Nodirbek Abdusattorov still leads the Tata Steel Masters with 5.5/8 even after losing to Anish Giri - 6
The only other decisive game of the day was Gukesh's fine win against Vladimir Fedoseev. There was uncompromising chess from both players but in the end it was Gukesh that brought home the full point. Matthias Bluebaum spent several minutes at the board trying to come to terms with how he botched a winning position on the board and clock against Thai Dai Van Nguyen and allowed his opponent to escape with a draw.
The other drawn games were Hans Moke Niemann against Jorden Van Foreest where the American had a significant advantage at one stage, Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus was close to winning against Praggnanandhaa just before first time control and Chithambaram Aravindh escaped from a very bad position against Arjun Erigaisi.
There was a bloodbath in Round 8 of the Challengers with only the final game to finish ending in a draw. MarcAndria Maurizzi who beat Miaoyi Lu and Andy Woodward who defeated Faustino Oro lead the event with 6.5/8 half a point clear of Aydin Suleymanli. Vasyl Ivanchuk is half a point further back, he had about a half dozen moves to make against Max Warmerdam in only a few seconds but once he did he forced resignation.
Round 8 Standings: 1st Abdusattorov 5.5pts 2nd Sindarov 5pts 3rd= Erdogmus, Niemann, Van Foreest 4.5pts 6th= Keymer, Gukesh, Giri, Fedoseev, Bluebaum 4pts 11th Erigaisi 3.5pts 12th= Praggnanandhaa, Nguyen 3pts 14th Aravindh 2.5pts
Rest Day Monday 26th January 2026
Round 9 1pm Tuesday 27th Jan 2026: Sindarov-Abdusattorov, Van Foreest-Keymer, Erigaisi-Niemann, Praggnanandhaa-Aravindh, Nguyen-Erdogmus, Gukesh-Bluebaum and Giri-Fedoseev.