Tata Steel 2024 R12: Vidit wins a six-hour marathon, crosses 2750, becomes the new India #1 and World #10
Vidit Gujrathi scored marathon win against Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) to join the five-way lead at 86th Tata Steel Masters 2024. After six hours and 77 moves later, Vidit defeated the sole leader to cross 2750, become India no.1 and World no.10 in the live ratings. All of them happened for the first time in his career. D Gukesh erred in a winning position against R Praggnanandhaa. He thought he was repeating the move for the second time to complete the first time control. However, his attentive opponent was sure that it was a threefold draw. He made a correct claim and escaped with a half point as that was his last hope left. Vidit, Anish Giri (NED), Gukesh, Abdusattorov and Wei Yi (CHN) are the five leaders at 7.5/12 each. In the Challengers, Leon Luke Mendonca won against Salem Saleh (UAE) in an exciting battle to join the lead 8.5/12 with Marc' Andria Maurizzi (FRA) who lost his game. Both Masters and Challengers could possibly witness an Indian winner. Round 13 starts today at 12 p.m. local time, 4:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2024
Leon Luke Mendonca joins Maurizzi in the lead on an incredibly exciting day
"I feel tired. It was a very long game. I had an advantage right out of the opening. I played some 9.g3 move. I don't know how it is, but he reacted poorly. After that I was just pawn up and I allowed him some play, still pawn up in the endgame. It took very long, lot of effort to win this." - Vidit Gujrathi after his win against the sole leader, Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB). He also added, "...It won't make any sense to predict anything right now because there are so many people, so many permutation, combination. I have done my share of calculation today so I'll just now eat food and get ready for tomorrow." He is right, it is very difficult to predict what might happen. However, the odds of a Playoff is much higher than an outright winner after the final round.
Vidit - Abdusattorov: 1-0
Vidit Gujrathi (2742) had played only three Classical rated games against Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB, 2727). All three of them ended in draws. The tournament situation called for a decisive result.
Black made a strange move in the opening 11...Bc4? Vidit mentioned in the post-game interview that he was clearly better after that 12.b3 Bd3 13.Ne5 Nxe5 14.dxe5 Ne4 15.Qd4 Nxc3 16.Bxc3 Bg6 17.Bxd5 c6 18.Bg2 Qc8 19.e6 f6 20.Qd7 Ba3 21.Rd1 Bf5 White missed this move 22.Qxc6 Bxe6 23.Qxe6+ Qxe6 24.Bd5 Qxd5 25.Rxd5 and White eventually went on to convert his extra pawn advantage into a win after six hours. This win not only put at the top of the leaderboard but also made him the new India no.1 in the live ratings.
Vidit joining the lead, becoming India no.1 and World no.10 in the live ratings on our very own Cofounder and CEO, IM Sagar Shah's 34th birthday (the win occurred after midnight on IST) is extra special. Solve questions posed by IM Sagar Shah on our interactive platform ChessRanga.
Gukesh - Praggnanandhaa: 0.5-0.5
D Gukesh (2725) always has exciting games against R Praggnanandhaa (2743). After April 2022, they have only had decisive games in all three formats, in fact Gukesh won the last two Classical rated games. This time also it seemed like Gukesh is going to win. Praggnanandhaa said, "To be honest, I am just very lucky today because I played quite bad from the start. I was just making moves that didn't make any sense starting from a6, c4 and Rc8 also. I think he must have had a forced win at some point."
30...c3? 31.bxc3 Rxc3?? was the final mistake by Black as he missed the d6-idea 32.Rxe5 dxe5 33.Bxe5 f6 34.d6 Bxd6 35.Bxd6 Qf7 36.Rg4 Rg8 37.Bf4 Qf8 38.Bd6 Qf7 39.Bf4 Qf8 40.Bd6 Black made a successful threefold repetition claim to salvage a half point from a losing position before playing Qd7
Salem - Leon
UAE no.1 Salem Saleh (2630) is well-known for his sharp and aggressive play irrespective of the format or tournament situation. He made a bold sacrifice 31.Nxh6 to expose Leon Luke Mendonca's (2608) king. 31...gxh6 32.Qf5 Kg7 33.Qh7+ Kf8 34.Bg6 Ne5 35.Re1 Bg7 36.Bxh6 Bxh6 37.Qxh6+ Ke7 38.Bf5? it was quite difficult for both attacking and the defending side, more for White because he had to find computer-like precision to continue the attack. Leon ran away with his king to the queenside, defended it quite well and made a well-timed 45...a3 to weaken his opponent's king and went on to win the game. This crucial win ensured he moved to the front and joined the lead with Marc' Andria Maurizzi (FRA, 2572) who lost his game against the Belgium no.1 Daniel Dardha (2602).
Replay live stream
Replay Round 12 Masters games
Replay Round 12 Challengers games
Round 12 results
Standings after Round 12
Round 13 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.
