The situation in the leading group did not change after Roun 11, which has been the most peaceful in the Tata Steel Masters. Parham Maghsoodloo was the only player to score a victory defeating Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa with the black pieces. Nodirbek Abdusattorov is still in front with 7.5/11, a half-point ahead of Anish Giri. Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So are trailing the leader by a full point. 

Anish Giri – Nodirbek Abusattorov ½–½

It was a serious test for the leader who faced his closest rival with Black, and Nodirbek passed it confidently. In a rare line of the Queen’s Gambit Accepted, the opponents castled on opposite sides, which promised a really exciting battle, but after Anish avoided the most principled continuation 12.Ndb5 (a much safer 12.Nc2 was played) Black comfortably equalized. Soon most of the pieces were traded, and the opponents split a point in an equal knight endgame. 

Magnus Carlsen – Wesley So ½–½

The game saw a popular line of the Nimzo-Indian in which the World Champion decided to get rid of his isolated d-pawn, defusing the tension in the center.

After massive exchanges, the opponents steered into a bishop-vs-knight endgame with pawns on both wings. On paper, it favours the side with a bishop, but in practical terms, Magnus could not make much progress as Wesley defended with great accuracy. As soon as Black sacrificed his knight for White’s h-pawn, reaching a well-known position with a “wrong bishop,” a draw became inevitable. 

Levon Aronian – Fabiano Caruana ½–½

The opponents played a long theoretical line of the Tarrasch Defense in which the first original move was made very late. The ending that emerged in the game is considered to be safe for Black, despite White’s having an extra pawn. This evaluation was confirmed one more time as Fabiano had little difficulty reaching a draw. 

Praggnanandhaa R – Parham Maghsoodloo  0-1

The Indian youngster executed an original maneuver Nf3-h2-g4-e3 on the white side of the Najdorf with 6.h3 got an edge after Maghsoodloo’s questionable knight transfer from f6 to c5. However, in the first critical position of the game, Praggnanandhaa went in the wrong direction. 

The right way is 17. b4! Nca4 18. Nxa4 Nxa4 19. c4 bxc4 20. Rfc1 c3 21. Nd1 and White is clearly better, but Praggnanandhaa opted for a dubious sacrifice 17.Nf5? only to find himself in a tough situation after 17... Bxf5 18. exf5 d5 19. Bh6 Rfd8 20. Rad1 e4 21. Qg4 Nca4 22. Nxa4 Nxa4 23. fxg6 hxg6 24. f4 Qb6+ 25. Kh1 f5

Maghsoodloo built up pressure with solid and logical moves and got an overwhelming advantage by move 30. The Iranian could have won before time control, but despite missing this opportunity, he wrapped up the game with a nice trick. 

White is ready to sacrifice his bishop for the e2-pawn, followed by Rg5 and Rxf5 with a draw, but 52…Rh2+! wins on the spot 0-1

Vincent Keymer – Richard Rapport ½–½

The opponents diverged from the bitten trail very early and ended up in the King’s Indian type of position with the semi-open center in which White had some space advantage. Black was holding his ground but with 23…Nf8?! followed by returning the knight back 24…Nd7 Rapport gave his opponent a chance to get a sizable advantage. 

After 25.Nxb6! Nxb6 26. Bxa6 Rxc3 27. Bxc3 Nbd5 28. Bxf6 Nxf6 White’s queenside pawns are very dangerous, but Vincent played less precise 25.axb6 and also got an advantage but not as big. 

Just a few moves later, he allowed Black to trade two minor pieces for a rook and a pawn, reaching a balanced position with sufficient counterplay. With several precise moves Rapport managed to protect his a-passer and reached a draw. 

Ding Liren – Jorden Van Foreest ½–½

Van Foreest uncorked a novelty 10…dxc4 in a well-known line of Semi-Slav based on deep preparation with chess engines. Black’s position looked dubious, but it is probably holdable when it comes to concrete variations. Playing on his own, Ding did not manage to find the most precise moves and the opponents soon liquidated into a roughly equal endgame in which the draw was agreed by repetition. 

Arjun Erigaisi – Gukesh D

Erigaisi introduced the new move 12.Nbd2 in a popular line of Berlin Defence in Ruy Lopez but did not achieve much as Gukesh quickly equalized with several natural and strong moves. To the opponents’ credit, they battled in a balanced position to the very end and split a point only after exhausting all the reasonable options. 

Standings after Round 11: 1. Nodirbek Abdusattorov – 7.5; 2. Anish Giri – 7; 3-4. Magnus Carlsen and Wesley So – 6.5; 5-6. Levon Aronian and Fabiano Caruana – 6; 7. Richard Rapport – 5.5; 8-10. Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, Ding Liren and Parham Maghsoodloo – 5; 11-12. Gukesh D and Jorden Van Foreest – 4.5; 13-14. Arjun Erigaisi and Vincent Keymer – 4.

Photos:  tatasteelchess.com, Jurriaan Hoefsmit and Lennart Ootes