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Photos by Harry Gielen
What does a spectator do when watching a tournament from home, does he only look at the top games? Does he look for games of the most interesting players? Does he look for the most interesting games as they happen? A question for the readers: do you prefer to watch the super round robin where a draw is always considered an acceptable result or an open event where the super GM has to take a few more risks in order to win against his lower rated opponent? A bit like watching two top Champions league teams playing a tight 0-0 or an open game that the result could easily be 3-3. The 3-3 game may have many more errors but it is much more enjoyable to watch!
Sitting at home, watching the 3rd round of the Isle of Man tournament one can see that the first real GM to GM clashes are appearing even though often there is still a sizable rating difference between opponents. The general rule is that the really top players don’t mind drawing but few take huge risks in order to win. Hikaru Nakamura is an obvious exception having won many open tournaments as much through his huge will to win as his excellent chess.
Here are some examples and some of the thrills one can experience following this competitive chess bazaar on Playchess.
On board three was Women's World Champion Hou Yifan who was white versus the young Israeli GM Maxim Rodshtein. After four moves it reached this:
Hou Yifan - Maxim Rodshtein
Position after 4.Qb3
News does indeed travel fast since this was also the beginning of Peter Svidler versus Li Chao from the game in the Tal Memorial the previous day.
Hou Yifan showed how on top of her preparation she was, as she used an idea by Svidler, played the previous day
One can only assume Hou Yifan had been suitably impressed with the way Svidler played it although the amicable GM himself said he had thought for a while before entering the line. The reason, as Svidler explained, was that although this position resembled a Blumenfeld with an extra tempo for Black, he wasn’t sure what the tempo was good for!
Compare the previous position with the normal Blumenfeld above
If you were looking for original play as you scrolled down the long list of games you cannot help but stop at the name of Julio Granda Zuniga, the Peruvian GM, famous for his original play. It is said that he is rarely theoretical and simply seems to have his own theory with his own ideas. In round three he was black versus American IM Keaton Kiewra and the game looked like a retrograde puzzle. How did they reach that position with White to move?
Julio Granda Zuniga is a legend in South American chess, and nearly broke 2700 for the first time in his career earlier this year when he hit 2699. At the green age of 49!
Keaton Kiewra - Julio Granda Zuniga
Still, what was happening on board one? Fabio Caruana versus Swedish GM Nils Grandelius looked a normal Sicilian, everything normal, and seen thousands of times.
Fabio Caruana - Nils Grandelius
Position after eight moves...
Then one move can change the “feel” of the game, 9.g4 gives the position a feeling of excitement as some small bridges are burnt! Caruana spent 12 minutes on this move, not really analysing it but to make sure he was ready for what happens afterwards. To play such a position requires a certain amount of energy, and if you are a top player you know you have to be ready for a tiring calculating game.
Neither Nils Grandelius nor Fabiano Caruana backed away from a game they both knew would be tough
Fabio Caruana - Nils Grandelius
On board four you could see the battle of the young guns Vidit Santosh Gujrathi from India and Benjamin Bok from the Netherlands:
The game starts out as a Grunfeld with an early h4, and it was clear this was not going to be a quiet game either
Both Vidit Gujrathi and Benjamin Bok had good results in the Baku Olympiad
Vidit Gujrathi - Benjamin Bok
What of the top seeded Americans who were the heroes of the Baku Olympiad?
Wesley So was impressive in a positional crushing game against FM Alan Merry
It was instructive from the viewpoint that the idea of doubling the c-pawns for the fianchettoed bishop is a well known idea but So returned the favour (dark squared bishop) and came out with a large positional plus.
