Tata Steel 2025 R6: Resilient Gukesh escapes with a draw against Abdusattorov
Every time Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) and D Gukesh clash against each other, fans of the sport are in for a treat. The sixth round battle between the world champions, Gukesh, the reigning one in Classical and Abdusattorov, World Rapid 2021 champion, was an exciting one. The World no.6 got himself a decisive advantage in the endgame. However, he could not capitalize. Gukesh showed his resiliency and the game ended in a draw. R Praggnanandhaa drew with the defending champion, Wei Yi (CHN). Both Abdusattorov and Praggnanandhaa maintained their lead 4.5/6 each. They are closely followed by Gukesh at 4/6. Arjun Erigaisi drew with Fabiano Caruana (USA). Pentala Harikrishna and Leon Luke Mendonca shared the point with Jorden van Foreest (NED) and Max Warmerdam (NED) respectively. Round 7 starts today at 2 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST for both Masters and Challengers section. Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit/Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2025
Arjun draws with Fabiano, Sarana scores the sole win in Masters
"I was under pressure for the whole game I think. I misplayed in the opening. I think I defended pretty well. I am sure he had some chances but it was always (about) finding some tricks to stay in the game." - D Gukesh on his tough draw against Nodirbek Abdusattorov.
Abdusattorov - Gukesh: 0.5-0.5
Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB, 2768) and D Gukesh (2777) always had exciting games. Their first Classical rated game against each other was a little over 2.5 years at Biel. Their next Classical game at the 44th Olympiad was an epic battle and last Classical decisive game. After that their next eight Classical battles ended in draws.
Gukesh mentioned in the post-game interview that if White wanted a 4 vs 3 setup, he should have gone 44.Kg2. The game continued 44.g4 Rc5 45.f3 Kf8 46.Rxf7+ Ke8 47.Nd3 Rb1+ 48.Kg2 Rc3 49.Ne5 Rb5 50.Rxg7 Rxe5 Gukesh was happy to get the piece down endgame. However, he felt that it was probably still bad for him. 51.Ra2 Kf8 52.Rg6 Nxe4 Black felt that it was his only chance because 53.Re2 Rg5 and the rook endgame is a draw.
57.Ra8+? was the final mistake by White. It removed White's winning chances after Kf7 58.Ra7+ Kf6 59.Re8 Ne6 60.h6 Re5 Black has managed to successfully defend a difficult endgame. Instead, 57.Rf6+ Kg7 58.Rc6 is recommended to be winning for White by the computer.
Schedule
Starting from Saturday 18th January to 2nd February, all round starts at 2 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. Rest days are same for both Masters and Challengers section - 23rd, 27th and 30th January 2025.
Replay Live stream
Replay Round 6 Masters games
Replay Round 6 Challengers games
Round 6 results
Masters
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | 2801 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | ½ - ½ | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | 2803 | 10 | |
| 2 | 11 | 2677 | GM | Sarana, Alexey | 1 - 0 | GM | Fedoseev, Vladimir | 2717 | 9 | |
| 3 | 12 | 2733 | GM | Keymer, Vincent | ½ - ½ | GM | Giri, Anish | 2731 | 8 | |
| 4 | 13 | 2768 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | ½ - ½ | GM | Gukesh, D | 2777 | 7 | |
| 5 | 1 | 2695 | GM | Harikrishna, Pentala | ½ - ½ | GM | Van Foreest, Jorden | 2680 | 6 | |
| 6 | 2 | 2741 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | ½ - ½ | GM | Wei, Yi | 2751 | 5 | |
| 7 | 3 | 2639 | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | ½ - ½ | GM | Warmerdam, Max | 2646 | 4 |
Standings after Round 6
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | UZB | 2768 | 4,5 | 0 | 11,25 |
| 2 | 2 | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | IND | 2741 | 4,5 | 0 | 11,25 |
| 3 | 7 | GM | Gukesh, D | IND | 2777 | 4 | 0 | 12,75 |
