Abdusattorov leads on 6.5/10 Sindarov, Van Foreest and Bluebaum are in the chasing pack - 10
Discussion today has centred around why there have been so many errors with both Keymer and Gukesh talking about it. A combination of the youth and ambition of the field combined with the first time control with no increment has probably contributed.
In second place Jorden Van Foreest and Javokhir Sindarov played each other and drew a well played game, they're now joined by Matthias Bluebaum who was confronted with an aggressive Anish Giri who played the Modern Defence, Giri was doing fine according to the engine until 15...h5? which relied on a cute tactical point that actually fails on move 21, long line wrong line as Larsen used to say.
14 year old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus seemed to be making a run but was upset today by World Champion Gukesh, that said Gukesh avoided a likely draw with 24...Bb3 with another long sequence that was actually wrong, the quiet 28.Rad1 would have won for Erdogmus, as it was he lost an endgame.
In the battle of the tail-enders Chithambaram Aravindh won a game against Thai Dai Van Nguyen where he was completely busted for some time. Vincent Keymer beat Arjun Erigaisi in a game where the Indian played a poor opening and just suffered until he lost. Hans Niemann had a brief chance against Praggnanandhaa but didn't take advantage and drew again.
My thanks to Michiel Abeln for five annotated games and the photos.
Aydin Suleymanli leads the Challengers, he beat Daniil Yuffa whilst previous leader Andy Woodward ran into the curse of Vasyl Ivanchuk.
Round 10 Standings: 1st Abdusattorov 6.5pts, 2nd= Sindarov, Van Foreest, Bluebaum 6pts, 5th= Erdogmus, Niemann 5.5pts, 7th= Keymer, Gukesh, Fedoseev 5pts, 10th= Praggnanandhaa, Giri 4.5pts, 12th Erigaisi 4pts, 13th Aravindh 3.5pts, 14th Nguyen 3pts
Final Rest Day Thurs 10th Jan
Round 11 Fri 30th 1pm Jan 2026: Van Foreest-Abdusattorov, Erigaisi-Sindarov, Praggnanandhaa-Keymer, Nguyen-Niemann, Gukesh-Aravindh, Giri-Erdogmus, Fedoseev-Bluebaum.