88th Tata Steel 2026 R4: Hans Niemann sacs his queen

by Shahid Ahmed - 21/01/2026

The fourth round of 88th Tata Steel Masters 2026 was an eventful one. Hans Niemann (USA) sacrificed his queen and then brought his king all the way from h8 to e3 to win against Aravindh Chithambaram. Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) scored a comfortable win against the Czech Republic no.1, Thai Dai Van Nguyen. FIDE World Cup 2025 winner, Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) scored his first win of the event after three draws. It was against a fellow World Championship Candidate - Matthias Bluebaum (GER). World Champion, D Gukesh and Anish Giri (NED) drew against R Praggnanandhaa and Arjun Erigaisi respectively. Hans and Abdusattorov are currently at 3/4 each. Round 5 starts today at 2 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST for both Masters and Challengers section. Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

White wins five out six in Challengers

The Challengers section once again witnessed six decisive games out of seven, White pieces won five among them. GM Aydin Suleymanli (AZE) defeated IM Miaoyi Lu (CHN) to maintain his sole lead 3.5/4. He is closely followed by GM Marc` Andria Maurizzi (FRA), GM Andy Woodward (USA) and IM Faustino Oro (ARG) at 3/4 each.

Hans Niemann (USA) and Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) have emerged early coleaders 3/4 | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

Aravindh - Niemann: 0-1

Aravindh Chithambaram (2700) and Hans Niemann (USA, 2725) played only one Classical rated game against each other at the end of 2022. Hans had won that game. This time also the result was the same.

Position after 36.Rc2

Black made a nice queen sacrifice 36...Nxe5!-+ 37.Rxc8 Rxc8 38.Nc5 Bxc5 39.Be4 Nc4 Black went on to win the game beautifully by bringing his king all the way to e3 to provide support to his knight and use his passed b-pawn to win the game.

Hans Niemann (USA) analyzes his game | Video: Tata Steel Chess Tournament

Hans Niemann (USA) got the better of Aravindh Chithambaram | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

Nodirbek Abdusattorov analyzes the game | Video: Tata Steel Chess Tournament

Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) defeated Thai Dai Van Nguyen (CZE) comfortably to stay in the lead 3/4 | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

Gukesh - Praggnanandhaa: 0.5-0.5

The World Champion, D Gukesh (2754) and World no.8, R Praggnanandhaa (2758) have played 15 Classical rated games against each other. Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh won three games each. The remaining nine games ended in draws. Their 16th Classical battle was also a draw.

D Gukesh - R Praggnanandhaa, Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

D Gukesh and R Praggnanandhaa played a well-contested draw | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

Anish Giri (NED) - Arjun Erigaisi: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

Bluebaum - Sindarov

Position after 23...Re6

FIDE World Cup 2025 winner, Javokhir Sindarov (UZB, 2726) started his attack by sacrificing his bishop 22...Bxh3! 23.gxh3 Re6 24.Qc5 and Qb4 were the only two options for White to stay in the game. Matthias Bluebaum (GER, 2679) played 24.Qc5?? and he lost the game in the next few moves Nd3! 25.Rxd3 Qxh3+ 26.Kg1 Qg3+ 27.Kh1 g5 and White resigned as he cannot avoid heavy material loss to prevent Rh6.

Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) analyzes his first win of the event | Video: Tata Steel Chess Tournament

After three draws, Javokhir Sindarov (UZB) scored his first win in an exciting way | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

Challengers: GM Aydin Suleymanli (AZE) maintains his sole lead 3.5/4 by defeating IM Miaoyi Lu (CHN) | Photo: Lennart Ootes / Tata Steel Chess

Watch Live stream

Replay Round 4 live commentary by IM Sagar Shah, Amruta Mokal and IM Soumya Swaminathan | Video: ChessBase India

Replay Round 4 Masters games

Replay Round 4 Challengers games

Masters Round 4 results

Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.
1	14	2751	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	1 - 0	GM	Nguyen, Thai Dai Van	2656	9
2	10	2754	GM	Gukesh, D	½ - ½	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R	2758	8
3	11	2760	GM	Giri, Anish	½ - ½	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	2775	7
4	12	2705	GM	Fedoseev, Vladimir	½ - ½	GM	Van Foreest, Jorden	2703	6
5	13	2679	GM	Bluebaum, Matthias	0 - 1	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	2726	5
6	1	2658	GM	Erdogmus, Yagiz Kaan	½ - ½	GM	Keymer, Vincent	2776	4
7	2	2700	GM	Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr.	0 - 1	GM	Niemann, Hans Moke	2725	3

