2017 Tata Steel Chess (Wijk aan Zee)
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Carlsen hoists champion’s trophy.
Photo by chess24
Carlsen is joined by the newly-emergent Wesley So and his nemesis Sergey Karjakin. There are several new faces in the “Masters” group including the winner of last year’s “Challengers” group Baskaran Adihiban and Wei Yi, who won the group in 2015.
GM Jeffery Xiong
Photo by Daaim Shabazz.
Tata Steel is an Indian multinational conglomerate consisting of a number of industries. Those following the tournament from the early days will remember it as the Hoorgovens, a Dutch steel company that would later merge with British steel to form the Corus Group. When Tata steel purchased Corus in 2007, the tournament took on the name of Indian conglomerate.
Official Site: https://www.tatasteelchess.com/
Videos: (YouTube, Chess24)
January 13th-29th, 2017 (Wijk aan Zee, Netherlands) |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
#
|
Name
|
Title
|
Federation
|
Flag
|
Rating
|
| 1 | Carlsen, Magnus | GM | Norway |
 |
2840 |
| 2 | So, Wesley | GM | USA |
 |
2808 |
| 3 | Karjakin, Sergey | GM | Russia |
 |
2785 |
| 4 | Aronian, Levon | GM | Armenia |
 |
2780 |
| 5 | Giri, Anish | GM | Netherlands |
 |
2773 |
| 6 | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | GM | Russia |
|
2767 |
| 7 | Harikrishna, Pentala | GM | India |
 |
2766 |
| 8 | Eljanov, Pavel | GM | Ukraine |
 |
2755 |
| 9 | Wojtaszek, Radoslaw | GM | Poland |
 |
2750 |
| 10 | Andreikin, Dmitri | GM | Russia |
|
2736 |
| 11 | Wei, Yi | GM | China |
 |
2675 |
| 12 | Rapport, Richard | GM | Hungary |
 |
2702 |
| 13 | Van Wely, Loek | GM | Netherlands |
|
2695 |
| 14 | Adhiban, Baskaran | GM | India |
|
2653 |
|
#
|
Name
|
Title
|
Federation
|
Flag
|
Rating
|
| 1 | Ragger, Markus | GM | Austria |
 |
2697 |
| 2 | Smirin, Ilya | GM | Israel |
 |
2667 |
| 3 | Xiong, Jeffery | GM | USA |
|
2667 |
| 4 | Jones, Gwain | GM | England |
 |
2665 |
| 5 | Grandelius, Nils | GM | Sweden |
 |
2642 |
| 6 | Lu, Shanglei | GM | China |
|
2612 |
| 7 | van Foreest, Jorden | GM | Netherlands |
|
2612 |
| 8 | Bok, Benjamin | GM | Netherlands |
|
2608 |
| 9 | L’Ami, Erwin | GM | Netherlands |
|
2605 |
| 10 | Hansen, Eric | GM | Canada |
 |
2603 |
| 11 | Tari, Aryan | GM | Norway |
|
2584 |
| 12 | Dobrov, Vladimir | GM | Russia |
|
2499 |
| 13 | Tingjie, Lei | WGM | Netherlands |
|
2467 |
| 14 | Guramishvili, Sopiko | IM | Georgia |
 |
2370 |
Schedule
Both groups start on 14 January 2017. All rounds in Wijk aan Zee begin at 1:30pm, except for the last round on 29 January 2017, which begins at 12.00pm. Both rounds on the Chess On Tour days start at 2:00pm.
Saturday, January 14th
Round 2
Sunday, January 15th
Round 3
Monday, January 16th
Round 4
Tuesday, January 17th
REST DAY
Wednesday, January 18th
Round 5
Thursday, January 19th (Rotterdam)
Round 6
Friday, January 20th
Round 7
Saturday, January 21st
Round 8
Sunday, January 22nd
REST DAY
Monday, January 23rd
Round 9
Tuesday, January 24th
Round 10
Wednesday, January, 25th (Haarlem)
REST DAY
Thursday, January 26th
Round 11
Friday, January 27th
Round 12
Saturday, January 28th
Round 13
Sunday, January 29th
Photo by Tata Steel Chess
# # #
Round 1 – Saturday, January 14
Eljanov beats Rapport’s eccentric 4…g5!? in exciting encounter!
