Grand Swiss: Firouzja wins, Nihal escapes

Firouzja, Predke and Saric lead

There simply are no easy games at the Grand Swiss in Riga. Only three players, out of 108, have kicked off the tournament with two wins. The lengthy 11-round competition is more a marathon than a sprint though, as the players will only get one rest day (on Tuesday) while being restricted to remain within a strict ‘sanitary bubble’. 

Alireza Firouzja, Alexandr Predke and Ivan Saric are the early co-leaders in Riga. While Firouzja benefitted from Dariusz Swiercz failing to find tactical shots that might have ended in defeat for the youngster, Predke and Saric obtained clean victories to go into round 3 with a perfect score.

Understanding Middlegame Strategies Vol.1 and 2

These DVDs are about Understanding Middlegame Strategies. In the first DVD dynamic decisions involving pawns are discussed. The second DVD deals with decision making process concerning practical play.

No fewer than 35 players stand a half point behind the leaders, including top seed Fabiano Caruana and 17-year-old Nihal Sarin, who faced each other on top board on Thursday. The rating favourite had his young opponent on the ropes, but Nihal defended resourcefully and was rewarded with a half point in the end.

...54 boards

Levon Aronian beat Hans Niemann on board 11 | Photo: Anna Shtourman

Predke’s victory — on board 8, over Nodirbek Yakubboev — was remarkable. Out of a King’s Indian Defence, the Russian gave up his queen for two pieces as early as on move 12.

White has just grabbed a pawn on d4, and he has done it with his queen (instead of his bishop), not fearing a discovered attack by the bishop. Predke did not hesitate to capture with the queen, while his opponent spent over 15 minutes on 11...Ng4. Yakubboev was perhaps thinking about the consequences of 12.hxg4, which Predke also played instantly.

The Russian was giving up his queen for a couple of pieces and an edge in development — 12...Bxd4 13.Bxd4 Kh7

Apparently, Predke was sure about entering this line, but once in this positoin he needed to find a way to make the most of his initiative, as he is material down, after all. The Russian spent over an hour on his next four moves. Luckily for him, after 14.Be2, the engine already thinks 14...f5 was a considerable mistake by Black.

Predke never stopped putting pressure on his opponent, who had trouble finding time to coordinate his pieces. The game ended on move 34, when the Russian played an elegant manoeuvre to prompt Yakubboev’s resignation.

King's Indian: A modern approach

Bologan: "If you study this DVD carefully and solve the interactive exercises you will also enrich your chess vocabulary, your King's Indian vocabulary, build up confidence in the King's Indian and your chess and win more games."

Instead of immediately capturing the rook on g8 — which by no means is a mistake — Predke went for 34.Rg4, pinning the bishop and leaving his opponent with no useful move to make. It was a memorable victory for the 27-year-old from Dimitrovgrad.

The playing hall amid the second round | Photo: Mark Livshitz

Firouzja’s path to victory was much more obstacle-ridden. The youngster employed the Sicilian Defence against Dariusz Swiercz and found himself in an unfavourable position in a complex middlegame. 

White is visibly better here, with Black’s rook and knight on the kingside unlikely to create much trouble for the white monarch without the help of the queen — thus, the engines suggest 34.Be2, when 34...Rg5 blocks the queen’s path to h4 (34...Rf4 fails to 35.Bxh5 Rxf2 36.Qxf2 gxh5). In these lines, White neutralizes his opponent’s threats and can focus on attacking Black’s weaknesses on the queenside.

Swiercz, who had needed 103 moves to win his round-1 game, quickly played 34.e5 though, allowing his famed opponent to go for 34...Qh4 35.Rf3 Rxc4 36.Bxc4 Qxc4, getting two minor pieces for a rook.

There followed 37.exd6. Black is now in control, and if he manages to activate his knights he will get a clearly superior position. From this point on, Firouzja demonstrated why he has climbed to the chess elite at such an early age, as he slowly improved his position until getting a 61-move victory.

Thanks to his back-to-back wins, Firouzja has climbed to sixth place in the live ratings list!

Nihal Sarin drew Fabiano Caruana with white | Photo: Mark Livshitz

On top board, Nihal showcased great ability to handle a technical, inferior position. The youngster was two pawns down in an endgame against the tournament’s rating favourite.

Magical Chess Endgames Vol. 1 & 2 + The magic of chess tactics

In over 4 hours in front of the camera, Karsten Müller presents to you sensations from the world of endgames - partly reaching far beyond standard techniques and rules of thumb - and rounds off with some cases of with own examples.

By this point, the worst had passed for the Indian prodigy, but he still needed to work hard until signing a 57-move draw with Caruana. Nihal later noted that “there was like a 20% chance that I could save this game”.

Standings after round 2

...108 players

All games

Seven co-leaders in the women’s section

Decisive results continue to be the rule rather than the exception in the women’s tournament. Going into round 3, seven players are sharing the lead on 2/2, with three powerhouse countries of women’s chess each having two representatives in this group: Georgia (Nana Dzagnidze, Nino Batsiashvili), China (Lei Tingjie, Zhu Jiner) and Russia (Natalija Pogonina, Valentina Gunina). These six players are joined by Germany’s number one Elisabeth Paehtz.

Mariya Muychuk, Alexandra Kosteniuk and Polina Shuvalova (seeded 1st, 3rd and 5th respectively) all signed draws in the second round.

...25 boards

Meri Arabidze (Georgia) versus Vantika Agrawal (India) | Photo: Mark Livshitz

For a second day in a row, Anna Sargsyan featured in a tactical struggle that could have gone either way during time trouble. She had the black pieces against Pogonina.

Sargsyan had already survived what seemed to be a deadly attack by White, but her 36...c5 was a grave mistake (36...Bd5 was called for, looking to exchange the dangerous white bishop). Pogonina quickly replied 37.Qf6, attacking both the rook on d8 and the bishop on f7.

Improve your Tactics

The aim of this course is to help you understand how to make tactical opportunities arise as well as to sharpen your tactical vision - these selected lectures will help to foster your overall tactical understanding.

Pogonina’s natural-looking moving was in fact a mistake — 37.Qg5, pinning the knight was the precise continuation. However, Sargsyan failed to find the refutation, as she blundered with 37...Rd5 and resigned after 38.Qxf7+ (the black queen no longer protects f7)

In the above diagram, Black had the strong 37...Rf8, when White needs to find 38.Nf3 to keep the game going — after 38.Nf5, for example, Black can go for the lethal 38...Qxf1+ (diagram below), gaining material, as 39.Bxf1 can be responded by 39...Bd5+ and the rook on f8 grabs the queen on the next move.

All sorts of tactical shots can be missed during mutual time trouble!

Standings after round 2

...50 players

All games

Links

• Top GMs to fight for Candidates spots at Grand Swiss in Riga
• Pairings and results at Chess-Results: Open | Women’s