88th Tata Steel 2026 R6: Abdusattorov gains sole lead after Gukesh blunders

by Shahid Ahmed - 24/01/2026

D Gukesh had a tough outcome in Round 6 of 88th Tata Steel Masters 2026. In a relatively balanced major piece endgame, the reigning World Champion made a terrible mistake and blundered his rook in one move. Of course, Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) seized his opportunity and it was over. Abdusattorov - Gukesh battles are always exciting but this time it had an unfortunate finish which made Gukesh's opponent feel sorry for him. Arjun Erigaisi and Aravindh Chithambaram drew against Matthias Bluebaum (GER) and Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) respectively. However, both Arjun and Aravindh made narrow escape as they had losing positions. R Praggnanandhaa played a 122-move marathon draw against Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO). Round 7 starts today at 2 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST for both Masters and Challengers section. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

Challengers: Andy Woodward emerges sole leader, Vedant draws against Suleymanli

GM Andy Woodward won the All-American clash against IM Carissa Yip to become sole leader 5/6 in the Challengers section. FM Vedant Panesar drew against one of the leaders, GM Aydin Suleymanli (AZE).

World Champion - D Gukesh in great agony, something hard to describe in words, can only be felt by those who have made similar blunders | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

Abdusattorov - Gukesh: 1-0

The battle between Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB, 2751) and the reigning World Champion, D Gukesh (2754) are always exciting. In case you missed it, you can check out my interview with Abdusattorov where he answered why their rivalry produces exciting games. They have played 14 Classical rated games against each other. Gukesh won two, Abdusattorov one and the remaining eleven games ended in draws.

Position after 36.Qf5

After 36.Qf5 Black could have played almost anything 36...Rf8/fxe5/Qc3/Qb2 and things would have been fine. Instead, he had a momentary blind spot and played 36...Rg5?? 37.Qxf6+ dropped the rook and Black resigned almost immediately as there was no reason left to continue.

Nodirbek Abdusattorov - D Gukesh, Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

Interview with Nodirbek Abdusattorov | Video: Tata Steel Chess Tournament

World Champion, D Gukesh made a one-move blunder against Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

Bluebaum - Arjun: 0.5-0.5

Matthias Bluebaum (GER, 2679) and Arjun Erigaisi (2775) played two Classical rated games against each other in the last two years. Both of them scored a win each over the other. In their third Classical battle, Bluebaum got himself a substantial advantage for a significant amount of the game. However, he could not make the most out of his opportunities.

Arjun Erigaisi escaped with a draw against Matthias Bluebaum (GER) | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus (TUR) analyzes his win over Jorden van Foreest (NED) | Video: Tata Steel Chess Tournament

Aravindh - Sindarov: 0.5-0.5

Aravindh Chithambaram (2700) and FIDE World Cup 2025 winner, Javokhir Sindarov (UZB, 2726) faced each other twice in Classical rated games. Sindarov won both of them. He was on the verge of winning their Classical battle too but in time trouble he completely missed his opportunity and allowed his opponent to escape with a draw.

Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) likely to be disappointed with himself for missing a win against Aravindh Chithambaram | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

Hans Niemann (USA) - Vincent Keymer (GER): 0-1 | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

Fedoseev - Praggnanandhaa: 0.5-0.5

R Praggnanandhaa (2758) and Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO, 2705) played only one Classical rated game each other. It occurred at the same event last year, Praggnanandhaa won that game. This time they played a 122-move marathon draw where the better part of the game was an equal rook endgame.

Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO) wanted to avenge his last year's loss against R Praggnanandhaa but a 122-move long marathon draw is all he could muster | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

Challengers: GM Andy Woodward (USA) defeated IM Carissa Yip (USA) to emerge sole leader 5/6 | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

Interview with FM Vedant Panesar | Video: Lichess

WGM IO Dana Reizniece (LAT), FIDE Deputy Chair and ECU Deputy President, sounded the gong to signal the start of Round 6 | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

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Replay Round 6 live commentary by IM Sagar Shah, Amruta Mokal and IM Soumya Swaminathan | Video: ChessBase India

Replay Round 6 Masters games

Replay Round 6 Challengers games

Masters Round 6 results

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

Details

Standings after Round 6

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

Details

Round 7 pairings

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

Details

Challengers Round 6 results

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

Details

Standings after Round 6

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

Details

Round 7 pairings

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