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After scoring 7/7 in Rouen to safe qualification for the upcoming Candidates event, GM Alireza Firouzja has continued his profitable methods in Wijk aan Zee. The French-Iranian grandmaster on Sunday defeated GM Parham Maghsoodloo and is the one participant with an ideal rating within the 2024 Tata Metal Chess Event‘s Masters.
Within the Challengers, there’s a five-way tie for first place after wins by GM Anton Korobov and IM Stefan Beukema.
Outcomes – Masters Spherical 2
Standings – Masters Spherical 2
Whereas this creator on Saturday steered that the thrill across the Wijk aan Zee event was as excessive as ever even with out the participation of world number-one GM Magnus Carlsen, I now should appropriate myself. On the primary Sunday, we did not get to see the loopy numbers of tourists from one yr in the past within the enjoying corridor. They had been additionally associated to the chess increase on the time, however probably, Carlsen’s absence performs a job now too. I’d even describe the environment at spherical two as pretty quiet.
This was undoubtedly not associated to a brand new anti-pollution protest that passed off on Sunday, this time within the middle of the village. Few observed it, as there was solely a handful of individuals protesting and once I determined to take a look, they had been underneath the roof of the bus cease alongside the church, hiding from the rain.
In the meantime, the organizers shared a message from the world number-one on the platform X, which that they had additionally proven in the course of the opening ceremony. It put smiles on the faces of most grandmasters:
A daily is lacking within the Masters this yr. Nonetheless, he did have one thing to say to the gamers of this yr #TataSteelChess Event. pic.twitter.com/eJWB7x694D
— Tata Metal Chess (@tatasteelchess) January 14, 2024
Pictures on social media revealed that Carlsen is in sunny Spain in the intervening time, along with GM David Howell, stress-free and making ready for his subsequent occasion: the Chess960 Freestyle Chess G.O.A.T. Problem subsequent month.
However sufficient about Carlsen. The spectators who did come to Wijk aan Zee, together with the hundreds of followers on-line, noticed Firouzja scoring a powerful victory in opposition to Maghsoodloo’s Berlin Protection. Black’s 18th transfer was a foul novelty however by then he was already out of ebook.
That was not the case for Firouzja, who famous Black ought to play 18…c6, as seen for example in his recreation with GM Sam Sevian from the 2019 Chess.com Junior Pace Chess Championship. “He has to recollect quite a lot of issues on this line,” Firouzja mentioned. “It is a draw most likely on the finish, however memorizing all of that is very tough. He knew the road however he confused one thing.”
Firouzja continued with the engine’s first selections, and his attacking strikes compelled Maghsoodloo to surrender his queen for a rook and a minor piece. That is normally not sufficient, together with on this recreation, as GM Rafael Leitao exhibits:
Firouzja secured his place within the Candidates Event because of the ranking spot and a few controversy for enjoying matches and event video games in form of a “race for the misplaced ranking,” an endeavor that ended efficiently. The episode generated quite a lot of dialogue on the web, nevertheless it did not have an effect on Firouzja’s good type, having began Wijk aan Zee with a bang. Whether or not you want the best way he certified, the reality is that he’s a participant that the chess world likes to see, all the time preventing for the initiative and going for the win.
Within the post-game interview, Firouzja additionally commented about his good 7/7 event in December in Rouen, the place he certified for the Candidates:
“It was a really tough event, perhaps one of the tough tournaments I ever performed since you can not make one draw. So I used to be very pleased to lastly make it and yeah, I look ahead to the Candidates. The individuals, they had been very pleasant there. I might say no person distracted me. All people was wanting ahead to seeing me. I used to be fortunate that it was very effectively organized. It might have gone any manner however I am pleased it went easily.”
GM Gukesh Dommaraju is without doubt one of the three gamers trailing the event chief by half some extent after a wonderful victory in opposition to GM Wei Yi. As the primary decisive recreation of the day, it was the fifth victory for the black items within the event.
Gukesh commented: “I used to be fairly stunned that he went for the Bg5 Italian. I imply, it is a very sharp opening, however I used to be pleased to see that. I assume he did not know this 10…Bg4 line very a lot. What he did was fairly attention-grabbing really with this 13.b5, however I do not suppose it was probably the most vital. I could not discover any assault, however I discovered this good concept to play 17…Ng7 and 18…f6 and simply maintain his bishop on h2, however nonetheless, as a substitute of 21.c4 he might have gone Bd3, and it was nonetheless very unclear with some g4 and Nf5 plans. However yeah, my place was additionally fairly strong so I’ve long-term prospects. It was only a very unclear place.”
GM Jorden van Foreest spoiled his two consecutive white video games, which he had earned by selecting lot primary on Friday. He misplaced each of them mainly resulting from a one-move blunder. Placing his two bishops unprotected on the sixth rank failed tactically, as GM Max Warmerdam demonstrated.
“Out of the blue his king is simply getting mated, which was typically already an concept however principally with the queens on, however even when the queens got here off, apparently his king was in peril,” mentioned Warmerdam.
In a recreation between two good pals, GMs Anish Giri and Vidit Gujrathi, did not present a lot fireworks. “Typically I determine to win, and generally I determine to attract,” Giri quipped afterward.
Among the many 4 attracts, I additionally wish to spotlight GM Ju Wenjun‘s wonderful defensive effort in opposition to GM Ian Nepomniachtchi. Though the ladies’s world champion erred late within the endgame in spherical one, this time she was rock-solid.
And what in regards to the world champion? Effectively, he began with attracts after failing to get a bonus in opposition to GM Alexander Donchenko‘s King’s Indian:
Outcomes – Challengers Spherical 2
Standings – Challengers Spherical 2
Within the Challengers group, the conflict between IMs Beukema and Eline Roebers noticed a beautiful end. Having simply received a pawn on the queenside, Beukema sacrificed a rook to interrupt open Black’s kingside.
“I take pleasure in these sorts of positions,” the winner mentioned. “I am recognized to be an attacking participant so yeah, I actually preferred it!”
In recent times, the final thought in Wijk aan Zee has been that the great outdated instances have ended when the highest gamers would first meet one another on the board after which on the bar to debate life over a drink or two. However, because it appears, a few of this environment nonetheless exists.
I bear in mind just a few years in the past GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov attending one of many native bars on a number of nights enjoying blitz with amateurs. On Saturday, GMs Korobov and Liam Vrolijk, who had each misplaced their video games, may very well be seen in cafe Het Boegbeeld ingesting their sorrows away. The following day, each of them performed significantly better. Whereas Vrolijk nearly received, Korobov bounced again with a win:
The Tata Metal Chess event takes place January 13-28, 2024, in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. The time management is 100 minutes for 40 strikes adopted by 50 minutes to complete every recreation with a 30-second increment. Each the Masters and Challengers teams are 14-player round-robin tournaments.
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