Magnus Carlsen called his missed win against Praggnanandhaa a “backbreaker”

Nodirbek Abdusattorov is a draw against Jorden van Foreest away from at least a playoff for the Tata Steel Masters title after he drew against Wesley So in Round 12. Anish Giri, who could have caught him, survived by the skin of his teeth against Jorden, while Magnus Carlsen called his missed win against Praggnanandhaa a “backbreaker”. Alexander Donchenko will play next year’s Masters after winning the Challengers with a round to spare.

There were ultimately only two wins in Round 12 of the Tata Steel Masters, but our commentators felt it was the most exciting round yet.

• If Abdusattorov wins with White against Van Foreest he wins the title whatever happens elsewhere
• If he draws, then Giri can force a blitz playoff by beating Rapport with the white pieces
• If Nodirbek loses, then Carlsen (Black vs. Arjun) and So (Black vs. Praggnanandhaa) could reach a playoff with wins, while Anish could win the title outright with a win

Meanwhile there won’t be any last-minute drama in the Challengers, since Alexander Donchenko has already booked his place in next year’s Tata Steel Masters.

Yilmaz could still catch Donchenko, but there’s no playoff in the Challengers, and the first tiebreak is head-to-head encounter, which was won by Donchenko.

The final round of Tata Steel Chess 2023 starts two hours earlier than usual with the games kicking off at 12:00 CET (6am ET, 16:30 IST), but they’ll be visible from 12:15 due to the 15-minute delay: Tata Steel Masters | Tata Steel Challengers

See also:

• Official website
• Tata Steel Masters | Tata Steel Challengers
• Tata Steel Masters line-up announced
• Carlsen-Aronian in Tata Steel Masters Round 1
• Carlsen on 2900 target: “I’ve put that goal on hold a bit”
• Tata Steel Chess 1: Ding and Abdusattorov lead
• Tata Steel Chess 2: Carlsen and Giri strike
• Tata Steel Chess 3: Fabi joins leaders as Ding holds Magnus
• Tata Steel Chess 4: Both Carlsen and Ding defeated
• Tata Steel Chess 5: Abdusattorov hands Carlsen 2nd loss in a row
• Tata Steel Chess 6: Caruana gets Gukesh revenge
• Tata Steel Chess 7: Abdusattorov extends his lead
• Tata Steel Chess 8: Carlsen beats Caruana
• Tata Steel Chess 9: Giri beats Ding as Abdusattorov escapes
• Tata Steel Chess 10: Magnus within striking distance
• Tata Steel Chess 11: Maghsoodloo beats Pragg