Woodward in Contention, Yip Nears Norm Chances at Tata Steel

If a large chunk of the country has to be snowed in for a second consecutive weekend, at least it coincides with the end of Tata Steel. It will even feel like we’re right there with the players in the Netherlands!

With three rounds to go in Wijk aan Zee, both the Masters and the Challengers remain hotly contested, with 15-year-old American GM Andy Woodward only a half-point behind the leader in the latter. Play resumes Friday at 7 a.m. CST, with the penultimate round at the same time on Saturday and Sunday’s last round beginning two hours earlier at 5 a.m. CST.

Woodward during his seventh win of the event. (All photos courtesy Tata Steel/Lennart Ootes)

Woodward entered Tuesday’s ninth round with a share of the lead and, thanks to a win over Spanish GM Daniil Yuffa, left the round in sole first. The win was his seventh in nine rounds, putting him at 7½/9.

Woodward’s co-leader, French GM Marc’Andria Maurizzi, drew his game, dropping him a half-point behind the American. But a win from Azeri GM Aydin Suleymanli saw him move up to a share of second with 7/9.

Aydin Suleymanli is back in the lead in the Challengers.

But Round 10 was a difficult pairing for Woodward, who ended up getting punished for his greed against legendary Ukrainian GM Vasyl Ivanchuk:

Maurizzi drew again, but another Suleymanli win saw the Azeri player leapfrog Woodward in the standings, reaching sole first at 8/10. Woodward and Maurizzi are tied for second a half-point behind, and Ivanchuk moved up to clear fourth at 7/10.

Amidst the youngsters in the Challengers, the 56-year-old Vasyl Ivanchuk is still in the running.

In an important game for the standings, Woodward has the white pieces Friday against Maurizzi. And, in another important game, Suleymanli is White against Ivanchuk! Maurizzi has the white pieces against Suleymanli on Saturday, in the only other meeting of top-four players.

Carissa Yip (L) missed a chance to score a victory against Bibisara Assaubayeva in Round 9, but still remains in striking distance of her final GM norm.

IM Carissa Yip remains on an even 5/10 score after draws against Kazakhstan’s GM Bibisara Assaubayeva and Argentina’s IM Faustino Oro. Importantly, she is still in contention for her third GM norm with a strong finish. Unfortunately, she missed an opportunity to narrow in on the norm faster in a pawn-up endgame against Assaubayeva:

Yip has the black pieces against Dutch IM Eline Roebers on Friday, followed by White against Yuffa and finally another game as Black against Chinese IM Lu Miaoyi.

Javokhir Sindarov (L) and Nodirbek Abdusattorov drew their ninth-round head-to-head match-up.

In the Masters, Uzbekistani GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov remains in pole position with 6½/10 after back-to-back draws this week. GM Javokhir Sindarov — one of three players competing in this year’s Candidates — also drew both his games to remain in second a half-point back.

Matthias Bluebaum during his win over Gukesh Dommaraju.

But another candidate, German GM Matthias Bluebaum, shot up the standings into a tie for second with consecutive wins over the reigning world champion and then the third Candidate in this year’s field.

The latter win put him over 2700 for the first time in his career:

Bluebaum analyzes with Anish Giri after his victory.

Dutch GM Jorden van Foreest also joined the tie for second with an excellent attacking win over German GM Vincent Keymer in Round 9:

Jorden van Foreest (R) delivered a spectacular attacking gem of a game against Vincent Keymer.

Van Foreest has the white pieces against Abdusattorov on Friday, and Abdusattorov in turn is White against Bluebaum on Saturday. In addition to his draws against Abdusattorov and van Foreest this week, Sindarov already defeated Bluebaum in Round 4, meaning he has played against all the other players in currently in contention.

Standings are available here for the Masters and here for the Challengers, and games/pairings are available here and here.