Hello everyone,
Welcome to a new edition of Hivechess lecture. In today's lecture, we will look at a game from the ongoing Tata Steel Chess Tournament in the Netherlands, also known as the Wimbledon of Chess. It is a game between the current World Chess Champion, Gukesh, and Fedoseev. It has not all been smooth for the World Chess Champion in the tournament, but he got the win in this game, which I will be using for my lecture.
At this point in the Hivechess lecture, we should know that every piece has its unique value and purpose on the board; that is why we should not give out any piece for free unless there is a clear purpose for that. This lecture is an example of a chess game where just a pawn was off the board for white, and it was a problem for him to solve. It sometimes does not have to be the absence of a big piece, but the absence of a small one that plays a major role.
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5 5. Nf3 O-O 6. e3 b6 7. Be2 Bb7 8. cxd5 exd5 9. a3 Be7 10. b4 Nbd7 11. Rb1 c6 12. O-O Bd6 13. Nh4 Re8 14. Nf5 Bf8 15. f3 g6 16. Ng3 Rc8 17. Bd2 Bg7
Now, through these 17 moves, the game is all calm and simple product of a Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Noa Variation, where both sides are developing their pieces as fast as possible with the agenda of gaining as much positional advantage as possible from the most space their piece can control.
20. e5 was the move where the game changed for white. The little advantage white was holding on to changed because after the exchange of the knight, once black plays cxd4, it has become clear that black will be the one walking away with a pawn up in the counterplay. From this point forward, Gukesh, with the black pieces, did not hold back anymore, as you keep on pressing when he noticed he had gained a little advantage.
Take note, guys, all it takes in chess is a little advantage because from there on, you press with all you have if you are desperately looking for a point like Gukesh was.
The game kept on going until the blunder came in on move 38, Nxc3?? where white went for the pawn that was on c3, but it was bad since the white knight had walked into a pin, and once more pieces came in to attack the knight, it will be over for the white knight. Gukesh did just that in this game.
Here is the game link
Game Link
And the PGN:
[Event "Tata Steel Chess Masters"]
[Site "https://lichess.org/broadcast/tata-steel-chess-2026--masters/round-8/W4XtM3HF/gkHXfj30"]
[Date "2026.01.17"]
[Round "8.2"]
[White "Fedoseev, Vladimir"]
[Black "Gukesh D"]
[Result "0-1"]
[WhiteElo "2705"]
[WhiteTitle "GM"]
[WhiteFideId "24130737"]
[BlackElo "2754"]
[BlackTitle "GM"]
[BlackFideId "46616543"]
[Variant "Standard"]
[ECO "E34"]
[Opening "Nimzo-Indian Defense: Classical Variation, Noa Variation"]
[UTCDate "2026.01.17"]
[UTCTime "10:57:49"]
[BroadcastName "Tata Steel Chess 2026 | Masters"]
[BroadcastURL "https://lichess.org/broadcast/tata-steel-chess-2026--masters/round-8/W4XtM3HF"]
[GameURL "https://lichess.org/broadcast/tata-steel-chess-2026--masters/round-8/W4XtM3HF/gkHXfj30"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Qc2 d5
5. Nf3 O-O 6. e3 b6 7. Be2 Bb7
8. cxd5 exd5 9. a3 Be7 10. b4 Nbd7
11. Rb1 c6 12. O-O Bd6 13. Nh4 Re8
14. Nf5 Bf8 15. f3 g6 16. Ng3 Rc8
17. Bd2 Bg7 18. e4 c5 19. bxc5 bxc5
20. e5 cxd4 21. exf6 dxc3 22. Bc1 Qxf6
23. Rxb7 Nc5 24. Rb4 a5 25. Rb5 h5
26. Rd1 h4 27. Nh1 Ne6 28. Rbxd5 Nd4
29. R5xd4 Qb6 30. Kf1 Bxd4 31. a4 Red8
32. Bb5 Be3 33. Bd3 Bxc1 34. Rxc1 Rd4
35. Nf2 Rb4 36. Nd1 Qd6 37. h3 Kg7
38. Nxc3 Rb3 39. Qd2 Qb4 40. Bxg6 Rbxc3
41. Bc2 0-1
Until our next lecture.
I am 
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Thanks For Reading!