Ragger beats World Junior Champion
MASTERS
Pentala Harikrishna ½-½ Levon Aronian
Baskaran Adhiban ½-½ Loek Van Wely
Pavel Eljanov 1-0 Richard Rapport
Sergey Karjakin ½-½ Anish Giri
Wesley So ½-½ Magnus Carlsen
Radoslaw Wojtaszek ½-½ Ian Nepomniachtchi
Dmitri Andreikin ½-½ Wei Yi
CHALLENGERS
Gwain Jones ½-½ Nils Grandelius
Sopiko Guramishvili ½-½ Lu Shanglei
Ilya Smirin ½-½ Vladimir Dobrov
Aryan Tari ½-½ Eric Hansen
Benjamin Bok 1-0 Lei Tingjie
Markus Ragger 1-0 Jeffery Xiong
Jorden van Foreest 1-0 Erwin L’Ami
Video by GM Daniel King
…and another view from GM Peter Svidler…
Video by chess24
Official Site: https://www.tatasteelchess.com/
Videos: (YouTube, Chess.com)
Round 2 – Sunday, January 15
Eljanov topples van Wely for 2/2… Carlsen wins with 6.a3!? against Najdorf
Ragger on 2/2 in Challengers after grinding out win
MASTERS
Levon Aronian ½-½ Wei Yi
Ian Nepomniachtchi ½-½ Dmitri Andreikin
Magnus Carlsen 1-0 Radoslaw Wojtaszek
Anish Giri ½-½ Wesley So
Richard Rapport ½-½ Sergey Karjakin
Loek Van Wely 0-1 Pavel Eljanov
Pentala Harikrishna 1-0 Baskaran Adhiban
Interview with Magnus Carlsen after win over Wojtaszek
Video by Tata Steel Chess
Standings after Round #2 (Masters)
1st: Eljanov, 2; 2nd-3rd: Carlsen, Harikrishna, 1½; 4th-10th: So, Aronian, Giri, Andreikin, Wei, Karjakin, Nepomniachtchi, 1; 11th-14th: Wojtaszek, Rapport, van Wely, Adhiban, ½
CHALLENGERS
Nils Grandelius ½-½ Erwin l’Ami
Jeffery Xiong 1-0 Jorden van Foreest
Lei Tingjie 0-1 Markus Ragger
Eric Hansen ½-½ Benjamin Bok
Vladimir Dobrov ½-½ Aryan Tari
Lu Shanglei ½-½ Ilya Smirin
Gawain Jones 1-0 Sopiko Guramishvili
Standings after Round #2 (Challengers)
1st: Ragger, 2; 2nd-4th: Smirin, Jones, Bok, 1½; 5th-10th: Hansen, Dobrov, Xiong, Grandelius, Tari, van Foreest, 1; 11th-13th: L’Ami, Lu, Guramishvili, ½; 14th: Lei, 0
Video by GM Daniel King
Official Site: https://www.tatasteelchess.com/
Videos: (YouTube, Chess.com)
Round 3 – Monday, January 16
Karjakin, So and Wei score, but Ejanov maintains lead
“Fire on Board” with 6/7 decisive results in Challengers
Richard Rapport (right) caught Wesley So off guard and seized the advantage, but then threw it all away in one move. Photo by Alina L’Ami
MASTERS
Baskaran Adhiban ½-½ Levon Aronian
Pavel Eljanov ½-½ Pentala Harikrishna
Sergey Karjakin 1-0 Loek Van Wely
Wesley So 1-0 Richard Rapport
Radoslaw Wojtaszek ½-½ Anish Giri
Dmitri Andreikin ½-½ Magnus Carlsen
Wei Yi 1-0 Ian Nepomniachtchi
Interview with Wesley So after win over Rapport in wild encounter
Video by Tata Steel Chess
Standings after Round #3 (Masters)
1st: Eljanov, 2½; 2nd-6th: Harikrishna, Carlsen, Wei, So, Karjakin, 2; 7th-9th: Aronian, Giri, Andreikin, 1½; 10th-12th: Nepomniachtchi, Wojtaszek, Adhiban, 1; 13th-14th: Rapport, van Wely, ½.
