Tata Steel Chess: Van Foreest and Bluebaum upset compatriots, join leading group

Five co-leaders in the Masters

Two games ended decisively in the third round of the Tata Steel Masters, and both saw lower-rated players defeating higher-rated compatriots.

In the all-German encounter, Matthias Bluebaum defeated top seed Vincent Keymer with the black pieces. The second decisive game was an all-Dutch derby between Anish Giri and Jorden van Foreest. Van Foreest, the country’s number two, outplayed the higher-rated Giri in a long technical battle featuring a rook, two minor pieces and five pawns per side.

The remaining five games ended in draws, though not all were without tension.

After three rounds, five players share the lead on 2 points out of 3 (a +1 score): Bluebaum and Van Foreest joined Arjun Erigaisi, Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Hans Niemann at the top of the standings.

Round 3 results

Reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju has signed three draws so far in this year’s event | Photo: Nils Rohde

The German derby arose from a Queen’s Gambit Declined in which Keymer adopted an aggressive approach in the opening, but Bluebaum responded accurately and took over the initiative early. Keymer faltered in the early middlegame, and Bluebaum converted his advantage without allowing serious counterplay.

The result was notable not only because of the roughly 100-point rating gap between the two German players, but also because of their recent history. Bluebaum qualified for the 2026 Candidates Tournament only after escaping a lost position against Keymer in their direct encounter at the 2025 Grand Swiss.

In that game, Keymer made a decisive endgame error, while in Wijk aan Zee, his mistake came much earlier. In both cases, the critical moment revolved around the g3-square. While Bluebaum had found the resource 54…Nxg3 in Samarkand, here he played the strong 17…Bh4+, which Keymer could not meet with 18.g3 for tactical reasons.

Bluebaum’s check from h4 highlighted why h2-h3 had been a mistaken idea by Keymer. Now 18.g3 fails to 18…Bxg3 19.Rxe3+, with a rook fork and a winning position for Black.

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By this point (move 21), Vincent Keymer was already in trouble while playing white against Matthias Bluebaum | Photo: Nils Rohde

The other decisive game of the round lasted 64 moves and saw Van Foreest steadily pressing a strategic advantage. Giri was already under pressure before the first time control and made his final move before getting extra time with just two seconds left on his clock.

This pairing also carried historical weight. Van Foreest won the 2021 Tata Steel Masters after defeating Giri in a dramatic Armageddon decider, in which Giri had held a winning advantage before erring in extreme time trouble. While round three lacked the drama of that encounter, Van Foreest’s technical win again proved decisive.

Jorden van Foreest | Photo: Nils Rohde

Not all draws in the round were straightforward “GM draws”. Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, who had started the tournament with two losses, came close to scoring his first win of the event against Thai Dai Van Nguyen. In a meeting of the two 2025 winners -Pragg in the Masters and Nguyen in the Challengers – White emerged from the middlegame with an extra pawn. After the rooks were exchanged, the game transitioned into a pure knight endgame.

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Following 46.Nxf5, Nguyen demonstrated precise defensive technique, giving up his knight at the right moment to reach a theoretical draw. The game eventually concluded after 75 moves, marking Nguyen’s third draw in as many rounds.

Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu | Photo: Nils Rohde

Standings after round 3

All games

Suleymanli sole leader in the Challengers

The third round of the Challengers tournament proved even more decisive than the opening two days. After four decisive games in each of the first two rounds, Monday saw seven of the eight encounters end with a winner.

Lu Miaoyi, who entered the round as sole leader with 2 points from 2 games, suffered her first defeat of the event. Playing white, the 15-year-old lost to fellow teenager Andy Woodward in a sharp encounter. The result opened the door for Aydin Suleymanli to take over sole first place. The 20-year-old from Azerbaijan defeated Eline Roebers with the black pieces after outplaying her opponent in a complex endgame featuring four rooks and bishops.

Seven players are now trailing Suleymanli by half a point on 2 out of 3. Among them are four players who scored wins in Monday’s third round: Woodward, Marc’Andria Maurizzi, Vasyl Ivanchuk and Daniil Yuffa.

Round four will see Suleymanli face Lu with the white pieces, a meeting between two players who have shown strong form in the early stages of the Challengers tournament.

Round 3 results

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Vasyl Ivanchuk | Photo: Nils Rohde

Suleymanli’s win over Roebers carried an additional statistical note, as he had already beaten another Dutch player, Erwin l’Ami, with black in round one. As a result, both L’Ami and Roebers now find themselves at the bottom of the standings with zero points. Despite the difficult start for the Dutch contingent, there remains ample time to recover, as the event runs for 13 rounds – a length that is increasingly rare in modern elite chess.

Aydin Suleymanli during his round-two game against Bibisara Assaubayeva (which ended in an 81-move draw) | Photo: Nils Rohde

Ivanchuk’s game drew particular attention late on, as he reached the time control with only one second remaining on his clock. Notably, his 40^th move, 40…Rfe8, was more accurate than 40…Bxe7 – a fact that was most likely foreseen by Ivanchuk in his calculations – and earned spontaneous applause from the audience.

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40.e7 was a mistake by Ivic, who already had an inferior position. Still, Ivanchuk could have easily lost on time, had he not placed his rook on e8 almost instantly.

Standings after round 3

All games

Tournament schedule

Games start daily at 14:00 CET (7:00 ET, 20:30 IST), except for round 13, which starts two hours earlier than usual.

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