Grand Swiss: MVL and Sasikiran win, join the lead

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
11/2/2021 – After six rounds, the participants of the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss will get a rest day on Tuesday. In the open section, five players are tied atop the standings on 4½/6 points, with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Krishnan Sasikiran (pictured) the latest to have joined the leading pack. Among the women, Lei Tingjie reclaimed sole first place by beating Jolanta Zawadzka. | Photo: Anna Shtourman

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No lack of fighting chess

Grand Swiss Chess 2021We have crossed the halfway mark of the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss, with five players sharing the lead in the open section and Lei Tingjie topping the standings in the women’s tournament. While four players are standing a half point behind Lei in the women’s category, no fewer than fifteen grandmasters have a half point less than the co-leaders in the open. With five tense-packed rounds still to go, the players will have a rest on Tuesday, when they will most likely focus on recharging their batteries before the second, deciding half.

It was a rather eventful sixth round in the open tournament. Although only two games from the top 10 boards finished decisively, we could have easily seen a shake-up of the standings table as Alireza Firouzja, Evgeniy Najer and Nihal Sarin got considerable advantages, but saw their winning chances withered down by their opponents’ defensive efforts.  

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Krishnan Sasikiran did manage to win though, and joined the leading pack on 4½/6 points. MVL beat Pavel Ponkratov, while Sasikiran scored a second consecutive win — the Indian had beaten Vladimir Fedoseev on Monday and took down Alexandr Predke in round 6.

Meanwhile, four players obtained full points to join the chasing pack: Andrey Esipenko, Daniil Dubov, Sanan Sjugirov, David Anton and Alexey Sarana will get a chance to catch up with the leaders after the rest day.

Name Pts. Result Pts. Name
Shirov Alexei 4 ½ - ½ 4 Firouzja Alireza
Najer Evgeniy 4 ½ - ½ Caruana Fabiano
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 1 - 0 Ponkratov Pavel
Sevian Samuel ½ - ½ Yu Yangyi
Nihal Sarin ½ - ½ Navara David
Korobov Anton ½ - ½ Tari Aryan
Predke Alexandr 0 - 1 Sasikiran Krishnan
Deac Bogdan-Daniel ½ - ½ Sargissian Gabriel
Vitiugov Nikita 3 ½ - ½ Petrosyan Manuel
Aronian Levon 3 ½ - ½ 3 Donchenko Alexander

...54 boards

Evgeniy Najer

Evgeniy Najer had a slight edge in an endgame against Fabiano Caruana when the latter claimed a draw by threefold repetition — Najer blundered that it was possible for his opponent to repeat the position | Photo: Mark Livshitz

Two combative players of different generations faced off on top board. Firouzja went for the Caro-Kann, a defence that has proven to be a good alternative for those wanting to get a full-fledged fight with the black pieces. The youngster castled queenside and got a strong initiative on the opposite flank.

Shirov defended resourcefully to survive the middlegame, but was nonetheless on the back foot in the heavy-piece position that ensued.

 
Shirov vs. Firouzja

White has his rooks lined up on the b-file, but his opponent might potentially line up all three of his heavy pieces on the kingside. At this point, trading down into a queen versus two rooks endgame is actually good for Black, although converting those positions is never easy — Firouzja could have gone for 36...Rxf2+ 37.Qxf2 Rxf2+ 38.Rxf2 and 38...g5 or 38...a6, when White will need to defend his position for quite a while.

Instead, the young star faltered with 36...b6, allowing Shirov to equalize with the precise 37.Qc5

 

Firouzja had prepared 37...Qb7, looking to infiltrate via h1, but White can now force matters with 38.Rxb6 axb6 39.Rxb6. Black counterattacks with 39...Rxf2+, but after 40.Ke1 he has nothing better than a triple repetition with his rooks giving checks on the first ranks.

 

Draw.