Details

Standings after Round 4

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	TB1
1	3	GM	Niemann, Hans Moke	USA	2725	3
	14	GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	UZB	2751	3
3	5	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	UZB	2726	2,5
	6	GM	Van Foreest, Jorden	NED	2703	2,5
	7	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	IND	2775	2,5
6	1	GM	Erdogmus, Yagiz Kaan	TUR	2658	2
	10	GM	Gukesh, D	IND	2754	2
	12	GM	Fedoseev, Vladimir	SLO	2705	2
	13	GM	Bluebaum, Matthias	GER	2679	2
10	2	GM	Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr.	IND	2700	1,5
	4	GM	Keymer, Vincent	GER	2776	1,5
	9	GM	Nguyen, Thai Dai Van	CZE	2656	1,5
13	8	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R	IND	2758	1
	11	GM	Giri, Anish	NED	2760	1

Details

Round 5 pairings

Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.
1	3	2725	GM	Niemann, Hans Moke		GM	Abdusattorov, Nodirbek	2751	14
2	4	2776	GM	Keymer, Vincent		GM	Aravindh, Chithambaram Vr.	2700	2
3	5	2726	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir		GM	Erdogmus, Yagiz Kaan	2658	1
4	6	2703	GM	Van Foreest, Jorden		GM	Bluebaum, Matthias	2679	13
5	7	2775	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun		GM	Fedoseev, Vladimir	2705	12
6	8	2758	GM	Praggnanandhaa, R		GM	Giri, Anish	2760	11
7	9	2656	GM	Nguyen, Thai Dai Van		GM	Gukesh, D	2754	10

Details

Challengers Round 4 results

Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.
1	14	2466	IM	Yip, Carissa	1 - 0	FM	Panesar, Vedant	2406	9
2	10	2608	GM	Woodward, Andy	1 - 0	GM	Warmerdam, Max	2576	8
3	11	2628	GM	Suleymanli, Aydin	1 - 0	IM	Lu, Miaoyi	2431	7
4	12	2516	IM	Oro, Faustino	1 - 0	IM	Roebers, Eline	2398	6
5	13	2604	GM	Yuffa, Daniil	½ - ½	GM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	2497	5
6	1	2605	GM	Ivanchuk, Vasyl	0 - 1	GM	L'ami, Erwin	2634	4
7	2	2611	GM	Maurizzi, Marcandria	1 - 0	GM	Ivic, Velimir	2638	3

Details

Standings after Round 4

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	TB1
1	11	GM	Suleymanli, Aydin	AZE	2628	3,5
2	2	GM	Maurizzi, Marcandria	FRA	2611	3
	10	GM	Woodward, Andy	USA	2608	3
	12	IM	Oro, Faustino	ARG	2516	3
5	5	GM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	KAZ	2497	2,5
	13	GM	Yuffa, Daniil	ESP	2604	2,5
	14	IM	Yip, Carissa	USA	2466	2,5
8	1	GM	Ivanchuk, Vasyl	UKR	2605	2
	7	IM	Lu, Miaoyi	CHN	2431	2
10	3	GM	Ivic, Velimir	SRB	2638	1
	4	GM	L'ami, Erwin	NED	2634	1
	8	GM	Warmerdam, Max	NED	2576	1
	9	FM	Panesar, Vedant	IND	2406	1
14	6	IM	Roebers, Eline	NED	2398	0

Details

Round 5 pairings

Bo.	No.	Rtg		White	Result		Black	Rtg	No.
1	3	2638	GM	Ivic, Velimir		IM	Yip, Carissa	2466	14
2	4	2634	GM	L'ami, Erwin		GM	Maurizzi, Marcandria	2611	2
3	5	2497	GM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara		GM	Ivanchuk, Vasyl	2605	1
4	6	2398	IM	Roebers, Eline		GM	Yuffa, Daniil	2604	13
5	7	2431	IM	Lu, Miaoyi		IM	Oro, Faustino	2516	12
6	8	2576	GM	Warmerdam, Max		GM	Suleymanli, Aydin	2628	11
7	9	2406	FM	Panesar, Vedant		GM	Woodward, Andy	2608	10