88th Tata Steel 2026 R8: World Champion D Gukesh bounces back

by Shahid Ahmed - 26/01/2026

Anish Giri (NED) handed Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) his first loss in Round 8 of 88th Tata Steel Masters 2026. Despite having a full point lead, Abdusattorov was not in a mood to play a quiet game and stay ahead. He wanted to play for the maximum. Giri got a pleasant position by move no.20 and his opponent's position kept getting worse. The reigning World Champion, D Gukesh bounced back with an emphatic victory against Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO). Aravindh Chithambaram and Yagis Kaan Erdogmus (TUR) drew against Arjun Erigaisi and R Praggnanandhaa respectively. Today is the second of three rest days. Round 9 starts tomorrow Tuesday 27th January at 2 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST for both Masters and Challengers section. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

Giri ends Abdusattorov's unbeaten run, wins two in-a-row

Anish Giri's wins over Nodirbek Abdusattorov caused the latter's lead to be reduced by a half point. Abdusattorov is at 5.5/8. Javokhir Sindarov drew against Vincent Keymer to move to 5/8. Matthias Bluebaum could not make the most out of the advantage he got against last year's Challenger event winner, Thai Dai Van Nguyen. In the Challengers section, GM Marc` Andria Maurizzi (FRA) and GM Andy Woodward (USA) maintained their lead 6.5/8 as they defeated IM Miaoyi Lu (CHN) and IM Faustino Oro (ARG) respectively. FM Vedant Panesar defended a losing same color bishop endgame against GM Daniil Yuffa (ESP) as the GM could not find a way to win the game.

World Champion, D Gukesh bounced back with a win against Vladimir Fedoseev | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

Abdusattorov - Giri: 0-1

Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB, 2751) and Anish Giri (NED, 2760) have played eleven Classical rated games against each other. Abdusattorov won one, the remaining ten ended in draws which means Giri was yet to beat Abdusattorov. It was time for Giri to change that statistic.

Position after 18...f3

White landed himself in trouble early in the game. The pawn on f3 certainly made White's position quite uncomfortable. The h4-knight remained out of action for the majority of the game.

Position after 50...e3!

Giri found a beautiful finish 50...e3! which started with a knight sacrifice 47...Rb2! 48.Rxc5 Rb4+ 49.Rc4 c5+ 50.Kc3 e3! 51.Rh4 Rb1 and it's over as White cannot stop both e3 and f3 pawns from being promoted. It was Giri's 205th game at Tata Steel A tournaments.

Interview with Anish Giri | Video: Tata Steel Chess Tournament

Anish Giri (NED) realized how close he was to handing Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) his first loss of the event | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

Fedoseev - Gukesh: 0-1

Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO, 2705) and World Champion, D Gukesh (2754) played four Classical rated games against each other. Gukesh won one and the remanining three ended in draws.

Position after 37...Kg7

In a difficult position, White blundered 38.Nxc3?? Gukesh found the beautiful Rb3!-+ 39.Qd2 Qb4 40.Bxg6 Rbxc3 41.Bc2 and White resigned as Rxf3+ drops more material.

Vladimir Fedoseev - D Gukesh, Analysis by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

Gukesh analyzes his win | Video: Tata Steel Chess Tournament

World Champion, D Gukesh bounced back with an emphatic victory over Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO) | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

Matthias Bluebaum (GER) could not convert his advantage into a full point against Thai Dai Van Nguyen (CZE) | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

Yagiz - Praggnanandhaa: 0.5-0.5

The first-ever Classical rated game between Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus (TUR, 2658) and R Praggnanandhaa (2758) ended in a draw.

Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus (TUR) - R Praggnanandhaa: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

Aravindh Chithambaram vs Arjun Erigaisi, Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

Aravindh Chithambaram and Arjun Erigaisi played an exciting draw | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess Tournament

Challengers: FM Vedant Panesar defended a 139-move marathon draw against GM Daniil Yuffa (ESP) where the majority of the game was a same color bishop endgame | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

World Champion, D Gukesh with his fans | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

Round 8 in progress | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

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Replay Round 8 live commentary by IM Sagar Shah, Amruta Mokal and IM Soumya Swaminathan | Video: ChessBase India

