Abdusattorov beats Erigaisi to win the Tata Steel Masters - 13

Nodirbek Abdusattorov took clear first in the Tata Steel Masters 2026. This is his second major victor in a row after winning the London Chess Classic, that followed a disaster at the Sinquefield Cup in August last year where he finished last.

Abdusattorov was unsurprisingly very happy to win this year having come so close to winning the tournament several times in recent years. He said winning this tournament was a childhood dream. Abdusattorov had a half point lead and he beat Arjun Erigaisi in convincing style on the black side of an Evans Gambit. The result relegated Erigaisi to 13th place a terrible result for a player of his class. Javokhir Sindarov managed to squeeze out a win against Thai Dai Van Nguyen and finished in clear second place. Jorden Van Foreest had good winning chances against Praggnanandhaa but failed to convert in the end, he was on the same score was Hans Moke Niemann and Vincent Keymer but took 3rd on tie-break.

My thanks to Michiel Abeln for his help with notes and photos throughout the tournament.

In the Challengers Andy Woodward won in the final round against Erwin L'Ami to qualify for next year's Masters event, his rivals for this place for much of the time were Marc'andria Maurizzi and Aydin Suleymanli but losses toward the end cost them. Instead it was Vasyl Ivanchuk who scored 6 wins and 2 draws in his final 8 rounds and he took second place half a point behind the winner.

Final Standings Masters: 1st Nodirbek Abdusattorov 9pts, 2nd Javokhir Sindarov 8.5pts, 3rd Jorden Van Foreest 7.5pts, 4th Hans Moke Niemann 7.5pts, 5th Vincent Keymer 7.5pts, 6th Matthias Bluebaum 7pts, 7th Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus 7pts, 8th Anish Giri 6.5pts, 9th Vladimir Fedoseev 6.5pts, 10th D Gukesh 6.5pts, 11th R Praggnanandhaa 5.5pts, 12th Chithambaram V Aravindh 4.5pts, 13th Arjun Erigaisi 4.5pts, 14th Thai Dai Van Nguyen 3pts.

Final Standings Challengers: 1st Andy Woodward 10pts, 2nd Vasyl Ivanchuk 9.5pts, 3rd Aydin Suleymanli 9pts, 4th Marc'andria Maurizzi 8pts, 5th Bibisara Assaubayeva 7.5pts, 6th Faustino Oro 7pts, 7th Carissa Yip 7pts, 8th Max Warmerdam 6.5pts, 9th Velimir Ivic 6pts, 10th Daniil Yuffa 5.5pts, 11th Erwin L'ami 5pts, 12th Vedant Panesar 4pts, 13th Miaoyi Lu 3.5pts, 14th Eline Roebers 2.5pts.