The Isle of Man has been hosting a strong open for quite some time now. According to their tourism department, more than 40 per cent of the land on the Isle of Man is unpopulated. The island has 17 national glens, many of which lead to the sea. The Isle of Man Tournament is taking place from October 1st to 9th, 2016. With Qatar Open no more (at least for this year), is this the last super-open that we are witnessing in 2016? The participants include Fabiano Caruana, Wesley So, Hikaru Nakamura, Michael Adams, Pavel Eljanov, Wang Hao, Alexei Shirov, Hou Yifan, with a total field of 133 players.
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 – Dronavalli Harika vs. Wesely So [Photo: Mike Klein]
Round two already saw one of the big-three suffer a setback. The second board clash between Dronavalli Harika and Wesely So became interesting when Harika confidently counterattacked Wesley’s aggression.
The moment of reckoning came when Harika had to decide between taking a draw and playing on. What would you do had you been on Harika’s shoes?
Hikaru Nakamura coasted to a smooth victory in the first round [Photo: Lennart Ootes]
Naka is no stranger to winning titles on the English soil. He won the London Chess Classic in 2013, and then the Gibraltar Open in 2016. The Isle of Man next?
In the second round, he razed Indian GM Vishnu Prasanna to the ground. 22 moves – preparation? [Photo: Mike Klein]
GM Fabiano Caruana has managed to stay unscathed until now. [Photo: Lennart Ootes]
And not just the top stars, the tournament is made up of legends like Alexei Shirov as well. Here is one ‘unshirov-like’ game for you. [Photo: Mike Klein]
Azeri GM Arkady Naiditsch played a nice tactic to win… [Photo: Mike Klein]
An aerial shot of the beautiful playing hall [Photo: Harry Gielen]
While not a single Russian has made it to play this beautiful tournament, Indians make up the bulk of the participants with 26 players.
GM Vidit Gujrathi (2686) leads the Indian charge. He began the event with a clinical victory over Lucas van Foreest. [Photo: Harry Gielen]
Put on your seatbelts, folks: Women’s World Champion vs. chess history’s youngest international master! Praggnanandhaa is a sharp kid, rest assured. But in his game against the Women's World Champion he missed a simple tactic (see below). [Photo: Mike Klein]
| Bo. | No. | Ti. | Name | Rtg | Result | Ti. | Name | Rtg | No. |
| 1 | 35 | GM | Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan | 2536 | 0-1 | GM | Caruana Fabiano | 2813 | 1 |
| 2 | 2 | GM | So Wesley | 2794 | ½-½ | GM | Harika Dronavalli | 2528 | 36 |
| 3 | 37 | GM | Vishnu Prasanna. V | 2522 | 0-1 | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | 2787 | 3 |
| 4 | 4 | GM | Adams Michael | 2745 | ½-½ | GM | Schroeder Jan-Christian | 2514 | 38 |
| 5 | 41 | GM | Khmelniker Ilya | 2493 | ½-½ | GM | Eljanov Pavel | 2741 | 5 |
