Magnus Carlsen won his second straight game in Round 7 to grab the lead in Tata Steel Masters 2022. The World Champion beat the debutant Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa with black pieces while neither of his closest competitors managed to score a full point.

Daniil Dubov forfeited his game against Anish Giri after the Russian GM refused to play with a face mask. It was a request by the organizers after someone Dubov contacted with had tested positive for Covid-19.

Magnus Carlsen opted for the Queen’s Gambit Accepted as Black against Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa and had to solve some problems in a rare line that starts with 7.b3 followed by Ba3. The Indian youngster obtained a promising position but played somewhat slowly and hesitantly and found himself down a pawn with no compensation. After Magnus traded most of the opponents attacking pieces, his advantage on the queenside quickly became decisive.

Jorden Van Foreest introduced an interesting novelty on the white side of Nimtzo-Indian Defence (9.Ne5) against one of the leaders, Vidit Gujrathi, but his opponent reacted precisely and got some counterplay against c4-pawn. The Dutchman quickly opened position in the centre planted his rook on d5, and got rid of his weakness. It looks like both sides were eager to press for a win in a roughly equal position, but it was the Indian who let his guard down and carelessly played 36…Rc8. The punishment was quick and cruel – after a series of forced moves, White’s rook penetrated to f7, and it was all over for Black.

Jan-Krzysztof Duda got the upper hand in the London System against Fabiano Caruana but did not find a subtle 13.dxc5 with the idea of Qd1-a4-h4. The Polish GM played 13.Qa4 immediately, and the Amerian avoided the worst by trading central pawns. White still had a more pleasant position, but Jan-Krzysztof erroneously left his king in the center, and Fabiano gradually intercepted the initiative by advancing his kingside pawns. Duda somewhat belatedly evacuated his king to the queenside, and using Caruana’s inaccuracies was very close to equality but miscalculation right after the time control dashed his hopes for a draw. Black emerged with the queen and an extra pawn vs a rook and knight and seamlessly converted his material advantage.

Richard Rapport and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov traded three pairs of minor pieces in the Sicilian Defence and found themselves in a roughly equal and bland position but found the way the set fire on the board by castling to the opposite wings and launching attacks. The moment many thought White was getting there faster, Black played a series of only moves to maintain balance. When the dust settled, an absolutely equal rook endgame arose on the board in which the opponents shook hands.

Sam Shankland demonstrated very deep opening preparation as Black in a seemingly risky line of the Sicilian Defense against Andrey Esipenko and preserved an extra pawn, but his king got stuck in the center. Later on, the American mishandled the position by advancing central pawns and creating weakness in his camp. Esipenko came very close to victory but, for some mysterious reason, opted for 36.Qb6 instead of much more natural 36.Qa5 or 36.Qb5. White still had the upper hand, but Sam defended patiently and resourcefully and saved a half-point.  

Sergey Karjakin had no problems equalizing against Nils Grandelius in the Petroff Defense and, thanks to two bishop advantage, could feel optimistic about the endgame. Nils sent his knight on a risky trip to h7, where it got stuck for good. Luckily for the Swedish GM, Karjakin allowed 25.f5! to block his light-squared bishop and create an impregnable fortress. Thirteen moves down the road, a draw was agreed.

Standings after Round 7: 1. Маgnus Carlsen – 5; 2. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov - 4½; 3-6. Vidit Gujrathi, Richard Rapport, Andrey Esipenko, Anish Giri – 4; 7-9. Sergey Karjakin, Fabiano Caruana, Jorden Van Foreest – 3½; 10-11. Sam Shankland, Jan-Krzysztof Duda – 3;  12-13. Daniil Dubov, Praggnanandhaa R. – 2½; 14.Nils Grandelius – 2.

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Photo: Jurriaan Hoefsmit and Lennart Ootes – Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2022