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.

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