| 6 | 8 | GM | Rodshtein Maxim | 2687 | 1-0 | GM | Hillarp Persson Tiger | 2513 | 39 |
| 7 | 45 | IM | Puranik Abhimanyu | 2471 | 0-1 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | 2686 | 9 |
| 8 | 10 | GM | Naiditsch Arkadij | 2684 | 1-0 | IM | Zumsande Martin | 2490 | 42 |
| 9 | 47 | IM | Trent Lawrence | 2463 | 0-1 | GM | Shirov Alexei | 2679 | 11 |
| 10 | 12 | GM | Movsesian Sergei | 2677 | 1-0 | IM | Batsiashvili Nino | 2480 | 44 |
| 11 | 49 | IM | Paehtz Elisabeth | 2459 | ½-½ | GM | Fressinet Laurent | 2676 | 13 |
| 12 | 14 | GM | Sargissian Gabriel | 2670 | 1-0 | GM | Illingworth Max | 2465 | 46 |
| 13 | 51 | GM | Romanishin Oleg M | 2456 | ½-½ | GM | Melkumyan Hrant | 2653 | 15 |
| 14 | 54 | IM | Praggnanandhaa R | 2442 | 0-1 | GM | Hou Yifan | 2649 | 17 |
| 15 | 18 | GM | Granda Zuniga Julio E | 2648 | ½-½ | IM | Lou Yiping | 2458 | 50 |
| 16 | 56 | IM | Daulyte Deimante | 2429 | ½-½ | GM | Meier Georg | 2648 | 19 |
| 17 | 20 | GM | Bachmann Axel | 2645 | ½-½ | IM | Kiewra Keaton F | 2454 | 53 |
| 18 | 58 | IM | Alvarado Diaz Alej. | 2425 | 0-1 | GM | Howell David W L | 2644 | 21 |
| 19 | 22 | GM | Grandelius Nils | 2642 | 1-0 | GM | Sundararajan Kidambi | 2429 | 55 |
| 20 | 60 | IM | Karavade Eesha | 2421 | ½-½ | GM | Gupta Abhijeet | 2626 | 23 |
| 21 | 24 | GM | Van Foreest Jorden | 2615 | 1-0 | IM | Basso Pier Luigi | 2428 | 57 |
| 22 | 62 | IM | Tania Sachdev | 2414 | ½-½ | GM | L'ami Erwin | 2605 | 25 |
| 23 | 26 | GM | Bok Benjamin | 2594 | 1-0 | IM | Gaponenko Inna | 2421 | 59 |
| 24 | 64 | IM | Das Arghyadip | 2400 | 0-1 | GM | Lenderman Aleksandr | 2593 | 27 |
| 25 | 28 | GM | Lalith Babu M R | 2586 | ½-½ | WIM | Shvayger Yuliya | 2405 | 63 |
Rk |
SNo |
Ti. |
Name |
FED |
Rtg |
Pts |
rtg+/- |
1 |
1 |
GM |
Caruana Fabiano | 2813 |
2.0 |
2.5 |
|
3 |
GM |
Nakamura Hikaru | 2787 |
2.0 |
2.6 |
||
8 |
GM |
Rodshtein Maxim | 2687 |
2.0 |
3.9 |
||
9 |
GM |
Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | 2686 |
2.0 |
3.5 |
||
10 |
GM |
Naiditsch Arkadij | 2684 |
2.0 |
3.6 |
||
11 |
GM |
Shirov Alexei | 2679 |
2.0 |
3.3 |
||
12 |
GM |
Movsesian Sergei | 2677 |
2.0 |
3.6 |
||
14 |
GM |
Sargissian Gabriel | 2670 |
2.0 |
3.5 |
||
17 |
GM |
Hou Yifan | 2649 |
2.0 |
3.5 |
||
21 |
GM |
Howell David W L | 2644 |
2.0 |
3.2 |
||
22 |
GM |
Grandelius Nils | 2642 |
2.0 |
3.3 |
||
24 |
GM |
Van Foreest Jorden | 2615 |
2.0 |
3.6 |
||
26 |
GM |
Bok Benjamin | 2594 |
2.0 |
3.8 |
||
27 |
GM |
Lenderman Aleksandr | 2593 |
2.0 |
3.6 |
||
31 |
GM |
Brunello Sabino | 2566 |
2.0 |
2.3 |
||
66 |
FM |
Merry Alan B | 2388 |
2.0 |
16.2 |
||
17 |
2 |
GM |
So Wesley | 2794 |
1.5 |
-2.4 |
|
4 |
GM |
Adams Michael | 2745 |
1.5 |
-1.9 |
||
5 |
GM |
Eljanov Pavel | 2741 |
1.5 |
-2.1 |
||
6 |
GM |
Leko Peter | 2709 |
1.5 |
-3.1 |
| No. | Ti. | Name | Rtg | Pts. | Res. | Pts. | Ti. | Name | Rtg | No. |