Alexei Shirov

Alexei Shirov | Photo: Anna Shtourman

Vachier-Lagrave has been employing a classical approach in Riga, drawing his games with black and pushing for wins when he has the white pieces. Facing Ponkratov’s French Defence in round 6, MVL prioritized the initiative from the get go. His opponent’s 15th move was an imprecision.

 
Vachier-Lagrave vs. Ponkratov

It looks dangerous but grabbing the central pawn with 15...Nxd4 was Black’s best alternative here. Ponkratov’s 15...h5, on the other hand, led to a forced sequence which left him struggling to find precise defensive manoeuvres against one of the best calculators in the circuit — 16.Nf6+ Bxf6 17.exf6 Ng8 18.Qf3

 

Black has his king stuck in the centre, while his central pawn structure is heavily threatened with the e-pawn pinned to the king. Ponkratov was in deep trouble, and spent almost 15 minutes before playing 18...Rh6, but after 19.Qxd5 Vachier-Lagrave needed no more than seven moves to claim his third victory of the event.


Standings after round 6

Rk. Name Pts.  TB1 
1 Firouzja Alireza 4,5 20,0
2 Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 4,5 18,0
3 Najer Evgeniy 4,5 16,5
4 Sasikiran Krishnan 4,5 16,0
5 Shirov Alexei 4,5 14,5
6 Yu Yangyi 4,0 19,5
7 Caruana Fabiano 4,0 19,0
8 Petrosyan Manuel 4,0 18,5
9 Nihal Sarin 4,0 18,0
10 Korobov Anton 4,0 17,0
11 Tari Aryan 4,0 17,0
12 Sargissian Gabriel 4,0 16,5
13 Navara David 4,0 16,5
14 Sjugirov Sanan 4,0 16,0
15 Sevian Samuel 4,0 16,0

