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By IM Kostya Kavutskiy
Check out the full replay of live coverage from the day here. The event features Chess 960 (aka Fischer Random), a chess variant where the starting position of the pieces is randomized along the first rank. The tournament format is a 10-player round-robin, with a time control of 20 minutes per side plus a 5-second increment added every move.
The first round of the day saw Kasparov close to defeating Aronian, but failing to convert a knight endgame which eventually ended in a draw. In the meantime, Sevian started off strong against So, winning a pawn and obtaining a decisive advantage right out of the opening before finishing things off in style.
Sevian - So: 33.Qf6+! forced resignation as White mates after 33...Nxf6 34.Rxd8+ (and h8=Q is coming next)
Middlegame Secrets Vol.1 + Vol.2
Let us learn together how to find the best spot for the queen in the early middlegame, how to navigate this piece around the board, how to time the queen attack, how to decide whether to exchange it or not, and much more!
A surprise leader? According to Shankland, Sevian “plays the most Fischer Random, he's really good at it” | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Also winning in nice fashion was Shankland, who found a powerful sacrifice to launch an irresistible attack against Dominguez.
Shankland - Dominguez: 22.Rxh7! leads to a quick finish after 22...Kxh7 23.Qh1+ (with Nf6 to come)
Shankland would go on to defeat Nakamura in Round 6, finishing the day on +1 | Photo: Lennart Ootes
In the next round Kasparov would lose his first game of the event, after flagging in a worse position against Jeffery Xiong. This gave Sevian the chance to get ahead, as he drew with Black against Nakamura, while Aronian managed to defeat Dominguez to join Sevian in the lead with 3½/5 points.
An excellent 2½/3 on the day for Aronian | Photo: Lennart Ootes
The final round of the day saw five decisive games, with Sevian winning a close pawn race in the endgame against Robson to continue his surge, while Aronian risked it all against Xiong with a creative piece sacrifice, which ended up paying off in victory for Levon.
Aronian - Xiong: 18.Ngf5!? was not loved by the engines, but it posed severe practical problems for Black
How I became World Champion Vol.1 1973-1985
Garry Kasparov's rise to the top was meteoric and at his very first attempt he managed to become World Champion, the youngest of all time. In over six hours of video, he gives a first hand account of crucial events from recent chess history, you can improve your chess understanding and enjoy explanations and comments from a unique and outstanding personality on and off the chess board.
Other results saw Shankland defeating Nakamura, So winning against Dominguez, and Caruana managing to flip the tables in the endgame after getting a much worse position against Kasparov.
After a brilliant day 1, Garry Kasparov failed to capitalize on his chances on Saturday | Photo: Lennart Ootes
