Tata Steel 2024 R2: Wei Yi implodes against Gukesh
D Gukesh defeated Wei Yi (CHN) in the second round of 86th Tata Steel Masters 2024. The Chinese virtually imploded when he made an incorrect knight sacrifice in an already difficult position. R Praggnanandhaa and Vidit Gujrathi drew against Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) and Anish Giri (NED) respectively. In the Challengers section, Harika Dronavalli and Leon Luke Mendonca shared the point versus Daniel Dardha (BEL) and Marc' Andria Maurizzi (FRA). IM Divya Deshmukh suffered a loss against Anton Korobov (UKR). Round 3 pairings: Vidit vs Ian Nepomniachtchi, Gukesh vs Ding Liren (CHN), Praggnanandhaa vs Wei (CHN), Divya vs Jaime Santos Latasa (ESP), Dardha vs Leon, and Erwin L'Ami vs Harika. The third round starts today at 2 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit/Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024
Firouzja wins two in-a-row
Alireza Firouzja (FRA) is the only player at 2/2, combining both Masters and Challengers section. "It's great feeling. The organizer welcomed us very warmly, so I am happy to be here. I look forward to the next eleven games. It's a long tournament here. So I am trying to play my best here and we will see." - Firouzja on being back here at Wijk aan Zee. "My parents and my brother mostly they come with me into the tournaments. It helps to have them here because they do other the other side. Besides chess, I need many things so they help me a lot to keep my energy and everything. So I really appreciate that." - Firouzja on having his parents and brother being present with him during the tournament.
Wei - Gukesh: 0-1
Wei Yi (CHN, 2740) and D Gukesh (2725) had played only one Classical rated game against each other. It took place last year, which ended in a draw. According to Gukesh, his opponent opted for a sharp 6.Bg5 line in the Italian. White probably did not know enough about 10..Bg4 variation and he went for an interesting 13.b5
White sacrificed his knight 25.Nxc7? which did not yield a desired effect 26...Qxc7 27.c5 Bxc1 28.cxd6 Qb6 29.dxe7 Rfc8 White never got enough compensation for the lost rook and lost the game in the next few moves.
Solve questions posed by IM Sagar Shah in an interactive format on ChessRanga.
Firouzja - Parham: 1-0
The last time Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI, 2740) defeated Alireza Firouzja (FRA, 2759) in a Classical rated game was back in March 2018 at Iran Championship. A lot has changed since that time.
Firouzja mentioned in the post-match interview that 18...Be6? was the biggest made by his opponent. He added that Black could have gone 18...c6 19.fxe5 cxd5 20.exf6 where he played a game against Samuel Sevian (USA) which the former won. The game continued 19.Bc4 Bd4+ 20.Kh1 Bf7 21.Qe4 Bc5 22.Ne7+ Kf8 23.Qxh7 Bxc4? 24.Re1 Qxe7 25.Rxe7 Kxe7 26.Qe4+ Be6 27.f5 and White went on to win the game finding some precise moves.
Tata Steel Chess posted Magnus Carlsen's message to the participants
Replay Round 2 Masters games
Replay Round 2 Challengers games
Round 2 results
Standings after Round 2
Round 3 pairings
Schedule
Starting from Saturday 13th to 27th January, all round starts at 2 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Only Sunday 28th January, the final round will start at 12 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Rest days are same for both Masters and Challengers section - 17th, 22nd and 25th January 2024.
Time Control
100 minutes for 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for the remaining moves with 30 seconds increment for each move starting from the first move.
