Tata Steel Chess 2024: Gukesh lets Firouzja off the hook, slips to second spot; Vidit’s brilliance floors Maghsoodloo

Abdusattarov defeated women’s world champion Wenjun Ju of China to accumulate 7.5 points and place himself on course for his maiden triumph at the Masters.

File - Indian Grandmaster D Gukesh settled for a draw with Alireza Firouza of France. | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

As widely anticipated, Nodirbek Abdusattorov moved half a point ahead of fellow overnight joint leader D. Gukesh following an expected victory over Woman World champion Ju Wenjun, while the Indian split the point with higher-rated Alireza Firouzja in the 11th round of the Tata Steel Masters chess tournament at Wijk aan Zee, near Amsterdam on Friday.

With two rounds to go, Abdusattorov (7.5) is followed by Gukesh (7), R. Praggnanandhaa, Vidit Gujrathi, Anish Giri and Wei Yi (6 each). In the 12th round, Gukesh plays Praggnanandhaa while Vidit meets Abdusattorov.

Gukesh could have kept pace with Abdusattorov had he not let Firouzja off the hook. As per the computer evaluation, after Firouzja’s 25th and 30th moves, Gukesh could not find the best continuation and eventually settled for a draw in 38 moves.

Vidit played a brilliant game with black pieces to defeat Iran’s Parham Maghsoodloo 37 moves. Praggnanandhaa was kept at bay for 60 moves by Alexander Donchenko.

READ | Tata Steel Chess 2024: Gukesh wins again, stays in joint lead

In the Challengers section, Leon Mendonca (7.5) maintained his second spot, one point behind leader Marc Andria Maurizzi (France), following the conquest of Turkey’s Mustafa Yilmaz. However, D. Harika and Divya Deshmukh (4 each) lost.

The results (11th round):

Masters: D. Gukesh (7) drew with Alireza Firouzja (Fra, 6); Parham Maghsoodloo (Iri, 4) lost to Vidit Gujrathi (6.5); R. Praggnanandhaa (6.5) drew with Alexander Donchenko (Ger, 4); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzb, 7.5) bt Ju Wenjun (Chn, 4); Anish Giri (Ned, 6.5) drew with Ian Nepomniachtchi (FIDE, 6); Wei Yi (Chn, 6.5) bt Max Warmerdam (Ned, 4); Ding Liren (Chn, 4.5) drew with Jorden van Foreest (Ned, 4).

Challengers: Leon Mendonca (7.5) bt Mustafa Yilmaz (Tur, 4); Erwin L’Ami (Ned, 7) bt Divya Deshmukh (4); D.Harika (4) lost to Saleh Salem (UAE, 6.5); Marc Andria Maurizzi (Fra, 8.5) bt Liam Vorlijk (Ned, 5); Daniel Dardha (Bel, 7) bt Eline Roebers (Ned, 2); Stefan Beukema (Bel, 2.5) lost to Hans Moke Niemann (USA, 6.5); Anton Korobov (Ukr, 6.5) drew with Jaime Santos Latasa (Esp, 6).