Tata Steel Chess 2026 Rounds 9–11: Abdusattorov and Sindarov Lead

Tournament Information

The Tata Steel Chess tournament is one of the longest-running chess tournaments in history. It has attracted the world's top players for decades and is currently celebrating its 88th edition. The Masters section pits 14 players in a big single-player round robin, setting the stage for exhilarating chess battles as the clash of styles and ratings makes for quite the spectacle. The Challengers section is similarly structured, and Tata Steel Chess also includes a well-attended Amateurs section.

Time control

The time control is 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by an additional 30 minutes for the rest of the game. The game starts off with no increment, but on move 41, a 30-second increment is introduced.

Lichess Broadcast

The Lichess broadcast coverage can be found here.

Lichess Interviews

Check out our on-site player interviews on YouTube after every round!

Lichess Blogs

Lichess will write blog posts after rounds 5, 8, 11, and 13.

Annotations

GM Renier Castellanos Rodriguez will annotate the games of the Masters section and WGM Petra Papp will annotate the games of the Challengers section.

For this blog, GM Renier Castellanos Rodriguez has annotated the games GM Anish Giri vs. GM Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş and GM Vincent Keymer vs. GM Arjun Erigaisi.

For this blog, WGM Petra Papp has annotated the games IM Eline Roebers vs. GM Erwin l'Ami and GM Daniil Yuffa vs. GM Aydin Suleymanli.

Find all the annotations here.

Schedule

Masters Standings

Challengers Standings

Round 9

GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen vs. GM Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş, 0-1

GM Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş won his third game of the tournament, defeating GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen in a game that was equal for a long time, but saw a very nerve-racking time trouble situation. Nguyen had to make 10 moves in just 46 seconds to reach the time control, and right on move 31, he blundered with 31...Na5??, allowing Erdoğmuş to pick up material after a long tactical sequence.

We caught up with GM Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş after his win:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r3E2Dk8leM

GM Jorden van Foreest vs. GM Vincent Keymer, 1-0

GM Jorden van Foreest came up with some electrifying preparation in the London System, throwing his h-pawn down the board and forcing GM Vincent Keymer to make several tough decisions. First, Keymer had to decide whether or not he wanted to allow h6, then whether or not to castle. Unfortunately for Keymer, the latter decision proved to be his downfall, with 13...Ng8?! making the game very difficult to save.

We caught up with GM Jorden van Foreest after his win:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zweyHeHUZNM

GM Gukesh D vs. GM Matthias Blübaum, 0-1

GM Gukesh D's preparation in the Bishop's Opening with 1. e4 e5 2. Bc4 went wrong early on as GM Matthias Blübaum was able to make use of Gukesh's weak d3-pawn. Gukesh missed a stunning idea, 13. Ba4!!, which would have maintained a slight advantage for him; instead, he played 13. Ne4?, and from there he was not yet lost, but after trying too hard to create counterplay, it was Blübaum who actually attacked Gukesh.

GM Praggnanandhaa R vs. GM Aravindh Chithambaram VR., 1-0

GM Praggnanandhaa R won his first game of the tournament against his compatriot, GM Aravindh Chithambaram VR., who up to that point remained winless. The Carlsbad pawn structure gave Praggnanandhaa good chances to press for an advantage, but at some point, Aravindh had equalized, at least in the eyes of the engine. The endgame remained practically better for Praggnanandhaa, though, and theory and practice were once again proven to diverge as Aravindh did not hold the rook + 4 vs. rook + 5 endgame.

GM Praggnanandhaa R; photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lennart Ootes

Non-Decisive Games

In the Petrov, GM Anish Giri had a promising position against GM Vladimir Fedoseev, but just one pawn capture on move 15, 15. bxc5?!, equalized the game, which remained equal until its conclusion. Meanwhile, GM Javokhir Sindarov vs. GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (game) and GM Arjun Erigaisi vs. GM Hans Moke Niemann (game) were calm draws.

Round 9 Challengers

The Challengers saw five decisive games: GM Max Warmerdam vs. GM Marc'Andria Maurizzi (game), IM Lu Miaoyi vs. GM Velimir Ivić (game), IM Eline Roebers vs. GM Erwin l'Ami (game), GM Aydin Suleymanli vs. IM Faustino Oro (game), and GM Andy Woodward vs. GM Daniil Yuffa (game).

WGM Petra Papp has annotated Roebers vs. L'Ami for you to learn from:

GM Max Warmerdam; photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lennart Ootes

Round 10

Standings After Round 9

GM Matthias Blübaum vs. GM Anish Giri, 1-0

GM Matthias Blübaum faced an opening that may be familiar to one of his compatriots (game). GM Anish Giri's surprised almost worked as he had a much better position on move 13 with 13...Qh4!!. Unfortunately for Giri, he did not find this move, and when the game became equal, he blundered again, allowing Blübaum's pieces to win tempo after tempo against his queen, culminating in an incisive finish on move 25.

We caught up with GM Matthias Blübaum after his win:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CRxGM-IYYPg

GM Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş vs. GM Gukesh D, 0-1

The Four Knights is commonly used as a safe, almost forced drawing option at the top level, but some players have been known to inject some life into the Four Knights and create complications. Both Erdoğmuş and Gukesh clearly did not want an early draw, and while the game remained equal, it retained a certain measure of complexity. Both players used a lot of time early on, so by move 26, Erdoğmuş had nine minutes to Gukesh's eleven. It was indeed on move 26 when Erdoğmuş went for a material imbalance with 26. Nb6!!. Gukesh blundered on move 27 with 27...Ba6, but Erdoğmuş had to find the deep 28. Rad1!!, and not his chosen 28. Rxa6??, to win the game. Gukesh was then better in the endgame, and while theoretically drawn, it was in fact almost impossible to hold.