| 4 | 11 | GM | Sarana, Alexey | SRB | 2677 | 3,5 | 1 | 10,25 |
| 5 | 9 | GM | Fedoseev, Vladimir | SLO | 2717 | 3,5 | 2 | 8,75 |
| 6 | 1 | GM | Harikrishna, Pentala | IND | 2695 | 3,5 | 2 | 6,75 |
| 7 | 5 | GM | Wei, Yi | CHN | 2751 | 3 | 1 | 11,00 |
| 8 | 10 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | USA | 2803 | 3 | 2 | 7,50 |
| 9 | 12 | GM | Keymer, Vincent | GER | 2733 | 3 | 2 | 6,25 |
| 10 | 8 | GM | Giri, Anish | NED | 2731 | 2,5 | 0 | 7,25 |
| 11 | 6 | GM | Van Foreest, Jorden | NED | 2680 | 2 | 0 | 6,75 |
| 12 | 4 | GM | Warmerdam, Max | NED | 2646 | 2 | 0 | 6,25 |
| 13 | 14 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | IND | 2801 | 1,5 | 0 | 3,50 |
| 14 | 3 | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | IND | 2639 | 1,5 | 0 | 3,50 |
Round 7 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 2646 | GM | Warmerdam, Max | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | 2801 | 14 | ||
| 2 | 5 | 2751 | GM | Wei, Yi | GM | Mendonca, Leon Luke | 2639 | 3 | ||
| 3 | 6 | 2680 | GM | Van Foreest, Jorden | GM | Praggnanandhaa, R | 2741 | 2 | ||
| 4 | 7 | 2777 | GM | Gukesh, D | GM | Harikrishna, Pentala | 2695 | 1 | ||
| 5 | 8 | 2731 | GM | Giri, Anish | GM | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | 2768 | 13 | ||
| 6 | 9 | 2717 | GM | Fedoseev, Vladimir | GM | Keymer, Vincent | 2733 | 12 | ||
| 7 | 10 | 2803 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | GM | Sarana, Alexey | 2677 | 11 |
Challengers
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | 2659 | GM | Yakubboev, Nodirbek | ½ - ½ | GM | Svane, Frederik | 2664 | 10 | |
| 2 | 11 | 2386 | IM | Bulmaga, Irina | ½ - ½ | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | 2476 | 9 | |
| 3 | 12 | 2583 | GM | Bok, Benjamin | ½ - ½ | GM | Nogerbek, Kazybek | 2514 | 8 | |
| 4 | 13 | 2474 | IM | Pijpers, Arthur | ½ - ½ | IM | Lu, Miaoyi | 2429 | 7 | |
| 5 | 1 | 2490 | IM | Divya, Deshmukh | 0 - 1 | IM | Oro, Faustino | 2447 | 6 | |
| 6 | 2 | 2668 | GM | Nguyen, Thai Dai Van | ½ - ½ | GM | L'Ami, Erwin | 2614 | 5 | |
| 7 | 3 | 2623 | GM | Suleymanli, Aydin | 1 - 0 | GM | Gurel, Ediz | 2624 | 4 |
Standings after Round 6
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 | GM | L'Ami, Erwin | NED | 2614 | 4,5 | 0 | 11,00 |
| 2 | 12 | GM | Bok, Benjamin | NED | 2583 | 4 | 0 | 12,00 |
| 3 | 2 | GM | Nguyen, Thai Dai Van | CZE | 2668 | 4 | 0 | 11,00 |
| 4 | 7 | IM | Lu, Miaoyi | CHN | 2429 | 3,5 | 1 | 9,75 |
| 5 | 8 | GM | Nogerbek, Kazybek | KAZ | 2514 | 3,5 | 2 | 9,50 |
| 6 | 9 | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | IND | 2476 | 3,5 | 3 | 9,25 |
| 7 | 3 | GM | Suleymanli, Aydin | AZE | 2623 | 3,5 | 4 | 9,00 |
| 8 | 10 | GM | Svane, Frederik | GER | 2664 | 3 | 0 | 9,75 |
| 9 | 14 | GM | Yakubboev, Nodirbek | UZB | 2659 | 3 | 0 | 8,25 |
| 10 | 4 | GM | Gurel, Ediz | TUR | 2624 | 2,5 | 0 | 5,00 |
| 11 | 6 | IM | Oro, Faustino | ARG | 2447 | 2,5 | 0 | 3,50 |
| 12 | 13 | IM | Pijpers, Arthur | NED | 2474 | 2 | 0 | 7,00 |
| 13 | 1 | IM | Divya, Deshmukh | IND | 2490 | 1,5 | 0 | 4,50 |
| 14 | 11 | IM | Bulmaga, Irina | ROU | 2386 | 1 | 0 | 3,50 |
Round 7 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | White | Result | Black | Rtg | No. | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | 2624 | GM | Gurel, Ediz | GM | Yakubboev, Nodirbek | 2659 | 14 | ||
| 2 | 5 | 2614 | GM | L'Ami, Erwin | GM | Suleymanli, Aydin | 2623 | 3 | ||
| 3 | 6 | 2447 | IM | Oro, Faustino | GM | Nguyen, Thai Dai Van | 2668 | 2 | ||
| 4 | 7 | 2429 | IM | Lu, Miaoyi | IM | Divya, Deshmukh | 2490 | 1 | ||
| 5 | 8 | 2514 | GM | Nogerbek, Kazybek | IM | Pijpers, Arthur | 2474 | 13 | ||
| 6 | 9 | 2476 | GM | Vaishali, Rameshbabu | GM | Bok, Benjamin | 2583 | 12 | ||
| 7 | 10 | 2664 | GM | Svane, Frederik | IM | Bulmaga, Irina | 2386 | 11 |
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.
