Nodirbek Abdusattorov grabbed the lead at the Tata Steel Masters in round 5, and has topped the standings ever since. In Tuesday’s round 9, however, he could have been caught by Anish Giri, who got the better of Ding Liren in a sharp encounter. The Dutchman would be now in the shared lead had Vincent Keymer made the most of his advantage against Abdusattorov — the Uzbek defended resourcefully, though, and the game ended in an 89-move draw.
Magnus Carlsen and Dommaraju Gukesh continued their good runs of results in round 10 of the Tata Steel Masters, as they scored full points in the only two decisive games of the day. Carlsen has won three games in the last four rounds and is now sharing third place with Wesley So, while Gukesh won two out of his last three encounters to recover from a subpar start in Wijk aan Zee.
Praggnanandhaa surprised Parham Maghsoodloo on move 8 of the Najdorf but still slumped to a 3rd defeat in four games. That was the only decisive game in Round 11 of the Tata Steel Masters, as Nodirbek Abdusattorov kept the lead after Anish Giri mixed up his preparation, while Magnus Carlsen couldn’t quite squeeze out a win over Wesley So. In the Challengers Alexander Donchenko regained the sole lead.