GM Gukesh D interviewed by WIM Fiona-Steil Antoni; photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lennart Ootes

GM Vincent Keymer vs. GM Arjun Erigaisi, 1-0

GM Vincent Keymer has already played seven decisive games, and in round 10, he played his eighth. GM Arjun Erigaisi had a typical Ruy Lopez position, but misplayed the position, allowing Keymer's bishop pair to attack his position on the dark squares. Keymer found all the right moves and converted in brilliant fashion.

GM Renier Castellanos Rodriguez has annotated this game for you to learn from:

GM Aravindh Chithambaram VR. vs. GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen, 1-0

GM Aravindh Chithambaram VR.'s game against GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen was as topsy-turvy as can be. In a Petrov, he was much better early on, making use of tripled heavy pieces on the e-file. Nguyen was able to trade off the rooks and queens, though, and was completely fine in the resulting endgame. Nguyen then started outplaying Aravindh in the endgame, achieving a completely winning position after Aravindh sacrificed a piece for a couple of pawns. In a heartbreaking turn of events, Aravindh's single piece proved to be more powerful than Nguyen's two pieces as the secret recipe for the advantage was Aravindh's strong passed g- and e-pawns.

We caught up with GM Aravindh Chithambaram VR. after his win:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO2_9kvg6ns

Non-Decisive Games

GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov vs. GM Vladimir Fedoseev was a complicated game where Fedoseev sacrificed his queen for decent compensation, though Abdusattorov did have chances to play for more. In a French Rubinstein, GM Hans Moke Niemann had a large pull in an endgame against GM Praggnanadhaa R, but failed to find the precise continuation to increase the pressure. Meanwhile, GM Javokhir Sindarov vs. GM Jorden van Foreest was a solid draw after Sindarov pulled the brakes following an opening surprise from Van Foreest.

Round 10 Challengers

The Challengers saw five decisive games: GM Marc'Andria Maurizzi vs. FM Vedant Panesar (game), GM Vasyl Ivanchuk vs. GM Andy Woodward (game), GM Erwin l'Ami vs. IM Lu Miaoyi (game), GM Bibisara Assaubayeva vs. IM Eline Roebers (game), and GM Daniil Yuffa vs. GM Aydin Suleymanli (game).

WGM Petra Papp has annotated Yuffa vs. Suleymanli for you to learn from:

GM Aydin Suleymanli; photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lennart Ootes

Round 11

Standings After Round 10

GM Arjun Erigaisi vs. GM Javokhir Sindarov 0-1

GM Javokhir Sindarov joins Abdusattorov in first place after an impressive Semi-Slav victory against GM Arjun Erigaisi. Sindarov had no issues out of the opening, and while at some point it looked as if Arjun was better, Sindarov picked up a pawn and converted his advantage well enough.

GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen vs. GM Hans Moke Niemann 0-1

GM Hans Moke Niemann is half a point behind the leaders after a back-and-forth victory against GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen, where Niemann pushed too hard at one point, allowing Nguyen to wrest the advantage at many different junctures of the game. Unfortunately for Nguyen, his 40th move came back to haunt him as, with 17 seconds to make the time control, he played the game-losing 40...f4??, whereafter in fact Niemann event allowed Nguyen back in the game, a chance which Nguyen missed.

We caught up with GM Hans Moke Niemann after his win:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fxVsUv0F5Tw

GM Praggnanandhaa R vs. GM Vincent Keymer 0-1

Playing the English Opening, GM Praggnanandhaa R found himself in trouble early on against GM Vincent Keymer, who navigated the opening phase of the game very well. The position soon got rather complicated, with Praggnanandhaa finding a creative piece sacrifice starting with 17. Nxd6!!. The follow-up, 18. Nxe5, could not be captured, so Praggnanandhaa already had two pawns for the piece. A move repetition was eventually on the cards, but Keymer declined the draw offer with 23...Kc7!. He was soon rewarded as Praggnanandhaa blundered, allowing him to win after a long, tense conversion phase.

GM Praggnanandhaa R vs. GM Vincent Keymer; photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lennart Ootes

GM Anish Giri vs. GM Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş 1-0

Just as in round 10, Ba6 in GM Yağız Kaan Erdoğmuş's game was a blunder. This time, he was the one who committed the blunder against GM Anish Giri, in a position that was equal, but not drawn. Erdoğmuş had to find the defensive idea 23...Bb5! 24. Nxf7 Be8!!, but he did not, and thereafter had no chances to come back into the game.

GM Renier Castellanos Rodriguez has annotated this game for you to learn from:

We caught up with GM Anish Giri after his win:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzxIujjFaAk

Non-Decisive Games

GM Gukesh D had a decisive advantage against GM Aravindh Chithambaram VR., but the position remained complicated and ultimately Gukesh only managed to draw. Meanwhile, GM Vladimir Fedoseev vs. GM Matthias Blübaum (game) and GM Jorden van Foreest vs. GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (game) were quiet draws.

Round 11 Challengers

The Challengers saw four decisive games: IM Eline Roebers vs. IM Carissa Yip (game), IM Faustino Oro vs. GM Daniil Yuffa (game), GM Andy Woodward vs. Marc'Andria Maurizzi (game), and GM Aydin Suleymanli vs. GM Vasyl Ivanchuk (game).

GM Andy Woodward; photo: Tata Steel Chess / Lennart Ootes