CHALLENGERS
Sopiko Guramishvili 0-1 Nils Grandelius
Ilya Smirin 1-0 Gawain Jones
Aryan Tari 0-1 Shanglei Lu
Benjamin Bok 0-1 Vladimir Dobrov
Markus Ragger 1-0 Eric Hansen
Jorden van Foreest 0-1 Lei Tingjie
Erwin L’Ami ½-½ Jeffery Xiong
Standings after Round #3 (Challengers)
1st: Ragger, 3; 2nd: Smirin, 2½; 3rd-4th: Dobrov, Grandelius, 2; 11th-13th: Xiong, Jones, Bok, Lu, 1½; L’Ami, Tari, Hansen, van Foreest, Lei, 1; 14th: Guramishvili, ½
Official Site: https://www.tatasteelchess.com/
Videos: (YouTube, Chess.com)
Round 4 – Tuesday, January 17
Carlsen wins, but Eljanov keeps slim lead after winning
More bloodletting in Challengers… 7/7 decisive games!
Prodigy Wei Yi battles a former prodigy.
Photo by Alina L’Ami
MASTERS
Levon Aronian ½-½ Ian Nepomniachtchi
Magnus Carlsen 1-0 Wei, Yi
Anish Giri ½-½ Dmitri Andreikin
Richard Rapport ½-½ Radoslaw Wojtaszek
Loek Van Wely 0-1 Wesley So
Pentala Harikrishna ½-½ Sergey Karjakin
Baskaran Adhiban 0-1 Pavel Eljanov
Interview with Magnus Carlsen after win over Wei Yi
Video by Tata Steel Chess
1st: Eljanov, 3½; 2nd-3rd: Carlsen, So, 3; 4th-5th: Harikrishna, Karjakin, 2½; 6th-9th: Giri, Andreikin, Aronian, Wei, 2; 10th-11th: Nepomniachtchi, Wojtaszek, 1½; 12th-13th: Rapport, Adhiban, 14th: van Wely, ½
CHALLENGERS
Nils Grandelius 0-1 Jeffery Xiong
Lei Tingjie 0-1 L’Ami
Eric Hansen 1-0 Jorden van Foreest
Vladimir Dobrov 0-1 Markus Ragger
Lu Shanglei 1-0 Benjamin Bok
Gawain Jones 1-0 Aryan Tari
Sopiko Guramishvili 0-1 Ilya Smirin
1st: Ragger, 4; 2nd: Smirin, 3½; 3rd-5th: Xiong, Lu, Jones, 2½; 6th-9th: Dobrov, L’Ami, Grandelius, Hansen, 2; 10th: Bok, 1½; 11th-13th: van Foreest, Tari, Lei, 1; 14th: Guramishvili, ½
Video by GM Daniel King
Official Site: https://www.tatasteelchess.com/
Videos: (YouTube, Chess.com)
Round 5 – Thursday, January 19
Wesley So snatches lead; Adhiban breaches Karjakin’s defense
MASTERS
Eljanov, P. 0-1 Aronian, L.
Karjakin, S. 0-1 Adhiban, B.
So, W. 1-0 Harikrishna, P.
Wojtaszek, R. 1-0 Van Wely, L.
Andreikin, D. ½-½ Rapport, R.
Wei, Y. ½-½ Giri, A.
Nepomniachtchi, I. ½-½ Carlsen, M.
Video by Tata Steel Chess
Standings after Round #5 (Masters)
1st: So, 4; 2nd-3rd: Carlsen, Eljanov, 3½; 4th: Aronian, 3; 5th-10th: Giri, Harikrishna, Andreikin, Wei, Karjakin, Wojtaszek, 2½; 11th-12th: Nepomniachtchi, Adhiban, 2; 13th: Richard Rapport, 1½, 14th: van Wely, ½
CHALLENGERS
Smirin, I ½-½ Grandelius, N.
Tari, A. 1-0 Guramishvili, S.
Bok, B. 0-1 Jones, G.
Ragger, M. ½-½ Lu, S.
van Foreest, J. 1-0 Dobrov, V.
l’Ami, E. ½-½ Hansen, E.
Xiong, J. 1-0 Tingjie, L.
1st: Ragger, 4½; 2nd: Smirin, 4; 3rd-4th: Xiong, Jones, 3½; 5th: Lu, 3; 6th-8th: Grandelius, L’Ami, Hansen, 2½; 9th-11th: van Foreest, Dobrov, Tari, 2; 12th: Bok, 1½; 13th: Lei, 1; 14th: Guramishvili, ½
Video by GM Daniel King
Official Site: https://www.tatasteelchess.com/
Videos: (YouTube, Chess.com)
Round 6 – Friday, January 20
Wesley So stifles King’s Gambit to keep lead… Giri wins a game!
