Magnus Carlsen ground out a 71-move at Tata Steel 2019

Magnus Carlsen ground out a 71-move, 6.5-hour win over Jan-Krzysztof Duda to take a half-point lead into the last round showdown with Anish Giri. It could have been a full point, but just when Giri was wondering what to say about defeat in the post-game interview Teimour Radjabov offered a draw. Elsewhere Sam Shankland bounced back to beat Ian Nepomniachtchi and Vladimir Kramnik picked up a second win in a row against Vladimir Fedoseev. In the Challengers Vladislav Kovalev remains the heavy favourite after beating Elisabeth Paehtz to take the lead.

The final round of Tata Steel Chess begins 1.5 hours earlier than usual at noon, and needless to say you don’t want to miss Giri-Carlsen. If Anish can win the game he’d not only win the tournament but start February as an official member of the 2800 club.

See also:

• Official website
• All the games with computer analysis on chess24: Masters | Challengers
• Tata Steel Chess 2019 Preview
• Tata Steel 2019, 1: Nepo and Anand snatch early lead
• Tata Steel 2019, 2: The Dutch strike back
• Tata Steel 2019, 3: Nepo beats Kramnik to lead
• Tata Steel 2019, 4: Giri and Vidit win
• Tata Steel 2019, 5: Magnus breaks the streak
• Tata Steel 2019, 6: Carlsen and Giri hit the front
• Tata Steel 2019, 7: Insane chess
• Tata Steel 2019, 8: Carlsen and Anand take the lead
• Tata Steel 2019, 9: Nepo catches Magnus and Vishy
• Tata Steel 2019, 10: Vintage Carlsen beats Anand
• Tata Steel 2019, 11: Shankland commits hara-Giri