88th Tata Steel 2026 R12: Uzbek domination in Wijk Aan Zee

by Devansh Singh - 01/02/2026

In the penultimate round of the Tata Steel Masters 2026, Nodirbek Abdusattorov took a massive leap towards the title. After starting the day tied with his fellow countryman Javokhir Sindarov, the 2024 champion now stands alone at the top of the leaderboard with 8.0/12. Nodirbek Abdusattorov played a masterful game with the White pieces against Germany's Matthias Bluebaum. Javokhir Sindarov played a quick draw against Praggananandha and currently he's in second place. Round 13 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

Nodirbek Abdusattorov is proving it to the world that he is not too happy with the fact that he is not part of the Candidates 2026, but belongs there! He first won the qualifiers for the Freestyle FIDE World Championship and secured the final spot. Now, he is leading the Tata Steel Masters 2026 with just one round to go! The top Uzbek GM beat Matthias Bluebaum in the penultimate round by showing excellent awareness in a complex middlegame.

Nodirbek Abdusattorov shows why he is one of the absolute best in the world right now. | Photo: Lennart Ootes

Nodirbek Abdusattorov vs Matthias Bluebaum, Round 12

Black has just made an error with Qc7. Nodirbek took full advantage of it by playing his knight to b5 (Ncb5!) The problem for Black is that the rook on e5 is loose, the king on h8 is weak and the bishop on d7 is also not well protected! You can solve this position on ChessRanga Tactics Trainer.

Nodirbek Abdusattorov's round 12 interview after gaining the sole lead going into the last round

Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus is an incredibly talented youngster. And he is now showing that it not just talent, but also resilience, as he beat Vladimir Fedoseev after losing 2 games against Anish Giri and D. Gukesh |Photo: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess

Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus vs Vladimir Fedoseev, Round 12

A funny incident occured in the game when Yagiz Kaan checkmated his opponent with the move g4# As he stretched out his hand in resignation, instead of shaking the hand, Fedoseev played his queen to b1, offering a counter checkmate! :) Both the players started laughing and so did the spectators! Fedoseev is always such an amazing sport.

Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus vs Vladimir Fedoseev | Video: ChessBase India

Erdogmus Yagiz Kaan's Interview after winning his game against Vladimir Fedoseev

Vincent Keymer won his game against Nguyen Thai Dai Van in amazing style |Photo: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess

World Cup winner Javokhir Sindarov played a quick draw against R Praggnanandhaa (0.5-0.5), and now he is trailing Abdusattarov by half a point. |Photo: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess

Anish played a draw against Aravindh Chithambaram. The game was intense and it seemed like Anish would bring the full point move. But just on move 40 he made a move that allowed Aravindh to liquidate the game into an opposite coloured bishop endgame. |Photo: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess

Gukesh played a crazy game against Hans Neimann, which eventually ended in a draw (0.5-0.5) | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess

The game between Gukesh and Hans Niemann had two moments where both players went completely berserk! First it was Hans Niemann who sacrificed a piece unprovoked and then it was Gukesh's turn to return the favour.

Hans Niemann vs D. Gukesh, Round 12

In this position, Hans Niemann could have easily moved his knight on f3 away to e1 or h4. He decided to sacrifice it on e5! That was one crazy decision! Gukesh got a winning position in the next few moves.

There was absolutely no need for Gukesh to hurry here. He has the extra piece. He can slowly bring his king in with Kg8-f7. Instead he went Nhxf4, sacrificing a piece! Why did he do that? Maybe he felt there would be fortress created in the position! But because of this he lost his chance to win the game and it eventually ended in a draw.

D. Gukesh vs Hans Niemann Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

Aydin Suleymanli had briefly lost his lead in the tournament when he had lost his previous game to Vassily Ivanchuk. But the Azeri youngster struck back against Marc Andria Maurizzi and is now jointly leading the tournament along with Andy Woodward. |Photo: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess

In the Clash of Generations, Vasyl Ivanchuk held a draw against Faustino Oro (0.5-0.5) |Photo: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess

Indian Challenger Vedant Panesar held a draw against L'ami Erwin of the Netherlands (0.5-0.5)| Photo: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess

Andy Woodward held a draw against Velimir Ivic. With the final round to go and him leading the tournament with Aydin, it remains to be seen who will hit the jackpot - a seat in the Masters for 2027. Aydin Suleymanli will play against Velimir Ivic with white, while Andy Woodward will have White against Erwin l'Ami | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess

Live Commentary from the Cafe Zion next door to the venue! |Photo: Lennart Ootes/Tata Steel Chess

Watch Live stream

Replay Round 12 live commentary by IM Sagar Shah, Amruta Mokal and IM Soumya Swaminathan | Video: ChessBase India

Replay Round 12 Masters games

Replay Round 12 Challengers games

Masters Round 12 Results

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

Rank after Round 12

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

Masters Final Round Pairings

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

Challengers Round 12 Results

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

Rank after Round 12

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3
1	11	GM	Suleymanli, Aydin	AZE	2628	9	0	49	7
2	10	GM	Woodward, Andy	USA	2608	9	0	48,25	7
3	1	GM	Ivanchuk, Vasyl	UKR	2605	8,5	0	49,5	5
4	2	GM	Maurizzi, Marcandria	FRA	2611	7,5	0	36,5	5
5	5	GM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	KAZ	2497	6,5	0	37,75	5
6	12	IM	Oro, Faustino	ARG	2516	6,5	0	31	7
7	14	IM	Yip, Carissa	USA	2466	6	1	30,25	6
8	8	GM	Warmerdam, Max	NED	2576	6	2	37	7
9	13	GM	Yuffa, Daniil	ESP	2604	5,5	0	29	7
10	4	GM	L'ami, Erwin	NED	2634	5	0	26	5
11	9	FM	Panesar, Vedant	IND	2406	4,5	1	23,75	7
12	3	GM	Ivic, Velimir	SRB	2638	4,5	2	23,75	5
13	7	IM	Lu, Miaoyi	CHN	2431	3,5	0	18,25	6
14	6	IM	Roebers, Eline	NED	2398	2	0	9	5

Challengers Final Round Pairing

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