Wesley So - Alan Merry
Hikaru Nakamura did what super GMs do in open tournaments, look for a small advantage as white, give the opponent an isolated pawn, win bishop pair and then win the isolated pawn. Sounds easy doesn’t it but often when you lose a pawn you tend to get a little initiative for it. Jorden van Foreest definitely got something for his pawn and later on headed for a queen and bishops of opposite colours ending. Most people know of the drawing powers of bishops of opposite colours but with major pieces on the board (rooks and queens) it can also feel like you are attacking with an extra piece. The young Dutchman defended excellently but when he finally managed to trade queens he found himself two pawns down. Most bookmakers would have bet against him here when playing against the relentless Nakamura but after a quick analysis I still have not found a clear win, something to be left to the “endgame experts” who enjoy this sort of thing!
17-year-old Jorden van Foreest held a tough game against Hikaru Nakamura
Hikaru Nakamura - Jorden van Foreest
The other major upset of the day was Wang Hao losing as white in a moment of chess blindness against Lucas van Foreest. Hao played a line where he gives up a pawn for compensation and had various opportunities to take a repetition but took the risk to keep playing in a sharp position to be rewarded with a winning position only to blunder it way with the win in sight.
Wang Hao was unwilling to draw against his much lower-rated opponent, Lucas van Foreest, Jorden's younger brother
Play through the game to see whether you would also play the fatal error. It is hard to describe how Hao must be feeling, knock back the draw, play on, reach the winning position and then throw it all away and then you have to eat dinner, talk to your friends but all the time you are still trying to understand how you can play the losing move! Wang Hao is a very likable Chinese GM who has many fans around the world who will hope that he can quickly get over such a traumatic loss!
Wang Hao - Lucas van Foreest
Going into the fourth round there are only two players with a perfect score, the young Indian Vidit Santosh Gujrathi and Alexey Shirov who would like to show that he was also pretty good at sacrificing a few pieces himself!
Alexei Shirov is only second to Tal as the Latvian who sacrifices the most
It is one problem of the large open that you cannot look at every game, there are so many to choose from, you look a day later to find a hidden gem on the lower boards. Ok, they may not be as “correct” as the Super GM games but there are not many Berlin defences to analyse either and for that we should be thankful!
A view of the top boards in the fantastic open
| No. | Ti. | Name | Rtg | Pts | Res. | Pts | Ti. | Name | Rtg | No. |
| 1 | GM | Caruana Fabiano | 2813 | 2 | ½-½ | 2 | GM | Grandelius Nils | 2642 | 22 |
| 3 | GM | Nakamura Hikaru | 2787 | 2 | ½-½ | 2 | GM | Van Foreest Jorden | 2615 | 24 |
| 17 | GM | Hou Yifan | 2649 | 2 | ½-½ | 2 | GM | Rodshtein Maxim | 2687 | 8 |
| 9 | GM | Vidit Gujrathi | 2686 | 2 | 1-0 | 2 | GM | Bok Benjamin | 2594 | 26 |
