In the central game of Round 11, Anish Giri held Magnus Carlsen to a draw with black pieces and held the lead as his main competitors did not manage to win. Jorden Van Foreest beat Pentala Harikrishna and is now sharing second place with Fabiano Caruana and Alireza Firouzja. Arian Tari scored his first victory in the event and stopped Andrey Esipenko.
Magnus Carlsen did not manage to pose serious problems for Anish Giri in Giuoco Piano – the Dutchman comfortably reached a draw. As the leader said after the game at one point he was about to make a wrong move but wisely refrained from it in favor of a more solid continuation.
Arian Tari energetically capitalized on Andrey Esipenko’s inaccuracy in the Ruy Lopez (14.Nd5!) and got a very promising position. The Russian tried to wriggle out in an active way but only made things worse – after a nice deflection move 29.Ra8! Black’s position collapsed.
Alexander Donchenko got an edge in the game with Jan-Krzysztof Duda, as Black’s bishop was stuck on c8, but did not find a way to make progress and forced a draw by perpetual check.
Jorden Van Foreest won an opening duel against Pentala Harikrishna and by move 15 emerged with an extra piece for which the Indian had no real compensation. The encounter went deeply into endgame but the result was never in doubt.
Nils Grandelius demonstrated good preparation with Black in the Gruenfeld Defense against David Anton and equalized with several precise moves. Black could have dreamed bigger at some point, but the game liquidated into a drawn ending in which the opponents shook hands on move 30.
The duel between Alireza Firouzja and Fabiano Caruana was a see-saw tactical battle in Giuoco Piano in which the American had a chance to turn matters in his favor on moves 19 (Fabiano immediately spotted 19…Nxg2! but did not see a follow-up) and 35 (Kh8!) but missed these opportunities and ended up in a worse, most likely lost position. Then it was Alireza’s turn to let his opponent off the hook – the game was eventually drawn in a rook ending.
The game between Radoslaw Wojtaszek and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave saw another Gruenfeld Defense, but this time around Black run into real trouble. However, the Pole did not demonstrate accuracy in an endgame with an extra exchange and the Frenchman escaped with a draw.
Standings after Round 11: 1. Anish Giri – 7½; 2-4. Alireza Firouzja, Fabiano Caruana, Jorden Van Foreest – 7; 5. Andrey Esipenko – 6½; 6. Magnus Carlsen – 6; 7. Nils Grandelius – 5½; 8-9. Pentala Harikrishna, Arian Tari – 5; 10-11. Jan-Krzysztof Duda, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – 4½; 12-13. Radoslaw Wojtaszek, David Anton – 4; 14. Alexander Donchenko – 3½.
Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2021
Official website: tatasteelchess.com/
