Tag: TataSteel2016

Masters

The 8th round of the Tata Steel Masters 2016 proved to be an eventful one. GM Caruana’s loss to GM Navara helped World Champion Magnus Carlsen grab the sole lead with 5.5/8.

Prior to round 8, Carlsen and Caruana were leading the field jointly with 5 points each. The former had little trouble drawing against GM Sergey Karjakin in round eight. However, the Navara-Caruana encounter saw the Czech Grandmaster display impeccable technique in overcoming Caruana from a seemingly quiet position. This result allowed Carlsen to move into sole lead.

In other interesting games of the day, GM Eljanov failed to capitalize on his huge advantage against GM Adams while GM Van Wely won a nice attacking game against GM Hou Yifan.

Results:

Karjakin	½-½	Carlsen
Adams	½-½	Eljanov
Giri	½-½	Tomashevsky
So Wesley	½-½	Mamedyarov
Ding Liren	½-½	Wei Yi
Hou Yifan	0-1	Van Wely
Navara	1-0	Caruana

Challengers

Indian GM Adhiban survived a worse position against GM Erwin L’Ami to maintain his sole lead at the end of round eight. Adhiban has notched up 6.5 points so far, half a point clear of 2nd-placed GM Safarli.

Results:

L’Ami E	½-½	Adhiban
Bok	½-½	Abasov
Van Foreest	½-½	Admiraal
Dreev	½-½	Safarli
Ju Wenjun	0-1	Sevian
Haast	1-0	Batsiashvili
Antipov	½-½	Nisipeanu

Masters

World Champion Magnus Carlsen recorded his third victory in as many rounds by accounting for GM Pavel Eljanov in the 7th round of the Tata Steel Masters 2016. The Carlsen-Eljanov clash turned out to be extremely exciting, with Eljanov sacrificing his Knight for a couple of pawns. However, Carlsen accurately neutralized White’s initiative, going on to win the game courtesy of his powerful double bishops.

The Caruana-Ding Liren game was another highly anticipated match-up of Round 7. With excellent strategic play, Caruana beat the Chinese GM in a convincing fashion. Caruana and Carlsen are currently leading the event with 4/7.

Meanwhile, GM Mamedyarov defeated Hou Yifan whilst in the ‘battle of the Danes’, Anish Giri had no problems overcoming Van Wely.

Results:

Caruana	1-0	Ding
Eljanov	0-1	Carlsen
Navara	½-½	Karjakin
Wei Yi	½-½	So Wesley
Mamedyarov	1-0	Hou Yifan
Van Wely	0-1	Giri
Tomashevsky	½-½	Adams

Challengers

The battle between the tournament leaders – Adhiban and Dreev – proved to be the most exciting one of the day. Against Dreev’s favourite …b6 line in the Semi-Slav, Adhiban came up with a fantastic move which posed huge problems to his experienced opponent. Dreev found it anything but easy to handle the pressure against his uncastled king, allowing Adhiban to score a quick win. The game can be seen here.

Meanwhile, WGM Anne Haast, who had lost all her games so far, registered an upset by defeating top-seed GM Nisipeanu.

After 7 rounds, Adhiban is leading the field solely, half a point ahead of GM Eltaj Safarli.

Results:

Adhiban	1-0	Dreev
L’ami E	0-1	Van Foreest
Safarli	1-0	Antipov
Nisipeanu	0-1	Haast
Batsiashvili	½-½	Ju Wenjun
Sevian	½-½	Bok
Abasov	½-½	Admiraal

Masters

All the seven games in the second round of the ongoing Tata Steel Masters 2016 resulted in draws. Although the Carlsen-Caruana clash, which witnessed a fairly non-standard opening, proved to be exciting, the rest of the games were pretty sedate affairs.

Going into the third round, GMs Caruana, Wesley So and Ding Liren are in lead with 1.5 points each.

Results:

Carlsen	½-½	Caruana
Eljanov	½-½	Wei Yi
Tomashevsky	½-½	Mamedyarov
Adams	½-½	Navara
Giri	½-½	Ding Liren
Karjakin	½-½	Van Wely
Hou Yifan	½-½	So Wesley

Challengers

On the other hand, the Challengers section continued to generate entertaining battles. As many as 5 games ended decisively in the second round of this tournament. After two rounds of fighting chess, GM Adhiban and GM Dreev are jointly leading the field with perfect scores.

Results:

van Foreest	0-1	Batsiashvili
Abasov	½-½	Safarli
Sevian	½-½	Nisipeanu
Admiraal	0-1	Adhiban
Bok	1-0	L’ami E
Haast	0-1	Antipov
Ju Wenjun	0-1	Dreev