Abdusattorov and Fedoseev winners in Tata Steel Round 2 - 2
Round 1 leader Niemann drew quickly against Matthias Bluebaum and Erigaisi drew against Thai Dai Van Nguyen but the third winner from round 1, Vincent Keymer, went down to defeat against Vladimir Fedoseev, he in turn must be very relieved to put his mortifying disaster from round 1 behind him. Nodirbek Abdusattorov joined the leaders after defeating Praggnanandhaa who wasn't in good form in the latter half of 2025 and will not be wanting a disaster ahead of the Candidates.
There were draws in the games Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus vs Chithambaram VR. Aravindh, Gukesh vs Jorden Van Foreest and Anish Giri vs Javokhir Sindarov (who really should have won).
My thanks to Michiel Abeln for three annotated games and the photos from round 2.
In the Challengers 15 year old Women's Grandmaster Lu Miaoyi from China leads alone on 2/2.
Masters Round 2 Standings: 1st= Niemann, Erigaisi, Abdusattorov 1.5pts 4th= Erdogmus, Aravindh, Keymer, Sindarov, Van Foreest, Nguyen, Gukesh, Fedoseev, Bluebaum 1pt 13th Giri 0.5pts 14th Praggnanandhaa 0pts.
Round 3 Pairings Monday 19th Jan 1pm GMT: Aravindh-Abdusattorov, Niemann-Erdogmus, Keymer-Bluebaum, Sindarov-Fedoseev, Van Foreest-Giri, Erigaisi-Gukesh and Praggnanandhaa-Nguyen.