MASTERS
Levon Aronian ½-½ Magnus Carlsen
Anish Giri 1-0 Ian Nepomniachtchi
Richard Rapport 0-1 Wei Yi
Loek Van Wely ½-½ Dmitri Andreikin
Pentala Harikrishna ½-½ Radoslaw Wojtaszek
Baskaran Adhiban ½-½ Wesley So
Pavel Eljanov ½-½ Sergey Karjakin
Video by Tata Steel Chess
Standings after Round #6 (Masters)
1st: So, 4½; 2nd-3rd: Carlsen, Eljanov, 4; 4th-6th: Aronian, Giri, Wei, 3½; 7th-10th: Harikrishna, Andreikin, Karjakin, Wojtaszek, 3; 11th: Adhiban, 2½; 12th: Nepomniachtchi, 2; 13th: Rapport, 1½, 14th: van Wely, 1
CHALLENGERS
Nils Grandelius 1-0 Lei Tingjie
Eric Hansen 1-0 Jeffery Xiong
Vladimir Dobrov ½-½ Erwin l’Ami
Lu Shanglei 1-0 Jorden van Foreest
Gawain Jones 1-0 Markus Ragger
Sopiko Guramishvili 0-1 Benjamin Bok
Ilya Smirin 0-1 Aryan Tari
1st-2nd: Ragger, Jones, 4½; 3rd-4th: Smirin, Lu, 4; 5th-7th: Hansen, Xiong, Grandelius, 3½; 8th-9th: L’Ami, Tari, 3; 10th-11th: Dobrov, Bok, 2½; 12th: van Foreest, 2; 13th: Lei, 1; 14th: Guramishvili, ½
Video by GM Daniel King
Official Site: https://www.tatasteelchess.com/
Videos: (YouTube, Chess.com)
Round 7 – Saturday, January 21
Missed opportunities by Carlsen and Eljanov. Adhiban wins again!
Jones keeps pace with Ragger… both winning
MASTERS
Sergey Karjakin 1-0 Levon Aronian
Wesley So ½-½ Pavel Eljanov
Radoslaw Wojtaszek 0-1 Baskaran Adhiban
Dmitri Andreikin ½-½ Pentala Harikrishna
Wei Yi 1-0 Loek Van Wely
Ian Nepomniachtchi ½-½ Richard Rapport
Magnus Carlsen ½-½ Anish Giri
and also why he missed winning a piece on move 10
Video by Tata Steel Chess
Standings after Round #7 (Masters)
1st: So, 5; 2nd-4th: Carlsen, Eljanov, Wei, 4½; 5th-6th: Giri, Karjakin, 4; 7th-10th: Aronian, Harikrishna, Adhiban, Andreikin, 3½; 11th: Wojtaszek, 3; 12th: Nepomniachtchi, 2½; 13th: Rapport, 2, 14th: van Wely, 1
CHALLENGERS
Aryan Tari ½-½ Nils Grandelius
Benjamin Bok, B. 0-1 Ilya Smirin
Markus Ragger 1-0 Sopiko Guramishvili
Jorden van Foreest 0-1 Gawain Jones
Erwin L’Ami ½-½ Lu Shanglei
Jeffery Xiong, J. 1-0 Vladimir Dobrov
Lei Tingjie ½-½ Eric Hansen
1st-2nd: Ragger, Jones, 5½; 3rd: Smirin, 5; 4th-5th: Lu, Xiong, 4½; 6th-7th: Hansen, Grandelius, 4; 8th-9th: L’Ami, Tari, 3½; 10th-11th: Dobrov, Bok, 2½; 12th: van Foreest, 2; 13th: Lei, 1½; 14th: Guramishvili, ½
Video by GM Daniel King
Official Site: https://www.tatasteelchess.com/
Videos: (YouTube, Chess.com)
Round 8 – Monday, January 23
Rapport topples languishing Carlsen… Aronian, Adhiban gain
MASTERS
Levon Aronian 1-0 Anish Giri
Richard Rapport 1-0 Magnus Carlsen
Levon Van Wely ½-½ Ian Nepomniachtchi
Pentala Harikrishna ½-½ Wei Yi
Baskaran Adhiban 1-0 Dmitri Andreikin
Pavel Eljanov ½-½ Radoslaw Wojtaszek
Sergey Karjakin ½-½ Wesley So
The World Champion has come unraveled with a loss to the hapless Dutchman.