...108 players


All games - Round 6

 
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1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.h4 h5 5.Bd3 Bxd3 6.Qxd3 B12: Caro-Kann: Advance Variation. Qa5+ 7.Nd2 next e6! is good for White. e6 8.Ngf3 Nh6 9.0-0 Nf5 10.Nb3! is now more promising than 10.c4. Qa6 11.Qd1 Be7 12.Bg5 Bxg5 13.Nc5 Qb6
14.Nxg5N Predecessor: 14.hxg5 h4 15.g6 fxg6 16.Nxe6 Ke7 17.Nf4 Rh6 18.Qd3 Nd7 19.Nxg6+ Rxg6 20.Qxf5 1-0 (32) Kollars,D (2586)-Kobalia,M (2614) Chess.com INT 2020 14...Na6 15.Nxa6 Qxa6 16.c3 16.g3= 16...Nxh4 17.g3 Nf5 18.Kg2 Qb6 19.b4 Qd8 20.Qd2 Qe7 21.Rab1 Rh6 22.Rh1 0-0-0 23.b5 cxb5 24.Rxb5 h4 25.g4 h3+ 26.Kf1
26...Rg6! 27.gxf5 Rxg5 28.fxe6 fxe6 aiming for ...Rh5. 29.Rxh3 Rf5 30.c4 30.Ke1 30...dxc4 31.Qc3 Rdf8 32.Qxc4+ Kb8 33.Rb2
33...Qf7! 34.Qe2
34...Qc7! Hoping for ... Qc1+. 35.Qc2 Qd7 Black should try 35...Rxf2+ 36.Qxf2 Qc4+ 37.Kg2 Rxf2+ 38.Rxf2 Qxd4 36.Rhb3 b6 36...Rxf2+ 37.Qxf2 Rxf2+ 38.Rxf2 Qxd4 39.Rf8+ Kc7 40.Rf7+ Kc6 41.Rbxb7 Qa1+ 42.Kg2 Qxa2+ 43.Kh3 a5 44.Rxg7 Qa1 45.Rbc7+ Kb5 46.Rb7+ Kc5 37.Qc5!= Rxb6+! is the strong threat.The position is equal. Qb7 Threatens to win with ...Qh1+. 38.Rxb6! axb6 39.Rxb6 Black must now prevent Qd6+. Rxf2+ Double Attack 40.Ke1 Rf1+ 41.Ke2 R1f2+ 42.Ke1 Rf1+ 43.Ke2 Whites escaped into a draw. Weighted Error Value: White=0.09/Black=0.09
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Shirov,A2659Firouzja,A2770½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.1
Najer,E2654Caruana,F2800½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.2
Vachier-Lagrave,M2763Ponkratov,P26591–02021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.3
Sevian,S2654Yu,Y2704½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.4
Nihal Sarin2652Navara,D2691½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.5
Korobov,A2690Tari,A2646½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.6
Predke,A2666Sasikiran,K26400–12021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.7
Deac,B2643Sargissian,G2664½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.8
Aronian,L2782Donchenko,A2648½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.10
Esipenko,A2720Abdusattorov,N26461–02021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.11
Bluebaum,M2640Harikrishna,P2719½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.12
Dubov,D2714Saric,I26441–02021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.13
Maghsoodloo,P2701Tabatabaei,M2639½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.14
Swiercz,D2647Xiong,J2700½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.15
Artemiev,V2699Ponomariov,R2631½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.16
Kollars,D2621Wojtaszek,R2691½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.17
Kuzubov,Y2624Kryvoruchko,Y2686½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.18
Sjugirov,S2663Yilmaz,M26261–02021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.19
Chigaev,M2639Grandelius,N2662½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.20
Dreev,A2635Anton Guijarro,D26580–12021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.21
Keymer,V2630Oparin,G2654½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.22
Volokitin,A2652Hovhannisyan,R2622½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.23
Sarana,A2649Praggnanandhaa R26181–02021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.24
Indjic,A2612Alekseenko,K2710½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.25
Fedoseev,V2704Pichot,A26281–02021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.26
Eljanov,P2691Brkic,A26211–02021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.27
Howell,D2658Yakubboev,N26211–02021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.28
Gukesh D2640Sadhwani,R26090–12021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.29
Onyshchuk,V2622Erigaisi Arjun26341–02021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.30
Jobava,B2582Moussard,J26321–02021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.31
Shevchenko,K2632Kuybokarov,T25491–02021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.32
Van Foreest,J2691Ivic,V2606½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.33
Martirosyan,H2624Svidler,P2694½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.34
Matlakov,M2682Antipov,M2619½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.35
Ter-Sahakyan,S2607Gelfand,B26801–02021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.36
Mamedov,R2673Ganguly,S2617½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.37
Zvjaginsev,V2609Cori,J2655½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.38
Sethuraman,S2620Demchenko,A26510–12021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.39
Abasov,N2638Henriquez Villagra,C2608½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.40
Bjerre,J2569Niemann,H26380–12021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.41
Nguyen,T2577Kovalev,V26340–12021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.42
Zhou,J2629Bartel,M25971–02021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.43
Movsesian,S2627Van Foreest,L25431–02021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.44
Kravtsiv,M2625Neiksans,A25701–02021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.45
Sindarov,J2587Jumabayev,R26581–02021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.46
Goryachkina,A2602Adhiban,B2672½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.47
Cheparinov,I2659Durarbayli,V2629½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.48
Rakhmanov,A2657Vokhidov,S2521½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.49
Georgiev,K2577Paravyan,D2642½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.50
Suleymanli,A2541Adly,A26021–02021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.51
Meshkovs,N2550Budisavljevic,L2508½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.52
Morovic Fernandez,I2510Miezis,N2467½–½2021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.53
Gretarsson,H2577Rakotomaharo,F24841–02021FIDE Chesscom Grand Swiss 20216.54

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Lei reclaims the sole lead

No player in the open section has managed to collect 5 points so far in Riga (i.e. a +4 score), while Lei Tingie has reclaimed the sole lead in the women’s section after reaching that score with a win over Polish WGM Jolanta Zawadzka. 

