After a surprise loss in round six, Yu Yangyi might have been expected to slow down a bit avoid losing control of his tournament. After all, he wouldn’t be the first. However, he was unstoppable, and continued with his endless display of attacking chess sprinkled with his imaginative play.
Yu Yangyi was the nemesis of Leinier Dominguez, but his wins were done in great style
(Photo: Marcelino Vázquez, AIN)
An example of Yu’s attacking flair:
Tied for second place, still outperforming their ratings, were Dmitry Andreikin and Pavel Eljanov with 5.5/9. Andreikin had the honor of being the only player to draw Yu’s blood, however, his only other win was against tail-ender Lazaro Bruzon. Eljanov also ended with a plus one score, but reached it with two losses and three wins, including two over Ian Nepomniachtchi.
With a 2860 performance, Yu Yangyi gained 20 Elo and he is now world no.21 on the live ratings list
Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi had a disastrous start, but managed to recover sufficiently with a win over both Dominguez and Bruzon, and while his score of 4.0/10 is nothing to write home about, he did an excellent job of not letting it be any worse.
Both Cubans hoping to shine in front of their home crowd were unable to distinguish themselves, each ending with a negative score. Dominguez ended with 4.5/10, hobbled by his two losses against Yu Yangyi, while Bruzon’s train never left the station suffering losses against all the players except his compatriot.
The Premier group enjoyed a similarly dominant performance, with Vitaly Kunin, hailing from Germany, who finished with 6.5/9, a full point and a half ahead of his nearest rivals. Rated 2579, his performance of 2739 was also worth 19 Elo, bringing him closer to the 2600 threshold.
Vitaly Kunin had a great tournament, clearly outperforming the field
In second was Polish junior Jan-Krzysztof Duda, with 5.0/9, who fought hard and valiantly with three wins, including one over the winner, but a loss against Bacallao and last-place finisher Espinoza, made it impossible for him to stand out of the group. In third was Bacallao, also on tiebreak, but whose rating of 2530 meant he gained a solid 11 Elo for his efforts. It should also be noted he was the second-lowest rated player in his group.
Photos by Miguel E. Gómez Masjuán
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