Photo by Alina L’Ami
Video by Tata Steel Chess
Standings after Round #8 (Masters)
1st: So, 5½; 2nd-3rd: Eljanov, Wei, 5; 4th-7th: Aronian, Carlsen, Adhiban, Karjakin, 4½; 8th-9th: Harikrishna, Giri, 4; 10th-11th: Andreikin, Wojtaszek, 3½; 12th-13th: Rapport, Nepomniachtchi, 3; 14th: van Wely, 1½
Nils Grandelius ½-½ Eric Hansen
Vladimir Dobrov 1-0 Lei Tingjie
Lu Shanglei ½-½ Jeffery Xiong
Gawain Jones ½-½ Erwin L’Ami
Sopiko Guramishvili ½-½ Jorden van Foreest
Ilya Smirin ½-½ Markus Ragger
Aryan Tari ½-½ Benjamin Bok
1st-2nd: Ragger, Jones, 6; 3rd: Smirin, 5½; 4th-5th: Lu, Xiong, 5; 6th-7th: Hansen, Grandelius, 4½; 8th-9th: L’Ami, Tari, 4; 10th: Dobrov, 3½; 11th: Bok, 3; 12th: van Foreest, 2½; 13th: Lei, 1½; 14th: Guramishvili, 1
Video by GM Daniel King
Official Site: https://www.tatasteelchess.com/
Videos: (YouTube, Chess.com)
Round 9 – Tuesday, January 24
Loek van Wely continues Wijk aan Zee futility… loses again to Carlsen
Xiong knocks Jones from joint lead… Smirin steps up
MASTERS
So, W. ½-½ Aronian, L.
Wojtaszek, R. ½-½ Karjakin, S.
Andreikin, D. ½-½ Eljanov, P.
Wei, Y. ½-½ Adhiban, B.
Nepomniachtchi, I. ½-½ Harikrishna, P.
Carlsen, M. 1-0 Van Wely, L.
Giri, A. ½-½ Rapport, R.
Video by Tata Steel Chess
Standings after Round #9 (Masters)
1st: So, 6; 2nd-4th: Carlsen, Eljanov, Wei, 5½; 5th-7th: Aronian, Adhiban, Karjakin, 5; 8th-9th: Harikrishna, Giri, 4½; 10th-11th: Andreikin, Wojtaszek, 4; 12th-13th: Rapport, Nepomniachtchi, 3½; 14th: van Wely, 1½
Bok, B. ½-½ Grandelius, N.
Ragger, M. ½-½ Tari, A.
van Foreest, J. 0-1 Smirin, I
l’Ami, E. 1-0 Guramishvili, S.
Xiong, J. 1-0 Jones, G.
Tingjie, L. ½-½ Lu, S.
Hansen, E. 1-0 Dobrov, V.
Video by Tata Steel Chess
1st-2nd: Ragger, Smirin, 6½; 3rd-4th: Xiong, Jones, 6; 5th-6th: Hansen, Lu, 5½; 7th-8th: L’Ami, Grandelius, 5; 9th: Tari, 4½; 10th-11th: Dobrov, Bok, 3½; 12th: van Foreest, 2½; 13th: Lei, 2; 14th: Guramishvili, 1
Video by GM Daniel King
Official Site: https://www.tatasteelchess.com/
Videos: (YouTube, Chess.com)
Round 10 – Wednesday, January 25
Home-cooking unappetizing as Dutch players’ woes continue…
So now up a full point… three-way tie in Challengers
MASTERS
Aronian, L. 1-0 Rapport, R.
Van Wely, L. ½-½ Giri, A.
Harikrishna, P. ½-½ Carlsen, M.
Adhiban, B. ½-½ Nepomniachtchi, I.
Eljanov, P. ½-½ Wei, Y.
Karjakin, S. 1-0 Andreikin, D.
So, W. 1-0 Wojtaszek, R.
Video by Tata Steel Chess
Standings after Round #10 (Masters)
1st: So, 7; 2nd-6th: Aronian, Carlsen, Eljanov, Karjakin, Wei, 6; 7th-7th: Adhiban, 5½; 8th-9th: Harikrishna, Giri, 5; 10th-12th: Andreikin, Nepomniachtchi, Wojtaszek, 4; 13th: Rapport, 3½; 14th: van Wely, 2
Tata GMs posing in front of the Frans Hals Museum.
CHALLENGERS
Grandelius, N. 1-0 Dobrov, V.
Lu, S. 0-1 Hansen, E.