Replay Round 8 Masters games

Replay Round 8 Challengers games

Masters Round 8 results

Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.
1	14	2751	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	0 - 1	GM	Giri, Anish	2760	11
2	12	2705	GM	Fedoseev, Vladimir	0 - 1	GM	Gukesh, D	2754	10
3	13	2679	GM	Bluebaum, Matthias	½ - ½	GM	Nguyen, Thai Dai Van	2656	9
4	1	2658	GM	Erdogmus, Yagiz Kaan	½ - ½	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R	2758	8
5	2	2700	GM	Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr.	½ - ½	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2775	7
6	3	2725	GM	Niemann, Hans Moke	½ - ½	GM	Van Foreest, Jorden	2703	6
7	4	2776	GM	Keymer, Vincent	½ - ½	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	2726	5

Details

Standings after Round 8

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	TB1
1	14	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	UZB	2751	5,5
2	5	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	UZB	2726	5
3	1	GM	Erdogmus, Yagiz Kaan	TUR	2658	4,5
	3	GM	Niemann, Hans Moke	USA	2725	4,5
	6	GM	Van Foreest, Jorden	NED	2703	4,5
6	4	GM	Keymer, Vincent	GER	2776	4
	10	GM	Gukesh, D	IND	2754	4
	11	GM	Giri, Anish	NED	2760	4
	12	GM	Fedoseev, Vladimir	SLO	2705	4
	13	GM	Bluebaum, Matthias	GER	2679	4
11	7	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	IND	2775	3,5
12	8	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R	IND	2758	3
	9	GM	Nguyen, Thai Dai Van	CZE	2656	3
14	2	GM	Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr.	IND	2700	2,5

Details

Round 9 pairings

Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.
1	5	2726	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir		GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	2751	14
2	6	2703	GM	Van Foreest, Jorden		GM	Keymer, Vincent	2776	4
3	7	2775	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun		GM	Niemann, Hans Moke	2725	3
4	8	2758	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R		GM	Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr.	2700	2
5	9	2656	GM	Nguyen, Thai Dai Van		GM	Erdogmus, Yagiz Kaan	2658	1
6	10	2754	GM	Gukesh, D		GM	Bluebaum, Matthias	2679	13
7	11	2760	GM	Giri, Anish		GM	Fedoseev, Vladimir	2705	12

Details

Challengers Round 8 results

Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.
1	14	2466	IM	Yip, Carissa	0 - 1	GM	Suleymanli, Aydin	2628	11
2	12	2516	IM	Oro, Faustino	0 - 1	GM	Woodward, Andy	2608	10
3	13	2604	GM	Yuffa, Daniil	½ - ½	FM	Panesar, Vedant	2406	9
4	1	2605	GM	Ivanchuk, Vasyl	1 - 0	GM	Warmerdam, Max	2576	8
5	2	2611	GM	Maurizzi, Marcandria	1 - 0	IM	Lu, Miaoyi	2431	7
6	3	2638	GM	Ivic, Velimir	0 - 1	IM	Roebers, Eline	2398	6
7	4	2634	GM	L'ami, Erwin	0 - 1	GM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	2497	5

Details

Standings after Round 8

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	TB1
1	2	GM	Maurizzi, Marcandria	FRA	2611	6,5
	10	GM	Woodward, Andy	USA	2608	6,5
3	11	GM	Suleymanli, Aydin	AZE	2628	6
4	1	GM	Ivanchuk, Vasyl	UKR	2605	5,5
5	5	GM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	KAZ	2497	4,5
	12	IM	Oro, Faustino	ARG	2516	4,5
	13	GM	Yuffa, Daniil	ESP	2604	4,5
8	14	IM	Yip, Carissa	USA	2466	4
9	8	GM	Warmerdam, Max	NED	2576	3
10	3	GM	Ivic, Velimir	SRB	2638	2,5
	9	FM	Panesar, Vedant	IND	2406	2,5
12	4	GM	L'ami, Erwin	NED	2634	2
	6	IM	Roebers, Eline	NED	2398	2
	7	IM	Lu, Miaoyi	CHN	2431	2

Details

Round 9 pairings

Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.
1	5	2497	GM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara		IM	Yip, Carissa	2466	14
2	6	2398	IM	Roebers, Eline		GM	L'ami, Erwin	2634	4
3	7	2431	IM	Lu, Miaoyi		GM	Ivic, Velimir	2638	3
4	8	2576	GM	Warmerdam, Max		GM	Maurizzi, Marcandria	2611	2
5	9	2406	FM	Panesar, Vedant		GM	Ivanchuk, Vasyl	2605	1
6	10	2608	GM	Woodward, Andy		GM	Yuffa, Daniil	2604	13
7	11	2628	GM	Suleymanli, Aydin		IM	Oro, Faustino	2516	12