The seventh seed is followed closely by a group of four players. Former co-leaders Zhu Jiner, Elisabeth Paehtz and Nino Batsiashvili all drew and are now a half point behind Lei, while Natalija Pogonina beat Olga Badelka to join them in the chasing pack.

Also, top seeds Mariya Muzychuk and Nana Dzagnidze faced off on board 5, with Muzychuk getting her second consecutive victory in Riga.

Name Pts. Result Pts. Name
Lei Tingjie 4 1 - 0 4 Zawadzka Jolanta
Zhu Jiner 4 ½ - ½ 4 Paehtz Elisabeth
Harika Dronavalli ½ - ½ 4 Batsiashvili Nino
Pogonina Natalija 1 - 0 Badelka Olga
Muzychuk Mariya 3 1 - 0 Dzagnidze Nana
Kosteniuk Alexandra 3 1 - 0 3 Vantika Agrawal
Munguntuul Batkhuyag 3 1 - 0 3 Shuvalova Polina
Osmak Iulija 3 ½ - ½ 3 Abdumalik Zhansaya
Girya Olga 3 0 - 1 3 Kashlinskaya Alina
Javakhishvili Lela 3 1 - 0 3 Gunina Valentina

...25 boards

Olga Girya, Alina Kashlinskaya

Alina Kashlinskaya beat Olga Girya with the black pieces | Photo: Mark Livshitz

After a painful loss in round 5, Alexandra Kosteniuk bounced back by beating Vantika Agrawal on board 6. An entertaining Sicilian saw the Russian opening up the g-file in front of her king. A sharp struggle ensued, in which Black failed to find a way to protect her monarch.

 
Kosteniuk vs. Vantika

Rooks are hanging on h2 and e6, but it is White to play in a wild position — Kosteniuk pounced with 45.Qa7+, as 45...Kxe6 runs into 46.Nd4+ Ke5 47.Nxc2+, grabbing the queen.

Soon after, White got to win the game with mate-in-one on the board.

 

51...Ke5 52.Nf3+ and Black resigned before allowing 52...Kf5 53.Qg6#


Standings after round 6

Rk. Name Pts.  TB1 
1 Lei Tingjie 5,0 18,0
2 Batsiashvili Nino 4,5 20,0
  Paehtz Elisabeth 4,5 20,0
4 Zhu Jiner 4,5 20,0
5 Pogonina Natalija 4,5 18,0
6 Harika Dronavalli 4,0 19,0
7 Javakhishvili Lela 4,0 18,0
8 Kosteniuk Alexandra 4,0 18,0
9 Muzychuk Mariya 4,0 17,5
10 Zawadzka Jolanta 4,0 16,0
11 Munguntuul Batkhuyag 4,0 14,5
12 Kashlinskaya Alina 4,0 14,0
13 Dzagnidze Nana 3,5 21,5
14 Assaubayeva Bibisara 3,5 18,0
15 Osmak Iulija 3,5 17,5

