Eight rounds are played at the Tata Steel Masters 2023 in Wijk aan Zee, with only five rounds to go. Nodirbek Abdusattorov remained the sole leader of the event with 6/8 points, being a full point ahead of Anish Giri and Wesley So who tie for second.
Abdusattorov yesterday played a draw against Levon Aronian. The 18-year-old Uzbekistani grandmaster had White pieces and reached a completely closed position without chances for a better result. The players agreed for a draw in the 31st move.
Magnus Carlsen won his second game in a row, this time against Fabiano Caruana. Carlsen, having black, equalized in the early middlegame. Caruana made a bad mistake with 22.Bc2 and Carlsen got the decisive advantage which he easily transformed into a victory.
Yesterday’s 8th round saw another three decisive results: Richard Rapport won against Praggnanandhaa, Jorden van Foreest defeated Arjun Erigaisi, and Gukesh claimed a victory against Parham Maghsoodloo.
Today is the second free day of the event, and games will continue tomorrow, January 24th, starting at 14:00 CEST.
Rankings after 8 played rounds:
1
Abdusattorov, Nodirbek
6/8
2713
2
Giri, Anish
5/8
2764
3
So, Wesley
5/8
2760
4
Carlsen, Magnus
4½/8
2859
5
Aronian, Levon
4½/8
2735
6
Praggnanandhaa
4½/8
2684
7
Caruana, Fabiano
4½/8
2766
8
Ding, Liren
4/8
2811
9
Rapport, Richard
3½/8
2740
10
Maghsoodloo, Parham
3½/8
2719
11
Van Foreest, Jorden
3/8
2681
12
Erigaisi Arjun
3/8
2722
13
Keymer, Vincent
2½/8
2696
14
Gukesh D
2½/8
2725