Disappointment for Abdusattorov as he allows Gukesh to escape with a draw in Tata Steel Round 6 - 6
Nodirbek Abdusattorov continues to share the lead with Praggnanandhaa on 4.5/6 after both drew their games today. Praggnanandhaa drew a well conducted Open Spanish against Wei Yi where there weren't any clear chances for either player. In contrast Abdusattorov built up a winning position against World Champion Gukesh only to let it slip at the end. Gukesh remains very much in touch half a point behind the leaders.
There was in fact only one decisive game today where Alexey Sarana beat Vladimir Fedoseev in a complicated Queen's Gambit where Fedoseev started to go wrong about move 20 and resigned on move 45. Arjun Erigaisi is having a nightmare of a tournament, it turns out he was a little sick today so he played for, and got, a quick draw against Fabiano Caruana. Vincent Kaymer's draw against Anish Giri was probably the most interesting of the remaining games, Luke Leon Mendonca against Max Warmerdam was a very balanced Queen's Gambit and Pentala Harikrishna had some small chances against Jorden Van Foreest who prepared a big idea as a surprise in the Steinitz Ruy Lopez but it turned out Harikrishna knew it anyway.
Erwin L'Ami continues to lead the Challengers and the Top Tienkamp, a qualifier for the Challengers, started today.
My thanks to Michiel Abeln for the annotated games and photos.
Masters Round 6 Standings: 1st= Abdusattorov, Praggnanandhaa 4.5pts, 3rd Gukesh 4pts, 4th= Sarana, Fedoseev, Harikrishna 3.5pts, 7th= Wei Yi, Caruana, Keymer 3pts, 10th Giri 2.5pts 11th Van Foreest, Warmerdam 2pts 13th Erigaisi, Mendonca 1.5pts
Round 7 pairings: Jan 25 at 13.00 GMT Warmerdam vs Erigaisi, Wei Yi vs Mendonca, Van Foreest vs Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh vs Harikrishna, Giri vs Abdusattorov, Fedoseev vs Keymer, Caruana vs Sarana,
Challengers Round 6 Standings: 1st L'Ami 4.5pts, 2nd= Bok, Nguyen 4pts, 4th= Lu, Nogerbek, Vaishali, Suleymanli 3.5pts, 8th= Svane, Yakubboev 3pts, 10th Gurel, Faustino Oro 2.5pts, 12th Pijpers, Arthur 2pts, 13th Divya, Deshmukh 1.5pts, 14th Bulmaga, Irina 1pt.
Round 7 pairings: Jan 25 at 13.00 GMT Gurel vs Yakubboev, L'Ami vs Suleymanli, Oro vs Nguyen, Lu vs Divya, Nogerbek vs Pijpers, Vaishali vs Bok, Svane vs Bulmaga,
Tienkamp Round Standings: 1st= Grutter, Kobe Smeets 1pt, 3rd= Slagboom, Lohia, Holzke, Zwirs, Panesar, Beukema 0.5pts 9th= Tudor, Sofronie 0pts.