GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov called it a “dream come true” as he defeated GM Arjun Erigaisi‘s Evans Gambit to win the 2026 Tata Steel Chess Masters with 9/13. GM Javokhir Sindarov gambled to keep playoff hopes alive and ultimately beat GM Thai Dai Van Nguyen, finishing half a point behind and moving up to world number 11. GMs Jorden van Foreest, Vincent Keymer, and Hans Niemann finished a full point further back, with Van Foreest taking third on tiebreaks.
GM Andy Woodward will play in the 2027 Masters after beating GM Erwin l’Ami to finish on 10/13 and win the 2026 Tata Steel Chess Challengers. GM Vasyl Ivanchuk had the best tiebreaks, but he finished half a point behind in second place despite beating GM Daniil Yuffa. GM Aydin Suleymanli narrowly missed out for a second year in a row as he fell to GM Velimir Ivic.
Masters: Abdusattorov Finally Does It!
There were quick draws in GM Matthias Bluebaum vs. GM Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus and GM Anish Giri vs. GM Hans Niemann, but everywhere else the final round was just as fighting as the 12 that had preceded it. We got three wins, and it could have been more.
Tata Steel Masters: Round 13 Results
Abdusattorov’s win gave no one else a chance to catch him, but Sindarov posted another brilliant performance as he continues his climb. There were great debuts in the Masters for Niemann, Bluebaum, and especially 14-year-old Erdogmus. Meanwhile it was a tough tournament for the Indian stars, who finished in 10th to 13th places.
Tata Steel Masters: Final Standings
Abdusattorov had led by half a point before the final round in the 2023 Masters, then tied for first and reached a playoff in 2024, then gone into the final round with chances in 2025, but each time he’d fallen short. History wouldn’t repeat itself.
Arjun 0-1 Abdusattorov
Abdusattorov was almost speechless after finally winning the “Wimbledon of chess.”
I can’t express my happiness with words. It was a long way for me. I was very close every time and I failed year after year. I’m extremely happy to finally be able to win this tournament and win in a very nice style.
I can’t express my happiness with words.
—Nodirbek Abdusattorov
In the last round he faced Arjun who, despite losing four games since a round-one win, is always a dangerous opponent. The sense of danger increased when the Indian star went for the most Romantic of openings, the Evans Gambit.
Abdusattorov commented, “Obviously I knew he was going to fight and I kind of expected this kind of gambit style play,” and even though he hadn’t foreseen this particular try he’d looked at something similar just before coming to the game.
Abdusattorov went for something he called “very forced and very solid,” though he admitted he then mixed up his moves and potentially got into danger. It didn’t last long, however, as he consolidated, then took over, then won in style. That’s our Game of the Day, which GM Rafael Leitao analyzes below.
The final moments as Arjun Erigaisi resigns and Nodirbek Abdusattorov becomes the 2026 #TataSteelChess Masters Champion! https://t.co/qQKVlREjPk pic.twitter.com/5XFW6cPZz0
— chess24 (@chess24com) February 1, 2026
After a tough World Cup, Abdusattorov was ranked world number-17 on the December FIDE rating list, then moved to the edge of the top 10 with a dominant victory in the London Chess Classic, while a brilliant Wijk aan Zee has seen him climb another 19.5 points to world number-five. For Arjun, meanwhile, another disaster in the Netherlands cost him 29.9 points and a spot in the top 10.
As we can see from that list, Abdusattorov’s colleague Sindarov gained almost exactly the same number of points as the Uzbek number-one and is now on the brink of the top 10.
Van Nguyen 0-1 Sindarov
Sindarov was the one other player who came into the final round with good chances of winning the title or at least forcing a playoff, and in the end he did his job, gambling to keep the game alive in his opponent’s time trouble before pouncing on a mistake deep in the endgame.
Van Nguyen slipped to a fifth loss in a row, though for one moment he was completely winning—the problem was he was down to 26 seconds to make three moves, while Sindarov had over 11 minutes.
Sindarov perhaps wasn’t aware of that opportunity for his opponent, since he mentioned to WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni afterward that as well as not losing a game he hadn’t been in trouble in any game except the first, when he was proud of how he defended against GM Gukesh Dommaraju.
Sindarov had a lot to be proud of, and summed up:
I’m very happy to finish my tournament with a win. I played very well, but a little bit sad I didn’t play these blitz games! Anyway, I’m very happy for my friend Nodirbek—he really deserved it. I think he played the fourth time and he always takes third, second, and now finally he won this tournament. I think he played really amazing this tournament.
I’m very happy for my friend Nodirbek—he really deserved it!
—Javokhir Sindarov
Elsewhere two players with an outside chance of reaching a playoff fought hard, despite having the black pieces. Van Foreest was close to beating GM Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, while Keymer came close to winning a fourth game in a row, against none other than World Champion Gukesh.
