Azeri GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov subdued India prodigy Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa in Round 8 of the ongoing 84th Tata Steel Chess Tournament at Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands, to level up with erstwhile solo leader Magnus Carlsen with five rounds to go in the Category 20 (average Elo: 2737) event.
Mamedyarov fought Praggnanandhaa in a sharp English Opening and brought homa the point after 46 mpves, enabling him catch Carlsen on top after the world champion was held to a draw by Sam Shankland in 35 moves of a Tarrasch Defense.
The other winners of Round 8 were Anish Giri, who trounced Andrey Esipenko in 49 moves from the black side of a Guioco Piano; and Santosh Gujrathi Vidit who sank Nils Grandelius deeper to the bottom of the standings by winning in 34 moves of a King’s Indian Defense. The rest of the Round 8 matches were drawn: Fabiano Caruana vs Jorden Van Foreest, Sergey Karjakin vs Richard Rapport, and Daniil Dubov vs Jan-Krzysztof Duda
The standings after Round 8: 1-2. Carlsen, Mamedyarov, 5½; 3; 3-4. Giri, Vidit, 5; 5. Rapport, 4½; 6-9. Esipenko, Caruana, Karjakin, Van Foreest, 4; 10-11. Duda, Shankland, 3½; 12. Dubov, 3; 13. Praggnanandhaa, 2½; 14. Grandelius, 2.
Shankland,S (2708)-Carlsen,M (2865) [D32]
Wijk aan Zee (8.1) 2022
1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 c5 4.cxd5 cxd4 5.Qa4+ Bd7 6.Qxd4 exd5 7.Qxd5 Nf6 8.Qb3 Na6 9.Nf3 Nc5 10.Qc2 Rc8 11.e3 Nce4 12.Bd3 Nxc3 13.bxc3 Nd5 14.0-0 Nxc3 15.Bb2 Bb4 16.Bxc3 Bxc3 17.Rab1 Bf6 18.Qe2 Rc7 19.e4 0-0 20.e5 Be7 21.Nd4 Bc5 22.e6 Bxe6 23.Nxe6 fxe6 24.Qxe6+ Kh8 25.Qh3 h6 26.Qg3 Rd7 27.Rb3 Rf6 28.h3 b6 29.Be2 Rd2 30.Rd3 Rxd3 31.Bxd3 Qd6 32.Qxd6 Rxd6 33.Rd1 g5 34.Kf1 Kg7 35.Bc2 ½-½
Mamedyarov,S (2767)-Praggnanandhaa,R (2612) [A20]
Wijk aan Zee (8.2) 2022
1.c4 e5 2.g3 c6 3.d4 e4 4.Qa4 d5 5.cxd5 b5 6.Qb3 Nf6 7.Bg5 Qa5+ 8.Nc3 b4 9.Nd1 Nxd5 10.Bh3 Bxh3 11.Nxh3 Nd7 12.Rc1 h6 13.Bd2 Rc8 14.f3 N7f6 15.Nhf2 exf3 16.e4 Nb6 17.0-0 Be7 18.Ne3 Qa4 19.Qd3 Qb5 20.Qxb5 cxb5 21.Rxc8+ Nxc8 22.e5 Nd7 23.Nf5 g6 24.Rc1 Ndb6 25.Nxe7 Nxe7 26.Bxb4 Nbd5 27.Bxe7 Kxe7 28.Ne4 g5 29.h3 f6 30.Rc5 f5 31.Nd2 Rd8 32.Nxf3 b4 33.Kf2 Nb6 34.Rc6 Rc8 35.Rxc8 Nxc8 36.h4 g4 37.Ne1 Nb6 38.Ng2 Na4 39.Ne3 Nxb2 40.Nxf5+ Ke6 41.Nxh6 Nd1+ 42.Ke1 Nc3 43.Nxg4 Nxa2 44.h5 Nc3 45.Kd2 Ne4+ 46.Kc2 1-0
Esipenko,A (2714)-Giri,A (2772) [C50]
Wijk aan Zee (8.3) 2022
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 0-0 6.0-0 d5 7.exd5 Nxd5 8.Re1 Bg4 9.Nbd2 Nb6 10.h3 Bh5 11.Bb3 Qxd3 12.Nxe5 Qf5 13.Nef3 Rfe8 14.g4 Bxg4 15.hxg4 Qxg4+ 16.Kh1 Ne5 17.Nh2 Qg6 18.Bc2 Nd3 19.Bxd3 Qxd3 20.Ndf3 Qxd1 21.Rxd1 Bxf2 22.Bf4 c6 23.Rd2 Be3 24.Bxe3 Rxe3 25.Nd4 Nc4 26.Rf2 Rae8 27.Raf1 Nd6 28.Nf5 Nxf5 29.Rxf5 f6 30.Kg2 Kf7 31.Rd1 h5 32.Rf2 g5 33.Rd7+ R3e7 34.Rd6 Re6 35.Rd7+ R8e7 36.Rd8 g4 37.Rh8 Kg6 38.Rg8+ Rg7 39.Rf8 Kg5 40.Nf1 h4 41.a4 a5 42.b4 b6 43.bxa5 bxa5 44.Ra8 Re5 45.Nd2 g3 46.Nf3+ Kf4 47.Rf1 h3+ 48.Kxh3 g2 49.Rf2 Ke3 0-1
Vidit,SG (2727)-Grandelius,N (2672) [A48]
Wijk aan Zee (8.5) 2022
1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nbd2 Bg7 4.e4 0-0 5.e5 Nh5 6.g4 Nf4 7.Ne4 d5 8.Ng3 Ne6 9.Nf5 c5 10.Nxg7 Nxg7 11.h3 cxd4 12.Bh6 Qa5+ 13.Qd2 Qxd2+ 14.Nxd2 Nc6 15.f4 f6 16.exf6 exf6 17.0-0-0 Re8 18.Nb3 Ne6 19.Bg2 Nc7 20.f5 gxf5 21.Rhf1 Kf7 22.gxf5 Rg8 23.Rd2 Ne5 24.Nxd4 Bd7 25.b3 Rae8 26.a4 a6 27.Bf4 Re7 28.Rff2 Bc6 29.Kb2 Rd7 30.Ka3 Ne8 31.c4 Ng7 32.Nxc6 bxc6 33.cxd5 Rgd8 34.dxc6 1-0
Caruana,F (2792)-Van Foreest,J (2702) [C82]
Wijk aan Zee (8.6) 2022
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3 Bc5 10.Nbd2 0-0 11.Bc2 Nxf2 12.Rxf2 f6 13.Nf1 Bxf2+ 14.Kxf2 fxe5 15.Kg1 Qd6 16.Be3 Rad8 17.Qe1 Bf5 18.Bxf5 Rxf5 19.Rd1 h6 20.Bf2 Rf7 21.Bg3 Qc5+ 22.Bf2 Qd6 23.Qe2 Rdf8 24.Bg3 Qc5+ 25.Bf2 Qd6 26.Bg3 Qc5+ 27.Bf2 ½-½
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PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE, MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Nb3!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Re7 2.Nf6#; 1…Rxf5 2.Qxf5#; 1…Bxb3 2.Bxc6#; 1…Bb5 2.Rc5#.
