard to replicate. His end-game technique and knight maneuvers against Erigaisi, a 2800+ player having a rough time here, reminded one of Anatoly Karpov at his best. The loss of one pawn too many spelt doom for Erigaisi even as Praggnanandhaa weaved a mating net with his rooks and knight. Today’s win helped Praggnanandhaa edge out Indian legend Viswanathan Anand in entering the World top ten.
A good mix of positional and tactical game, is what one can infer upon unwinding the Ruy Lopez between Max Warmerdam and Nodirbek Abdusattorov. Until the first time control the game looked to be a closed positional battle with neither going for the kill. Abdusattorov, the wily player, snared a pawn with 35..Bxf3 that triggered heavy piece play from both. Warmerdam gave two more pawns for a sweeping kingside attack. The Uzbek defended precisely catching the white monarch in the centre through his queen and connected knights.
The much awaited game between world champion Gukesh Dommaraju and Fabiano Caruana was the first to conclude in just under three hours. The 24 move Queens Gambit Declined game ended with repetition, where peace appeared all over the place. Also drawn were van Foreest – Sarana, Wei Yi – Keymer, Giri – Fedoseev, Mendonca – Harikrishna games.
The advantage of making the first move was never more pronounced than today, for the Challengers section, saw 1-0 result on all the seven boards. Impressive win came from 14 year old Chinese IM Lu Miaoyi (2429) who accounted for Svane Frederik (2664) in a miniature 28 mover arising from the French Defense. It also happened to be the only win out of the seven, where the lower rated triumphed.
The fourth round starts Tuesday 21st January at 8 AM ET / 2 PM CET / 6:30 PM IST.
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (2741) – Erigaisi Arjun (2801) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. g3 dxc4 5. Bg2 c5 6. O-O Nc6 7. dxc5 Qxd1 8. Rxd1 Bxc5 9. Nbd2 c3 10. bxc3 O-O 11. Ne1 Bd7 12. Rb1 Na5 13. Nb3 Nxb3 14. axb3 Bc6 15. Bxc6 bxc6 16. Nd3 Be7 17. Be3 Rfc8 18. Bc5 Kf8 19. Ra1 Rc7 20. Kf1 Nd7 21. Bxe7+ Kxe7 22. Ra3 c5 23. c4 Rb7 24. Rda1 a5 25. Ke1 Kd6 26. Nc1 Rba7 27. Na2 Kc6 28. Nc3 Nb6 29. f4 Nc8 30. Nb5 Ra6 31. Rd1 Nb6 32. Ra2 Rf8 33. Rd6+ Kb7 34. Nc3 Raa8 35. Rad2 Rfc8 36. Ra2 Rf8 37. Rd1 Ra7 38. Rda1 Rfa8 39. Nb5 Ra6 40. Nd6+ Kc7 41. Nxf7 Nd7 42. Ng5 Nf6 43. Nf3 Ne4 44. Nd2 Nf6 45. Kf2 Ng4+ 46. Kg2 e5 47. Ne4 exf4 48. gxf4 Re8 49. Nxc5 Rc6 50. Nd3 Rg6 51. h3 Ne3+ 52. Kf2 Rg2+ 53. Kf3 Rh2 54. Nf2 g5 55. Rxa5 gxf4 56. Ra7+ Kd6 57. Ne4+ Ke6 58. R1a6+ Ke5 59. Ra5+ Kd4 60. Rd7+ 1-0
Masters (Round 3 Results): van Foreest Jorden (1.0) drew with Sarana Alexey (1.5), Wei Yi (1.5) drew with Keymer Vincent (2.0), Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (2.5) bt Erigaisi Arjun (0.5), Gukesh Dommaraju (2.0) drew with Caruana Fabiano (2.0), Warmerdam Max (1.0) lost to Abdusattorov Nodirbek (2.5), Giri Anish (1.0) drew with Fedoseev Vladimir (1.5), Mendonca Leon Luke (0.5) drew with Harikrishna Pentala (1.5)
Challengers (Round 3 Results): Gurel Ediz (2.0) bt Pijpers Arthur (0.5), Nogerbek Kazybek (1.5) bt Vaishali Rameshbabu (1.5), Nguyen Thai Dai Van (2.5) bt Yakubboev Nodirbek (1.5), L’Ami Erwin (2.5) bt Bok Benjamin (1.5), Oro Faustino (1.0) bt Bulmaga Irina, Lu Miaoyi (2.5) bt Svane Frederik (1.5), SUleymanli Aydin (2.0) bt Divya Deshmukh (0.5)
Picture courtesy: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess 2025
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