In the end, however, Keymer made only his third draw of the whole event, with six wins and four losses remarkably resulting in a rating gain (or loss) of 0.0 points.
The only other decisive game of the final round was a sudden collapse that saw GM Vladimir Fedoseev end on 50 percent after beating GM Aravindh Chithambaram. The game was equal until move 38, when Aravindh blundered with just over one minute on the clock.
All that was left was to hand out the prizes.
While the title drama had faded in the Masters when it became clear Abdusattorov was in complete control, the battle to play in the 2027 Masters went right down to the wire.
Challengers: 15-year-old Woodward Books Spot In Masters
The Challengers ended fittingly with another highly decisive day of five wins, though it could easily have been seven—IM Faustino Oro missed some great chances to complete a GM norm, with GM Marc’Andria Maurizzi in the end needing an amazing swindle, while IM Eline Roeber‘s first draw of the event, against GM Max Warmerdam, went on until move 93.
Tata Steel Challengers: Round 13 Results
In the end it was Woodward who triumphed with a ninth win, with Ivanchuk only half a point back.
Tata Steel Challengers: Final Standings
Co-leaders Woodward and Suleymanli went into the final round knowing they likely had to win, since Ivanchuk had beaten both of them and would win any tiebreak on that direct encounter—there’s no playoff in the Challengers.
That backfired on Suleymanli, who crashed and burned against Ivic, but the need to play for a win was real, since Ivanchuk indeed played an impressive game to defeat Yuffa, even if there was one brief chance for the Spanish GM. That’s worth showing, as it’s an amazing line!
Ivanchuk had lost only one game, won seven, and come within a whisker of qualifying for the Masters in what would be his first appearance there in 12 years. It’s a curiosity that Ivanchuk has played the Masters 10 times, but only won it on his first try, 30 years ago in 1996.
Vasyl Ivanchuk has played the #TataSteelChess Masters 10 times (winning on his 1st appearance in 1996!), but the last time was in 2015 — he has a real chance to qualify for next year’s edition! pic.twitter.com/5sXI8zHk1S
— chess24 (@chess24com) February 1, 2026
Woodward certainly wanted to see Ivanchuk’s return, commenting, “I still feel Ivanchuk playing in the Masters could be great if it could happen next year!”
When Woodward lost in round one of the Challengers it was possible to wonder if it hadn’t been in vain that he’d skipped defending his Chess.com Puzzles Championship title to attend the opening ceremony. From there, however, five wins in a row followed for the 15-year-old, and ultimately nine in total. That didn’t mean it had always been easy.
Of course I’m really happy. Finally there’s no more rounds to lose the lead! The tournament was very, very long, and anything could happen even at the last round.
Finally there’s no more rounds to lose the lead!
—Andy Woodward
The clash with l’Ami, the one player to beat Ivanchuk, was tense, with Woodward saying he’d forgotten how to play the Grunfeld line with 10…Nd7 and 11…Rb8 that occurred in the game. If only he could ask a friend in the playing hall!
Woodward navigated things well, however, and despite time trouble a small edge had grown into a winning one by the time he reached move 40. He survived one scare to wrap up a deserved victory in both the game and the tournament.
“I came here with the goal of winning the tournament and I tried my best, and it paid off, so I’m very happy,” said Woodward, who has already accepted the invitation to play in next year’s Masters. Asked about celebrating he pointed out he has to return to school.
Other notable results included GM Bibisara Assaubayeva gaining 19.1 rating points to climb to the women’s number-nine spot after beating FM Panesar Vedant. Her +2 score of 7.5/13 was the cut-off for a GM norm, with IMs Carissa Yip and Oro finishing just short on 7/13. Oro was incredibly close to that mark, but Maurizzi found a stunning escape at the very end.
So that’s all for the Masters and Challengers, but we should briefly mention the Qualifiers, that saw 14-year-old German IM Christian Gloeckler triumph with 8.5/9 and a 2851 performance rating bettered only by the 2862 of Abdusattorov!
“It’s probably the greatest tournament so far!” said Gloeckler after the game.
The kid, who started chess during the pandemic, said he played “some very crazy games,” including his key round-two victory over a fellow 14-year-old. IM Henry Edward Tudor ultimately finished 1.5 points behind but another 1.5 points ahead of third place.
Gloeckler is the first player confirmed to play in the 2027 Challengers, but that’s all for this year’s event. We hope you enjoyed it!
How To Review
The 88th edition of Tata Steel Chess took place January 17-February 1, 2026, in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands. Both the Masters and Challengers groups were 14-player round-robin tournaments. The time control was 120 minutes for 40 moves followed by 30 minutes to the end of the game, with a 30-second increment only from move 41. No draw offers were allowed before move 40.
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