The 2026 Tata Steel Chess Tournament is ongoing in Wijk aan Zee, the Netherlands, with a prize fund exceeding $1.2mn, and Uzbekistan’s grandmaster Nodirbek Abdusattorov sits fifth in the Masters standings after three rounds, having scored 2 points.
In round three, Abdusattorov drew with India’s Aravindh Chithambaram. His earlier games included a draw against Turkey’s 14-year-old grandmaster Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus in the opening round and a victory over India’s Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa in round two.
The top of the table remains closely contested, with American grandmaster Hans Niemann in first place and Germany’s Matthias Bluebaum in second. Both players are level with Abdusattorov on 2 points, with positions determined by additional criteria.
Another Uzbek representative, World Cup winner Javokhir Sindarov, also ended his third-round game in a draw, sharing points with Slovenia’s Vladimir Fedoseev while playing with the white pieces. Sindarov now has 1.5 points and ranks eleventh overall. In previous rounds, he drew against reigning world champion Gukesh Dommaraju and Dutch grandmaster Anish Giri.
In the fourth round, Abdusattorov is scheduled to face Czech player Nguyen Thai Dai Van, while Sindarov will play against Germany’s Matthias Bluebaum. The tournament consists of 13 rounds.
Earlier reports showed that Uzbek grandmasters Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Javokhir Sindarov finished among the world’s top ten chess players by prize earnings in 2025. Abdusattorov ranked ninth after earning $361,800 from 16 tournaments while Sindarov placed tenth with $349,900 from 11 events, largely driven by his FIDE World Cup victory.
