Photo: TheBoburshokh / Wikimedia Commons (CC0)
Look at the black rook on g5. Only one black piece protects it: the pawn on f6. Now look at the white queen on f5. It is attacking that pawn.
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4
efPosition after 36...Rg5, with White to move. The rook on g5 is guarded only by the pawn on f6, and the white queen on f5 attacks that pawn.
Gukesh had just played 36...Rg5, with 5 minutes and 36 seconds left on his clock. It was the only serious mistake he made in the whole game, and it lost at once.
Nodirbek Abdusattorov 1-0 Gukesh D Tata Steel Chess Masters 2026, Wijk aan Zee · Round 6 White: Nodirbek Abdusattorov (2751) · Black: Gukesh D (2754)
A quiet opening with a trade
The game began as a Ruy Lopez, one of the oldest openings in chess.
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Bxc6 dxc6
White gave up the bishop for the knight on c6. After Black took back with the d-pawn, Black had two pawns on the c-file, one in front of the other. Chess players call those doubled pawns. They are harder to push forward together. In return, Black kept both bishops, and two bishops working together can be very strong in an open position.
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6
21ab
cdfgPosition after 6...dxc6, with White to move. Black has doubled pawns on c7 and c6, but keeps both bishops.
This is a trade, not a mistake by either side. Our own Stockfish 16 run, at depth 18, called the position almost exactly level.
White's knights go hunting
Over the next moves White sent both knights toward the black king. One went from b1 to c3, e2, g3 and then f5. The other went from f3 to d2 and then to c4. The queen came to g4 and then g3, and the h-pawn marched up the board.
7.d3 Nd7 8.Nc3 O-O 9.Be3 Re8 10.a4 a5 11.Kh1 Bd6 12.Ne2 Nf8 13.Ng3 c5 14.Nd2 Ne6 15.Nf5 Bf8 16.Nc4 f6 17.Qg4 Kh8 18.Qg3 b6 19.h4 g6 20.Nh6 Qd7 21.Ng4 Bg7 22.f3 Ba6 23.b3 Rad8 24.h5
It looks scary for Black. But here is something important: an attack is only strong if it actually wins something. Black's king had pawns on g6 and h7 and a bishop on g7 beside it, and Black's other pieces were close enough to help defend.
6541afhPosition after 24.h5, with Black to move. White's knights, queen and h-pawn all point at the black king, but Black's position holds.
Our engine agrees. After 24.h5 it rated the position about eight tenths of a pawn better for Black, not White. A lot of pieces near the enemy king is not the same as a winning attack. You have to check whether the defence really breaks.
Trading down, and a special capture
Black took the pawn and then started trading pieces.
24...gxh5 25.Nh6 Bxc4 26.bxc4 Bxh6 27.Bxh6 Rg8 28.Qh2 Rg6 29.Qxh5 Nf4 30.Bxf4 exf4 31.g4
White's g-pawn jumped two squares, from g2 to g4, right past the black pawn on f4. There is a special rule for this moment. A pawn that moves two squares can be captured as if it had moved only one. This is called en passant, which is French for "in passing", and it is only allowed on the very next move.
541afhPosition after 31.g4, with Black to move. The pawn on f4 may capture the g-pawn en passant, landing on g3.
31...fxg3
Black captured en passant, and the black pawn landed on g3, close to the white king.
The move that lost
32.Kg2 Qd4 33.Rae1 Kg7 34.e5 Rh6 35.Qg4+ Rg6 36.Qf5 Rg5
After 36.Qf5 our engine rated the position as dead level. Several moves kept it that way, and 36...Rf8 was the engine's first choice. Instead Black put the rook on g5, where only the f6 pawn protected it.
Now look at the first diagram again and count. The queen on f5 attacks f6. If the queen takes that pawn, the rook on g5 loses its only guard, and the capture also gives check.
37.Qxf6+
54efPosition after 37.Qxf6+, with Black to move. Black is in check and has exactly one legal move, Kg8. After that, the queen takes the rook on g5 with check.
Black is in check, and there is only one legal move: the king goes to g8. Then 38.Qxg5+ takes the rook with another check. Our engine finds a forced checkmate for White from here, and Gukesh resigned.
This trick has a name. It is called removing the defender. You do not attack the piece you want directly. You capture the piece that guards it, ideally with check, so your opponent has no time to save the target.
What this game teaches
1. Pieces near the king are not the same as a winning attack. White had knights, a queen and a pawn aimed at the black king for many moves, and the engine still preferred Black. Always check whether the defence actually breaks.
2. Know the en passant rule. When a pawn jumps two squares past an enemy pawn, that pawn may capture it as if it had moved one square, but only on the very next move.
3. Count the defenders of every piece. The rook on g5 had one defender. When one defender can be captured with check, the piece it guards is in danger.
4. Remove the defender, with check if you can. 37.Qxf6+ took the guard and gave check at the same time, so Black had no time to rescue the rook.
5. The clock is part of the game. Gukesh played 36...Rg5 with under six minutes left, against more than twenty on Abdusattorov's clock. When time is short, a quick safety check (what does my move stop guarding?) is worth the seconds it costs.