Stefan Beukema News Today

It was a thrilling event from start to finish. The final round of the Tata Steel Masters saw four co-leaders grabbing wins to set up a four-way blitz playoff. Wei Yi, Gukesh D., Anish Giri and Nodirbek Abdusattorov played the knockout tiebreaker, which saw 24-year-old Wei claiming overall victory after showcasing his well-known tactical sharpness in the deciding stage. Meanwhile, Leon Luke Mendonca took clear first place in the Challengers after beating Divya Deshmukh with the white pieces. | Ph...

A magnificent round of chess saw Nodirbek Abdusattorov beating Ju Wenjun to become the sole leader at the Tata Steel Masters in Wijk aan Zee. Standing in sole second place is Gukesh D., who failed to find a couple of tactical shots that would have granted him a full point against Alireza Firouzja. Four players are sharing third place, including Wei Yi and Vidit Gujrathi, who obtained remarkable wins on Friday. In the Challengers, Marc’Andria Maurizzi grabbed a fourth consecutive win and remain...

Gukesh D. and Nodirbek Abdusattorov scored full points on Wednesday to go into the second rest day of the Tata Steel Masters sharing the lead with 6½/10 points. Sharing third place at a half-point distance are Praggnanandhaa R. and Anish Giri, while Ian Nepomniachtchi is one of four players standing a half point further back — Nepo joined this group thanks to a victory over world champion Ding Liren. In the Challengers, Marc’Andria Maurizzi won again and now has a full-point lead over L...

The standings in both the Masters and Challengers were shaken up in round 7 of the Tata Steel Chess Festival. In the Masters, Nodirbek Abdusattorov defeated former sole leader Anish Giri and is now tied for first place — both with Giri and with Gukesh D., who scored a third consecutive victory on Saturday. In the Challengers, Saleh Salem took the lead after beating Eline Roebers and seeing former leader Erwin l’Ami losing to Jaime Santos. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess Tournament / Jurriaan Hoefs...

Alireza Firouzja became the first sole leader in this year’s Tata Steel Masters after beating Parham Maghsoodloo with white in the second round — the Frenchman is the only player who started the event with back-to-back victories. Gukesh D. and Max Warmerdam also grabbed wins on Sunday. Meanwhile, in the Challengers, five players are sharing first place with 1½/2 points. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess Tournament / Lennart Ootes

Magnus Carlsen is missing from this year's Tata Steel Chess, but World Champion Ding Liren has returned from his sabbatical. Otherwise, the Masters and Challengers are once again very colourful, with superstars, women and young talented players. The tournament starts in a week's time. | Photo: Tata Steel Chess