Fabi said he was “almost winning, because [Gukesh's] pieces are completely uncoordinated”. How would Gukesh defend against White taking twice on f6? He didn’t!
Fabi followed up with the natural 17.h4! and a very quick win looked on the cards, but he didn’t find the cleanest win and ultimately was somewhat puzzled when his opponent resigned on move 36.
In the most eventful round of the 2023 Tata Steel Masters so far, Nodirbek Abdusattorov extended his lead to a full point after obtaining a remarkable win over Arjun Erigaisi. Sharing second place are now four players, as Wesley So and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu both scored full points to join Anish Giri and Fabiano Caruana in the chasing pack. In the Challengers, Alexander Donchenko is in clear first place after beating former co-leader Mustafa Yilmaz with the white pieces.
The black queen remains on the board, and it is bad news for White, whose king is under attack!