| 1 | GM | Caruana Fabiano | 2813 | 2 | 2 | GM | Grandelius Nils | 2642 | 22 | |
| 3 | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | 2787 | 2 | 2 | GM | Van Foreest Jorden | 2615 | 24 | |
| 17 | GM | Hou Yifan | 2649 | 2 | 2 | GM | Rodshtein Maxim | 2687 | 8 | |
| 9 | GM | Vidit Santosh Gujrathi | 2686 | 2 | 2 | GM | Bok Benjamin | 2594 | 26 | |
| 11 | GM | Shirov Alexei | 2679 | 2 | 2 | GM | Brunello Sabino | 2566 | 31 | |
| 21 | GM | Howell David W L | 2644 | 2 | 2 | GM | Movsesian Sergei | 2677 | 12 | |
| 27 | GM | Lenderman Aleksandr | 2593 | 2 | 2 | GM | Sargissian Gabriel | 2670 | 14 | |
| 2 | GM | So Wesley | 2794 | 1½ | 2 | FM | Merry Alan B | 2388 | 66 | |
| 36 | GM | Harika Dronavalli | 2528 | 1½ | 1½ | GM | Adams Michael | 2745 | 4 | |
| 5 | GM | Eljanov Pavel | 2741 | 1½ | 1½ | GM | Gagare Shardul | 2480 | 43 | |
| 38 | GM | Schroeder Jan-Christian | 2514 | 1½ | 1½ | GM | Leko Peter | 2709 | 6 | |
| 13 | GM | Fressinet Laurent | 2676 | 1½ | 1½ | GM | Khmelniker Ilya | 2493 | 41 | |
| 15 | GM | Melkumyan Hrant | 2653 | 1½ | 1½ | IM | Paehtz Elisabeth | 2459 | 49 | |
| 53 | IM | Kiewra Keaton F | 2454 | 1½ | 1½ | GM | Granda Zuniga Julio E | 2648 | 18 | |
| 19 | GM | Meier Georg | 2648 | 1½ | 1½ | GM | Romanishin Oleg M | 2456 | 51 | |
| 50 | IM | Lou Yiping | 2458 | 1½ | 1½ | GM | Bachmann Axel | 2645 | 20 | |
| 23 | GM | Gupta Abhijeet | 2626 | 1½ | 1½ | IM | Daulyte Deimante | 2429 | 56 | |
| 25 | GM | L'ami Erwin | 2605 | 1½ | 1½ | IM | Karavade Eesha | 2421 | 60 | |
| 65 | IM | Kojima Shinya | 2399 | 1½ | 1½ | GM | Lalith Babu M R | 2586 | 28 | |
| 63 | WIM | Shvayger Yuliya | 2405 | 1½ | 1½ | GM | Donchenko Alexander | 2581 | 29 | |
| 30 | GM | Marin Mihail | 2569 | 1½ | 1½ | IM | Tania Sachdev | 2414 | 62 | |
| 34 | GM | Svane Rasmus | 2552 | 1½ | 1½ | IM | Mannion Stephen R | 2313 | 83 | |
| 32 | GM | Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. | 2564 | 1 | 1½ | GM | Paehtz Thomas | 2356 | 73 | |
| 7 | GM | Wang Hao | 2701 | 1 | 1 | Van Foreest Lucas | 2350 | 75 | ||
| 74 | IM | Wallace John Paul | 2355 | 1 | 1 | GM | Shyam Sundar M. | 2552 | 33 |
All games start at 1:30 p.m. local time = 2:30 p.m. in Europe (CEST), one later in Moscow. You can find the starting time at your location here. Watch it live on our news page:
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In the live broadcast below, on the side of each board is an evaluation meter, showing you which side is better. The small "x" button on the top right of each board will remove it from the broadcast. If you remove two games you will have four larger boards. Removing four will give you two even larger boards, and removing five will give you just one very large board. Refresh the page (Ctrl-R) to return to the six most popular boards.
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