After eight rounds of the Tata Steel Masters in Wijk aan Zee the leaderboard is beginning to take shape. By virtue of Fabiano Caruana’s defeat this afternoon, of which more later, Magnus Carlsen has opened up a half-point lead with five rounds to go. However, there are three others just half a point behind Caruana, including last year’s runner-up Ding Liren, so there is still plenty to play for. Ding’s round 8 game with Broadstairs favourite, Wei Yi, raised a few eyebrows as a draw was agreed rather earlier than many would have liked. All sorts of accusations were made by those following online but it wouldn’t have been such a surprise if that had been the result whether they played 27 or 72 moves as Wei has drawn all his games hitherto to stand at 4/8 just one and a half points behind Carlsen, ready to time his late run for glory. At the other end of the tournament sits Michael Adams in last place. He is still without a win but has achieved five draws and should be heartened by his 85-move draw today with Pavel Eljianov, especially as he was two pawns down in a long endgame.
“Where will my first win come from?”
Alas for Hou Yifan who, after a promising start, has lost her last two games, today to Wijk aan Zee season-ticket holder, Loek van Wely, his first win of the tournament. Here is his assessment of the game:
Loek van Wely interview
The game of the day was David Navara’s win against the previously unbeaten Fabiano Caruana. As we featured David’s defeat against Hou Yifan in the last update, it seems only fair to redress the balance here.
White: David Navara (2730) Black: Fabiano Caruana (2787)
Tata Steel Masters 2016
Black resigns
This is Hou Yifan. She is 21, has an ELO grade of 2673, is number 68 in the world and has been a Grandmaster since she was fourteen, the youngest female chess player ever to have achieved the title. She is currently playing at the Tata Steel Masters Tournament in Amsterdam where she is, not surprisingly, the only female player among some of the giants of modern chess. She has the second lowest grade of the fourteen competitors yet after four rounds she shares second place on 2½/4 ahead of world number one, Magnus Carlsen (2/4), and Britain’s strongest player, Michael Adams, who has made a wretched start and is currently last with 1/4 after two defeats.
Readers may think that I may have some vested interest in promoting Chinese chess after singing the praises of Wei Yi, Ding Liren and recently Yu Yangyi but my aim is merely to highlight the current strength of chess in China. Wei Yi (on 2/4 at Tata Steel) is 16, Ding Liren (2½/4 and last year’s runner-up behind Magnus Carlsen) is a comparative veteran at 23 and Yu Yangyi is 21. Russia and the Soviet Union may have dominated world chess in the last century but it is China leading the way in this one. Here is Hou Yifan’s swashbuckling win against world number 25 David Navara of the Czech Republic today.
White: Hou Yifan (2673) Black: David Navara (2730)
Tata Steel Masters 2016
Black resigns
Leading the way after four rounds is world number 5, Fabiano Caruana with two wins and two draws from his four matches and many think he should have won against Anish Giri this afternoon. There is still plenty to play for – could there be a Chinese victory? You read it here first!
Congratulations to our new friend, GM Aleksander Mista, who has just finished joint first in the Hastings Masters. Not sure at time of writing if there is to be a play-off for outright winner but 7/9 is a fine achievement and one place better than last year. Well done, Mr Mista.
Hou Yifan, trumpeted by me in January during her performance in the Tata Steel Tournament, has regained her world title after defeating her Ukrainian opponent, Mariya Muzychuk (pictured with Hou on the right) 6-3. Hou won three games and drew the others, finally winning the match after Mariya pushed too hard for a win in Game 9 in order to force the match into a tenth game. Hou is now both the world champion and number one female player in the world. Although the winning game was Game 9, the crucial victory for Hou was Game 6, one where Mariya had good chances but where defeat left her two points behind with only four games to go.