sports
January 30, 2026
Chess: Uzbek pair share narrow half-point lead as Wijk aan Zee reaches final weekend
Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Javokhir Sindarov lead the 14-man field, but their closest rivals are all only half a point behind with two rounds to go

TL;DR
- Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Javokhir Sindarov lead the 14-man field by half a point with two rounds remaining.
- Matthias Blübaum, Jorden van Foreest, and Hans Niemann are closely trailing the leaders.
- 14-year-old Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus is breaking age records, becoming the youngest 2600-rated player and nearing the 2700 mark.
- Erdogmus missed a potential winning opportunity against Gukesh Dommaraju that could have put him in a shared lead.
- Gukesh Dommaraju suffered a significant loss to Abdusattorov due to a major blunder, but later adopted a philosophical view.
- In the Challengers group, Andy Woodward leads with 8.5 points, followed by Aylin Suleymanli and Vasyl Ivanchuk.
- The winner of the Challengers group qualifies for the 2027 Masters.
- The tournament concludes on Sunday with the 13th and final round.
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