| 11 | GM | Shirov Alexei | 2679 | 2 | 1-0 | 2 | GM | Brunello Sabino | 2566 | 31 |
| 21 | GM | Howell David W L | 2644 | 2 | ½-½ | 2 | GM | Movsesian Sergei | 2677 | 12 |
| 27 | GM | Lenderman Aleksandr | 2593 | 2 | ½-½ | 2 | GM | Sargissian Gabriel | 2670 | 14 |
| 2 | GM | So Wesley | 2794 | 1½ | 1-0 | 2 | FM | Merry Alan B | 2388 | 66 |
| 36 | GM | Harika Dronavalli | 2528 | 1½ | 0-1 | 1½ | GM | Adams Michael | 2745 | 4 |
| 5 | GM | Eljanov Pavel | 2741 | 1½ | 1-0 | 1½ | GM | Gagare Shardul | 2480 | 43 |
| 38 | GM | Schroeder Jan-Ch. | 2514 | 1½ | ½-½ | 1½ | GM | Leko Peter | 2709 | 6 |
| 13 | GM | Fressinet Laurent | 2676 | 1½ | 1-0 | 1½ | GM | Khmelniker Ilya | 2493 | 41 |
| 15 | GM | Melkumyan Hrant | 2653 | 1½ | 0-1 | 1½ | IM | Paehtz Elisabeth | 2459 | 49 |
| 53 | IM | Kiewra Keaton F | 2454 | 1½ | 0-1 | 1½ | GM | Granda Zuniga Julio | 2648 | 18 |
| 19 | GM | Meier Georg | 2648 | 1½ | ½-½ | 1½ | GM | Romanishin Oleg | 2456 | 51 |
| 50 | IM | Lou Yiping | 2458 | 1½ | ½-½ | 1½ | GM | Bachmann Axel | 2645 | 20 |
| 23 | GM | Gupta Abhijeet | 2626 | 1½ | 1-0 | 1½ | IM | Daulyte Deimante | 2429 | 56 |
| 25 | GM | L'ami Erwin | 2605 | 1½ | 1-0 | 1½ | IM | Karavade Eesha | 2421 | 60 |
| 65 | IM | Kojima Shinya | 2399 | 1½ | ½-½ | 1½ | GM | Lalith Babu M R | 2586 | 28 |
| 63 | WIM | Shvayger Yuliya | 2405 | 1½ | ½-½ | 1½ | GM | Donchenko Alexander | 2581 | 29 |
| 30 | GM | Marin Mihail | 2569 | 1½ | ½-½ | 1½ | IM | Tania Sachdev | 2414 | 62 |
| 34 | GM | Svane Rasmus | 2552 | 1½ | ½-½ | 1½ | IM | Mannion Stephen | 2313 | 83 |
| 32 | GM | Aravindh Chithambaram | 2564 | 1 | 1-0 | 1½ | GM | Paehtz Thomas | 2356 | 73 |
| 7 | GM | Wang Hao | 2701 | 1 | 0-1 | 1 | Van Foreest Lucas | 2350 | 75 |
|
Rk.
|
SNo
|
Ti.
|
Name
|
FED
|
Rtg
|
Pts
|
rtg+/-
|
|
1
|
9
|
GM
|
Vidit Santosh Gujrathi |
2686
|
3.0
|
7.2
|
|
|
|
11
|
GM
|
Shirov Alexei |
2679
|
3.0
|
6.8
|
|
|
3
|
1
|
GM
|
Caruana Fabiano |
2813
|
2.5
|
0.2
|
|
|
|
2
|
GM
|
So Wesley |
2794
|
2.5
|
-1.6
|
|
|
|
3
|
GM
|
Nakamura Hikaru |
2787
|
2.5
|
0.3
|
|
|
|
4
|
GM
|
Adams Michael |
2745
|
2.5
|
0.3
|
|
|
|
5
|
GM
|
Eljanov Pavel |
2741
|
2.5
|
-0.3
|
|
|
|
8
|
GM
|
Rodshtein Maxim |
2687
|
2.5
|
3.4
|
|
|
|
10
|
GM
|
Naiditsch Arkadij |
2684
|
2.5
|
3.6
|
|
|
|
12
|
GM
|
Movsesian Sergei |
2677
|
2.5
|
3.1
|
|
|
|
13
|
GM
|
Fressinet Laurent |
2676
|
2.5
|
0.9
|
|
|
|
14
|
GM
|
Sargissian Gabriel |
2670
|
2.5
|
2.4
|
|
|
|
16
|
GM
|
Salem A.R. Saleh |
2650
|
2.5
|
-0.1
|
|
|
|
17
|
GM
|
Hou Yifan |
2649
|
2.5
|
4.0
|
|
|
|
18
|
GM
|
Granda Zuniga Julio E |
2648
|
2.5
|
1.1
|
|
|
|
21
|
GM
|
Howell David W L |
2644
|
2.5
|
3.7
|
|
|
|
22
|
GM
|
Grandelius Nils |
2642
|
2.5
|
5.6
|
|
|
|
23
|
GM
|
Gupta Abhijeet |
2626
|
2.5
|
0.9
|
|
|
|
24
|
GM
|
Van Foreest Jorden |
2615
|
2.5
|
5.9
|
|
|
|
25
|
GM
|
L'ami Erwin |
2605
|
2.5
|
0.9
|
|
|
|
27
|
GM
|
Lenderman Aleksandr |
2593
|
2.5
|
4.7
|
|
|
|
49
|
IM
|
Paehtz Elisabeth |
2459
|
2.5
|
11.3
|
|
|
23
|
6
|
GM
|
Leko Peter |
2709
|
2.0
|
-5.6
|
|
|
|
19
|
GM
|
Meier Georg |
2648
|
2.0
|
-4.2
|
|
Bo.
|
No.
|
Ti.
