Jobava and Sanal a half point back

The Baku Open, held from 29 April to 6 May at the Baku Crystal Hall, has reached its final stages with six rounds completed. This international chess tournament is taking place in Azerbaijan's capital as the first stop in the newly launched Chess Tour Azerbaijan - a series of eight events scheduled to be held across the country, primarily in tourist destinations, including two events in Baku itself.

The tournament field is led by a strong contingent of local and international grandmasters. Among the top ten seeds are five Azerbaijani players and five international participants, with the top four seeds being Aleksandar Indjic (Serbia), Nijat Abasov (Azerbaijan), Aydin Suleymanli (Azerbaijan) and Baadur Jobava (Georgia), all rated above 2600.

Master Class Vol. 18: Max Euwe

Experts examine the games of Max Euwe. Let them show you which openings Euwe chose to play, where his strength in middlegames were, which tactical abilities he had or how he outplayed his opponents in the endgame.
Max Euwe became the fifth World Chess Champion after beating Alexander Alekhine in the 1935 World Championship match. A maths teacher by profession, Euwe remained an amateur throughout his life, but was still the best chess player in the Netherlands, and one of the world's best players. Euwe holds the record for the most Dutch national championships, with twelve. After winning the World Championship, Euwe was also the world's best player for a while. He lost the title again in 1937 in the rematch against Alexander Alekhine.
Free video sample: Openings

After six rounds of play, top seed Aleksandar Indjic, who won the European Championship last year in Montenegro, leads the standings with 5 points. His consistent form has allowed him to pull ahead of the field, albeit narrowly. Trailing by half a point are Georgian GM Baadur Jobava, a four-time national champion, and Turkish GM Vahap Sanal, who has twice won his country's championship.

Sanal is set to face Indjic in round seven, where he will play white in what could be a decisive pairing for the tournament outcome.

The playing hall

In round 4, Indjic obtained a crucial victory over Ukrainian GM Mykhajlo Brodskyj. A sharp middlegame saw Indjic, who had the white pieces, sacrificing an exchange to get attacking chances. Once the contenders reached a simplified position with bishops of opposite colours still on the board - which engines evaluated as close to equal - a blunder by Brodskyj allowed Indjic to decisively penetrate with his queen on the eighth rank.

47...Bf4 was the losing mistake, allowing White to play 48.Be6, a key intermezzo attacking the rook. After 48...Rc7 there is 49.Qa8+, threatening mate on g8 and h8!

Black needs to give up material to prevent his opponent from delivering checkmate. Brodskyj went for 49...Qxe6 and resigned after 50.Qf8+, with mate on h8 to follow.

Note the importance of playing Bb3-e6 on move 48 - perhaps the move missed by the Ukrainian grandmaster - since after 47...Bf4 White cannot play 48.Qa8 at once due to 48...Qd8. Furthermore, after Bb3-e6, Black cannot keep the rook both on the d-file (to play ...Qd8 if needed) and on the seventh rank (to prevent the white queen from penetrating via b7, with an even quicker attack).

Standings after round 6

Attacking with the Jobava London System

The Jobava London System is a minor form of the London System. White tries to play Lf4 quickly followed by Nc3.

....60 players

All available games

Links

• Official website
• Aleksandar Indjic wins 2024 European Championship