Eight rounds are played at the Tata Steel Masters 2023 in Wijk aan Zee, with only five rounds to go. Nodirbek Abdusattorov remained the sole leader of the event with 6/8 points, being a full point ahead of Anish Giri and Wesley So who tie for second.
Abdusattorov yesterday played a draw against Levon Aronian. The 18-year-old Uzbekistani grandmaster had White pieces and reached a completely closed position without chances for a better result. The players agreed for a draw in the 31st move.
Magnus Carlsen won his second game in a row, this time against Fabiano Caruana. Carlsen, having black, equalized in the early middlegame. Caruana made a bad mistake with 22.Bc2 and Carlsen got the decisive advantage which he easily transformed into a victory.
Yesterday’s 8th round saw another three decisive results: Richard Rapport won against Praggnanandhaa, Jorden van Foreest defeated Arjun Erigaisi, and Gukesh claimed a victory against Parham Maghsoodloo.
Today is the second free day of the event, and games will continue tomorrow, January 24th, starting at 14:00 CEST.
Rankings after 8 played rounds:
| 1 | Abdusattorov, Nodirbek | 6/8 | 2713 |
| 2 | Giri, Anish | 5/8 | 2764 |
| 3 | So, Wesley | 5/8 | 2760 |
| 4 | Carlsen, Magnus | 4½/8 | 2859 |
| 5 | Aronian, Levon | 4½/8 | 2735 |
| 6 | Praggnanandhaa | 4½/8 | 2684 |
| 7 | Caruana, Fabiano | 4½/8 | 2766 |
| 8 | Ding, Liren | 4/8 | 2811 |
| 9 | Rapport, Richard | 3½/8 | 2740 |
| 10 | Maghsoodloo, Parham | 3½/8 | 2719 |
| 11 | Van Foreest, Jorden | 3/8 | 2681 |
| 12 | Erigaisi Arjun | 3/8 | 2722 |
| 13 | Keymer, Vincent | 2½/8 | 2696 |
| 14 | Gukesh D | 2½/8 | 2725 |