Jones, G. ½-½ Tingjie, L.
Guramishvili, S. 0-1 Xiong, J.
Smirin, I ½-½ l’Ami, E.
Tari, A. ½-½ van Foreest, J.
Bok, B. ½-½ Ragger, M.
Standings after Round #10 (Challengers)
1st-3rd: Ragger, Smirin, Xiong, 7; 4th-5th: Hansen, Jones, 6½; 6th: Grandelius, 6; 7th-8th: L’Ami, Lu, 5½; 9th: Tari, 5; 10th: Bok, 3½; 11th: Dobrov, 3½; 12th: van Foreest, 3; 13th: Lei, 2½; 14th: Guramishvili, 1
Video by GM Daniel King
Official Site: https://www.tatasteelchess.com/
Videos: (YouTube, Chess.com)
Round 11 – Friday, January 27
Carlsen out of sorts… Wei Yi closes gap.
King Xiong! The World Junior Champion pulls ahead in the Challengers section!
Carlsen’s expression after 1.e4 d5 2.exd5 Nf6!?
MASTERS
Wojtaszek, R. ½-½ Aronian, L.
Andreikin, D. ½-½ So, W.
Wei, Y. 1-0 Karjakin, S.
Nepomniachtchi, I. ½-½ Eljanov, P.
Carlsen, M. ½-½ Adhiban, B.
Giri, A. ½-½ Harikrishna, P.
Rapport, R. ½-½ Van Wely, L.
Video by Tata Steel Chess
Standings after Round #11 (Masters)
1st: So, 7½; 2nd: Wei, 7; 3rd-5th: Aronian, Carlsen, Eljanov, 6½; 6th-7th: Adhiban, Karjakin, 6; 8th-9th: Harikrishna, Giri, 3½; 10th-12th: Andreikin, Nepomniachtchi, Wojtaszek, 4½; 13th: Rapport, 4; 14th: van Wely, 2½
Ragger, M. ½-½ Grandelius, N.
van Foreest, J. ½-½ Bok, B.
l’Ami, E. ½-½ Tari, A.
Xiong, J. 1-0 Smirin, I
Tingjie, L. 1-0 Guramishvili, S.
Hansen, E. 0-1 Jones, G.
Dobrov, V. 0-1 Lu, S.
GM Jeffery Xiong is on a torrid pace (4½ from last 5 rounds)
and takes sole possession of 1st.
Standings after Round #11 (Challengers)
1st-3rd: Xiong, 8; 2nd-3rd: Ragger, Jones, 7½; 4th: Smirin, 7; 5th-7th: Hansen, Grandelius, Lu, 6½; 8th: L’Ami, 6; 9th: Tari, 5½; 10th: Bok, 4½; 11th-13th: Dobrov, 3½; 14th: Guramishvili, 1
Video by GM Daniel King
Official Site: https://www.tatasteelchess.com/
Videos: (YouTube, Chess.com)
Round 12 – Friday, January 27
Another Carlsen expression… he got a gift today and is only 1/2-point back.
Ragger and Jones back on top after Xiong toppled
MASTERS
Aronian, L. 1-0 Van Wely, L.
Harikrishna, P. ½-½ Rapport, R.
Adhiban, B. ½-½ Giri, A.
Eljanov, P. 0-1 Carlsen, M.
Karjakin, S. ½-½ Nepomniachtchi, I.
So, W. ½-½ Wei, Y.
Wojtaszek, R. ½-½ Andreikin, D.
1st: So, 8; 2nd-4th: Carlsen, Aronian, Wei, 7½; 5th-7th: Adhiban, Karjakin, Eljanov, 6½; 8th-9th: Harikrishna, Giri, 6; 10th-12th: Andreikin, Nepomniachtchi, Wojtaszek, 5; 13th: Rapport, 4½; 14th: van Wely, 2½
Grandelius, N. 0-1 Lu, S.
Jones, G. 1-0 Dobrov, V.
Guramishvili, S. ½-½ Hansen, E.
Smirin, I. 1-0 Tingjie, L.
Tari, A. 1-0 Xiong, J.
Bok, B. ½-½ l’Ami, E.
Ragger, M. 1-0 van Foreest, J.