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
Pts
|
Res.
|
Pts
|
Ti.
|
Name
|
Rtg
|
No.
|
|
1
|
11
|
GM
|
Shirov Alexei |
2679
|
3
|
|
3
|
GM
|
Vidit Gujrathi |
2686
|
9
|
|
2
|
16
|
GM
|
Salem A.R. Saleh |
2650
|
2½
|
|
2½
|
GM
|
Caruana Fabiano |
2813
|
1
|
|
3
|
18
|
GM
|
Granda Zuniga Julio |
2648
|
2½
|
|
2½
|
GM
|
So Wesley |
2794
|
2
|
|
4
|
22
|
GM
|
Grandelius Nils |
2642
|
2½
|
|
2½
|
GM
|
Nakamura Hikaru |
2787
|
3
|
|
5
|
4
|
GM
|
Adams Michael |
2745
|
2½
|
|
2½
|
GM
|
Hou Yifan |
2649
|
17
|
|
6
|
49
|
IM
|
Paehtz Elisabeth |
2459
|
2½
|
|
2½
|
GM
|
Eljanov Pavel |
2741
|
5
|
|
7
|
8
|
GM
|
Rodshtein Maxim |
2687
|
2½
|
|
2½
|
GM
|
Howell David W L |
2644
|
21
|
|
8
|
10
|
GM
|
Naiditsch Arkadij |
2684
|
2½
|
|
2½
|
GM
|
Gupta Abhijeet |
2626
|
23
|
|
9
|
12
|
GM
|
Movsesian Sergei |
2677
|
2½
|
|
2½
|
GM
|
Lenderman Aleksandr |
2593
|
27
|
|
10
|
24
|
GM
|
Van Foreest Jorden |
2615
|
2½
|
|
2½
|
GM
|
Fressinet Laurent |
2676
|
13
|
|
11
|
14
|
GM
|
Sargissian Gabriel |
2670
|
2½
|
|
2½
|
GM
|
L'ami Erwin |
2605
|
25
|
|
12
|
6
|
GM
|
Leko Peter |
2709
|
2
|
|
2
|
IM
|
Trent Lawrence |
2463
|
47
|
|
13
|
54
|
IM
|
Praggnanandhaa R |
2442
|
2
|
|
2
|
GM
|
Meier Georg |
2648
|
19
|
|
14
|
20
|
GM
|
Bachmann Axel |
2645
|
2
|
|
2
|
GM
|
Romanishin Oleg |
2456
|
51
|
|
15
|
26
|
GM
|
Bok Benjamin |
2594
|
2
|
|
2
|
IM
|
Lou Yiping |
2458
|
50
|
|
16
|
28
|
GM
|
Lalith Babu M R |
2586
|
2
|
|
2
|
GM
|
Tarjan James E |
2420
|
61
|
|
17
|
29
|
GM
|
Donchenko Alexander |
2581
|
2
|
|
2
|
IM
|
Tania Sachdev |
2414
|
62
|
|
18
|
64
|
IM
|
Das Arghyadip |
2400
|
2
|
|
2
|
GM
|
Marin Mihail |
2569
|
30
|
|
19
|
31
|
GM
|
Brunello Sabino |
2566
|
2
|
|
2
|
WIM
|
Shvayger Yuliya |
2405
|
63
|
|
20
|
67
|
IM
|
Houska Jovanka |
2386
|
2
|
|
2
|
GM
|
Aravindh Chithambaram |
2564
|
32
|
LinksThe games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs. |
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