A draw within the fifth spherical was sufficient for GM Anish Giri to extend his result in a full level on the 2024 Tata Metal Chess Match. Second-placed GM Alireza Firouzja suffered an surprising loss in opposition to Ladies’s World Champion Ju Wenjun, who received a pawn after which confirmed glorious endgame approach within the rook endgame.

Like Ju within the Masters, the Dutch expertise IM Eline Roebers scored the most important scalp in her profession within the Challengers as she defeated GM Hans Niemann. As a result of GM Anton Korobov drew his recreation, GM Erwin l’Ami is the only chief after profitable his third recreation in a row.

Outcomes – Masters Spherical 5

Standings – Masters Spherical 5

The fifth spherical, on a really sunny day in snow-covered Wijk aan Zee, got here after the primary relaxation day of the match. Historically, a soccer (soccer) match was organized on Wednesday on the close by soccer membership Telstar. This 12 months, GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu was the one participant from the Masters who participated. “I managed to attain one purpose which I’m happy with, which I can discuss eternally!” he mentioned.

The Challengers had a greater illustration with GMs Marc’Andria Maurizzi, Leon Luke Mendonca, Daniel Dardha, Salem Saleh, and Niemann all making an look on the pitch. Whereas most felt Maurizzi was the most effective soccer participant, the Frenchman himself was impressed by Salem. In the meantime, the veteran Dutch GM Loek van Wely additionally performed, which introduced again recollections.

Truely a legendary workforce from 25 years again – 1999! #TataSteelChess Search for the one one nonetheless lively in 2024 😉https://t.co/QxGHMZiGiP pic.twitter.com/44kI7SVFzE

— !TUUR (Arthur van de Oudeweetering) (@TUUR1) January 17, 2024

On Thursday, the Ladies in Chess basis organized an info session within the taking part in corridor in Wijk aan Zee. Coincidentally, it was an excellent day for ladies’s chess, with victories for Ju and Roebers. One good friend of this writer recommended that it may need been the most effective day for ladies’s chess since GM Judit Polgar defeated GM Garry Kasparov (on September 9, 2002).

Within the Masters, the sport was additionally related for the match standings as Firouzja suffered a blow in his struggle for match victory. In the meantime, Ju is not in final place anymore.

The Chinese language GM went for an Trade French, about which she later commented: “I attempted to play as stable as I can.” This line is usually underestimated because of the archetypical recreation Gurevich-Quick (1990), the place White wanted a draw to qualify for the Candidates however acquired outplayed and misplaced. In observe, and if well-prepared, White can usually play for a win. Firouzja initially additionally did not equalize altogether with Black.

A troublesome section for Ju was when her opponent marched up his f-pawn, which grabbed White’s e-pawn after which walked all the best way to e2. She might have received that pawn with 23.g4, however felt that was too harmful. A transfer later, Firouzja blundered and misplaced the pawn, which meant he needed to undergo for a very long time within the endgame.

It took some time, however in the long run, Ju managed to transform the purpose and beat her strongest opponent to this point. It was for the primary time in seven years {that a} lady beat a top-10 participant in classical chess (GM Hou Yifan vs. GM Fabiano Caruana, Grenke Chess Traditional 2017). Here is right now’s recreation, annotated by GM Rafael Leitao:

GM Gukesh Dommaraju is again to a 50-percent rating after beating world championship contender GM Ian Nepomniachtchi right now. The younger Indian participant received a pawn early on, however his opponent had compensation with the bishop pair. With simply six minutes on the clock for six strikes till the time management, Gukesh noticed a nasty trick, set it up, and Nepo fell proper into it.

“After 35.Nxc6 I used to be fairly sure I might win this,” he mentioned. “Even this two-pawn-up bishop vs. knight endgame, OK, I nonetheless needed to be a bit cautious however I made the time management, I had numerous time so it was probably not an issue.”

Successful video games is essential in tournaments like these, however defending troublesome positions is nearly as essential. The half level Giri saved right now, from a recreation the place he was beneath stress, was a giant one. It’d even have felt like a victory when Firouzja misplaced, as Giri’s benefit over the remainder of the pack is now a full level.

Praggnanandhaa’s Jobava London was an attention-grabbing alternative, and Giri, unsurprisingly, selected a really stable setup. His knight maneuver Nf6-g8-e7 was moderately time-consuming, which gave White the prospect to take the initiative on the queenside. Notably 14.Qa3 was a pleasant transfer.

Mainly, all went fairly properly for Pragg, besides that he could not discover a option to enhance his benefit. “I feel I simply performed a bit poorly right now as a result of I acquired an excellent probability however I might have put extra stress,” he mentioned. “But it surely was additionally not straightforward to search out one thing concrete.”

GM Parham Maghsoodloo managed to cease the bleeding after three losses, however nonetheless was a little bit dissatisfied after his recreation with the world champion. White performed a promising piece sac and appeared to have good possibilities, however GM Ding Liren defended properly:

Outcomes – Challengers Spherical 5

Standings – Challengers Spherical 5

For the primary time, the Challengers group has a single chief, and it’s kind of of a stunning one. L’Ami is not identified for his sturdy begins in Wijk aan Zee, and 4.5/5 should be a rating he hasn’t proven right here earlier than.

Right this moment, the 38-year-old Dutch grandmaster had a straightforward day on the workplace in opposition to IM Stefan Beukema, though the sport wasn’t as easy because it appeared. The Belgian IM performed inaccurately within the opening and was shortly outplayed, however the engine confirmed that as late as transfer 14, Black was nonetheless OK.

“My opponent is a really harmful participant; he likes to assault, he likes to at all times fish for ways, for tough issues, so I made a decision to maintain issues as boring as attainable,” was how L’Ami defined his alternative of the Trade Slav. “I feel he simply did not benefit from the place a lot and I took it from there.”

It was Roebers, nevertheless, who stole the present right now together with her victory over one of many favorites. “I am very completely happy, particularly after these first 4 terrible video games,” she mentioned. “Now I lastly acquired a win.”

She did not anticipate the Caro-Kann, and shortly after the opening, it did not go properly really. Niemann was higher after the error 17.h3, however Roebers did not collapse this time and was hanging on.

One other mistake from Niemann adopted, permitting White to take the initiative, after which the American made a ultimate, decisive error in calculation:

Pairings – Masters 6

Pairings – Challengers Spherical 6

The Tata Metal Chess match 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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