...50 players


All games - Round 6

 
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1.d4 10:18 Nf6 10:12 2.c4 10 e6 0 3.Nf3 45 d5 6 4.Nc3 40 Bb4 10 5.Qa4+ 21 Nc6 7 6.a3 0 Bxc3+ 1:36 7.bxc3 5 Ne4 11:25 8.e3 1:36 Nxc3 5:06 9.Qc2 6 Ne4 0 10.Bd3 2 0-0 4:31 11.0-0 4:07 Re8 11:16 12.Rb1 10:54 h6 5:27 13.Bb2 2:50 Nd6 8:59 14.Nd2 10:09 dxc4 0 15.Nxc4 23 Nxc4 12 16.Bxc4 1:20 e5 8:41 17.d5 3:44 Ne7 5:52 18.Rfd1 11:48 Nf5 3:01 19.Rbc1 7:36 Qg5 0 20.Kh1 20:43 Bd7 3:23 21.Bf1 1:56 Rac8 40 22.Qb3 1:43 Nd6 1:42 23.f3 43 Qh4 5:03 24.Re1 6:08 a6 0 25.e4 4:19 Bb5 3:42 26.g3 41 Qh5 1:14 27.Bg2 12 c5 2:15 28.a4 0 Bd7 25 29.Qb6 2:19 Qg6 1:06 30.Ba3 1:33 Bxa4 2:16 31.Bxc5 3 Rcd8 1:39 32.Qb4 1:45 Bb5 33 33.f4 0 Qf6 3:47 34.fxe5 55 Qxe5 7 35.Bd4 7 Qh5 53 36.e5 34 Nf5 26 37.Bf2 10 Ne7 57 38.Qb3 0 Ng6 1:53 39.e6 23 fxe6 1:08 40.dxe6 4 Ne7 34 41.Bxb7 29:45 Rd3 24:55 42.Qc2 6:14 Nd5 4:17 43.Qc5 0 Qf5 7:30 44.Kg1 2:06 Kh7 31 45.Bd4 7:03 Qg4 6:37 46.Bxd5 1:26 Rxd4 37 47.Bg2 50 Ra4 4:28 48.Qe5 0 h5 3:53 49.Rcd1 1:21 Ra2 56 50.Be4+ 1:03 Kh8 20 51.Rd7 32 Re2 52 52.Rxe2 11 Bxe2 24 53.h3 32 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Lei,T2505Zawadzka,J24281–02021FIDE Womens Grand Swiss 20216.1
Zhu,J2455Paehtz,E2475½–½2021FIDE Womens Grand Swiss 20216.2
Harika,D2511Batsiashvili,N2484½–½2021FIDE Womens Grand Swiss 20216.3
Pogonina,N2467Badelka,O24381–02021FIDE Womens Grand Swiss 20216.4
Muzychuk,M2536Dzagnidze,N25241–02021FIDE Womens Grand Swiss 20216.5
Kosteniuk,A2518Vantika Agrawal23221–02021FIDE Womens Grand Swiss 20216.6
Munguntuul,B2433Shuvalova,P25091–02021FIDE Womens Grand Swiss 20216.7
Osmak,I2423Abdumalik,Z2507½–½2021FIDE Womens Grand Swiss 20216.8
Girya,O2410Kashlinskaya,A24930–12021FIDE Womens Grand Swiss 20216.9
Javakhishvili,L2446Gunina,V24621–02021FIDE Womens Grand Swiss 20216.10
Vaishali R2419Assaubayeva,B2400½–½2021FIDE Womens Grand Swiss 20216.11
Saduakassova,D2491Socko,M2397½–½2021FIDE Womens Grand Swiss 20216.12
Maltsevskaya,A2411Arakhamia-Grant,K23761–02021FIDE Womens Grand Swiss 20216.13
Garifullina,L2409Melia,S2371½–½2021FIDE Womens Grand Swiss 20216.14
Sargsyan,A2402Rogule,L22890–12021FIDE Womens Grand Swiss 20216.15
Stefanova,A2475Padmini,R23801–02021FIDE Womens Grand Swiss 20216.16
Cramling,P2447Houska,J23811–02021FIDE Womens Grand Swiss 20216.17
Lujan,C2340Atalik,E2420½–½2021FIDE Womens Grand Swiss 20216.18
Hoang,T2380Sukandar,I24060–12021FIDE Womens Grand Swiss 20216.19
Divya Deshmukh2305Bivol,A23920–12021FIDE Womens Grand Swiss 20216.20
Cori T.,D2382Kamalidenova,M23391–02021FIDE Womens Grand Swiss 20216.21
Buksa,N2409Danielian,E24501–02021FIDE Womens Grand Swiss 20216.22
Eizaguerri Floris,M2328Arabidze,M2441½–½2021FIDE Womens Grand Swiss 20216.23
Cyfka,K2409Milliet,S24101–02021FIDE Womens Grand Swiss 20216.24
February,J1857Golsta,M20030–12021FIDE Womens Grand Swiss 20216.25

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Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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