Standings after Round #12 (Challengers)
1st-2nd: Ragger, Jones, 8½; 3rd-4th: Smirin, Xiong, 8; 5th: Lu, 7½; 6th: Hansen, 7; 8th: Tari, L’Ami, Grandelius, 6½; 10th: Bok, 5; 11th-13th: Dobrov, van Foreest, Lei, 3½; 14th: Guramishvili, 1½
Video by GM Daniel King
Official Site: https://www.tatasteelchess.com/
Videos: (YouTube, Chess.com)
Round 13 – Sunday, January 29
Wesley So wins 2017 Tata Steel by a full point!
Gawain Jones wins Challengers… promoted to 2018 Tata Masters
Wesley So (far right) at the press conference.
Photo by Alina L’Ami
MASTERS
Andreikin, D. 1-0 Aronian, L.
Wei, Y. 0-1 Wojtaszek, R.
Nepomniachtchi, I. 0-1 So, W.
Carlsen, M. ½-½ Karjakin, S.
Giri, A. ½-½ Eljanov, P.
Rapport, R. 0-1 Adhiban, B.
Van Wely, L. 1-0 Harikrishna, P.
1st: So, 9; 2nd: Carlsen, 8; 3rd-5th: Adhiban, Aronian, Wei, 7½; 6th-7th: Karjakin, Eljanov, 7; 8th: Giri, 6½; 9th-11th: Harikrishna, Andreikin, Wojtaszek, 6; 12th: Nepomniachtchi, 5; 13th: Rapport, 4½; 14th: van Wely, 3½
van Foreest, J.½-½ Grandelius, N.
l’Ami, E. ½-½ Ragger, M.
Xiong, J. ½-½ Bok, B.
Tingjie, L. 0-1 Tari, A.
Hansen, E. 1-0 Smirin, I
Dobrov, V. 1-0 Guramishvili, S.
Lu, S. ½-½ Jones, G.
Standings after Round #13 (Challengers)
1st-2nd: Jones, Ragger, 9; 3rd: Xiong, 8½; 4th-6th: Hansen, Lu, Smirin, 8; 7th: Tari, 7½; 8th-9th: L’Ami, Grandelius, 7; 10th: Bok, 5½; 11th: Dobrov, 4½; 12th: van Foreest, 4; 13th: Lei, 1½; 14th: Guramishvili, 1½
Video by GM Daniel King
Official Site: https://www.tatasteelchess.com/
Videos: (YouTube, Chess.com)
Wesley So was at a low point a couple of years ago placing last in the 2015 Sinquefield Cup. Now only 16 points behind Magnus Carlsen while bolting ahead of Fabiano Caruana. Caruana is currently playing in Gibraltar where he was upset by Nigel Short in the sixth round. This allowed So to overtake him on the live rating list.
Wesley So in action against Radoslaw Wojtaszek of Poland
Photo by Alina L’Ami
Both Carlsen and So seem to be going in opposite directions on the rating ladder. Carlsen came in 2nd in the 2017 Tata Steel, but struggled throughout to find his footing. So played solidly and was worse in only one encounter (against Rapport). The Filipino’s victory was his third supertournament victory in a row along with the Sinquefield and the London Classic. Carlsen was busy with the pre- and post-match World Championship affairs and didn’t participate, so this was the first tournament So has won with the reigning World Champion competing.
the best player in the world.”
He credits his success to his faith and surrogate family. During his run of 56 unbeaten games, he has become a fixture in top-level chess. Many have pointed out his humble persona and unpretentious manner. After winning two gold medals at the Baku Olympiad, he has made a nice run on the tournament circuit.
Wesley So, winner of 2017 Tata Steel Chess Photo by Alina L’Ami (Tata Steel Chess)
In this tournament, he scored +5 including three wins in a row against Richard Rapport, Loek van Wely and Pentala Harikrishna. As Carlsen struggled with consistency and Sergey Karjakin was off form, So held off surges from 17-year old phenom Wei Yi and Baskaran Adhiban of India. It was enough and So would take home his first Tata winner’s cup.
There were some interesting moments in the tournament such as several opening experiments (Karjakin’s 6.a3!?) and Adhiban’s King’s Gambit! The good thing about Tata 2017 was the new faces as opposed to the usual suspects of yesteryear. It gets to be tiresome seeing the same ten players competing in every supertournament, but this one had an air of newness. Gawain Jones will join the Masters group next year after winning the Challengers’ section on tiebreaks over Markus Ragger. Both ended with 9/13.
Official Site: https://www.tatasteelchess.com/
Videos: (YouTube, Chess24)
Games: (Masters, Challengers)
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