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MVL’s 1.e4
Following his impressive Sinquefield Cup victory, where MVL scored 4.5/5 points with the White pieces, the French number one has won 3 crushing games as White in the first half of the Grand Swiss. The game between MVL and Anton Demchenko in Round 4 saw a rare variation of the Ruy Lopez, in which White seizes central control while Black fights for activity on the flanks. MVL’s successive central advances overwhelmed Black’s defenses and the ensuing kingside attack proved to be decisive.
The French Defense has recently attracted more attention from players at the highest levels, since Nepomniachtchi tried the Winawer twice in the 2020 Candidates, and some new ideas have been shown for Black in the Classical French (3.Nc3 Nf6) by Grischuk and Bluebaum, among others. Therefore, 1.e4 players have searched for new ideas to challenge their opponents. In Round 6, MVL employed a gambit in the Advanced French with a modern twist from the neural network engines. White’s play is based on slowing down Black’s development and advancing the h-pawn to create pressure on the kingside.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave wants to qualify for the Candidates | Photo: Anna Shtourman
Firouzja’s 3/3 Start
Following a brilliant queen sacrifice in Round 2, Alexandr Predke faced a tough matchup in Round 3 with the Black pieces against Alireza Firouzja. Firouzja obtained a clear advantage out of the opening but allowed Predke to escape from most of his queenside pressure and reach a holdable endgame. In the end, the game was decided by the difference in king activity, which Firouzja had focused his efforts on.
Alireza Firouzja, 18 years old and with a live-rating of 2777.6 currently the world's number five | Photo: Anna Shtourman
Navigating the Ruy Lopez Vol.1-3
The Ruy Lopez is one of the oldest openings which continues to enjoy high popularity from club level to the absolute world top. In this video series, American super GM Fabiano Caruana, talking to IM Oliver Reeh, presents a complete repertoire for White.
Fire on Board
Alexei Shirov played in his trademark aggressive and uncompromising style to share first place after 6 rounds. In his Round 5 matchup against Ivan Saric, Shirov employed a fashionable variation of the 6…Bc5 Ruy Lopez and quickly seized the initiative after an opening mishap by his opponent.
Alexei Shirov | Photo: Anna Shtourman
Ideas Everywhere
In a tournament with over 100 grandmasters, new and exciting ideas can be seen in every round as everyone is trying to put their preparation to use. Of the many examples to choose from, a game between Jorden Van Foreest and Surya Ganguly caught my attention. Van Foreest played a surprising pawn sacrifice in the English Opening, posed tremendous practical problems for his opponent, and won a very nice attacking game.
I look forward to the excitement of the last 5 rounds, where the world’s best players fight for qualification into the 2022 Candidates and FIDE Grand Prix events.
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | ||
| 1 | 3 |
|
GM | Firouzja Alireza |
|
2770 | 4,5 | 20,0 | 22,5 | 16,00 | 0,0 |
| 2 | 4 |
|
GM | Vachier-Lagrave Maxime |
|
2763 | 4,5 | 18,0 | 21,0 | 15,50 | 0,0 |
| 3 | 38 |
|
GM | Najer Evgeniy |
|
2654 | 4,5 | 16,5 | 18,5 | 14,00 | 0,0 |
| 4 | 54 |
|
GM | Sasikiran Krishnan |
|
2640 | 4,5 | 16,0 | 17,5 | 13,25 | 0,0 |
| 5 | 32 |
|
GM | Shirov Alexei |
|
2659 | 4,5 | 14,5 | 16,0 | 11,25 | 0,0 |
| 6 | 11 |
|
GM | Yu Yangyi |
|
2704 | 4,0 | 19,5 | 22,5 | 14,50 | 0,0 |
| 7 | 1 |
|
GM | Caruana Fabiano |
|
2800 | 4,0 | 19,0 | 22,0 | 14,50 | 0,0 |
| 8 | 89 |
|
GM | Petrosyan Manuel |
|
2605 | 4,0 | 18,5 | 20,0 | 12,75 | 0,0 |
| 9 | 41 |
|
GM | Nihal Sarin |
|
2652 | 4,0 | 18,0 | 20,0 | 12,25 | 0,0 |
| 10 | 20 |
|
GM | Korobov Anton |
|
2690 | 4,0 | 17,0 | 19,5 | 12,75 | 0,0 |
| 11 | 48 |
|
GM | Tari Aryan |
|
2646 | 4,0 | 17,0 | 18,5 | 11,75 | 0,0 |
| 12 | 27 |
|
GM | Sargissian Gabriel |
|
2664 | 4,0 | 16,5 | 18,5 | 12,25 | 0,0 |
| 13 | 17 |
|
GM | Navara David |
|
2691 | 4,0 | 16,5 | 18,5 | 11,50 | 0,0 |
| 14 | 28 |
|
GM | Sjugirov Sanan |
|
2663 | 4,0 | 16,0 | 18,5 | 12,00 | 0,0 |
| 15 | 40 |
|
GM | Sevian Samuel |
|
2654 | 4,0 | 16,0 | 18,0 | 11,50 | 0,0 |
Replay all games at Live.ChessBase.com
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | Pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | ||
| 1 | 7 |
|
GM | Lei Tingjie |
|
2505 | 5,0 | 18,0 | 20,5 | 16,50 | 0,0 |
| 2 | 10 |
|
GM | Batsiashvili Nino |
|
2484 | 4,5 | 20,0 | 23,0 | 16,50 | 0,0 |
| 12 |
|
IM | Paehtz Elisabeth |
|
2475 | 4,5 | 20,0 | 23,0 | 16,50 | 0,0 | |
| 4 | 15 |
|
WGM | Zhu Jiner |
|
2455 | 4,5 | 20,0 | 22,0 | 15,50 | 0,0 |
| 5 | 13 |
|
WGM | Pogonina Natalija |
|
2467 | 4,5 | 18,0 | 20,0 | 14,00 | 0,0 |
| 6 | 4 |
|
GM | Harika Dronavalli |
|
2511 | 4,0 | 19,0 | 21,0 | 13,00 | 0,0 |
| 7 | 18 |
|
IM | Javakhishvili Lela |
|
2446 | 4,0 | 18,0 | 20,5 | 12,25 | 0,0 |
| 8 | 3 |
|
GM | Kosteniuk Alexandra |
|
2518 | 4,0 | 18,0 | 19,0 | 11,00 | 0,0 |
| 9 | 1 |
|
GM | Muzychuk Mariya |
|
2536 | 4,0 | 17,5 | 20,5 | 13,50 | 0,0 |
| 10 | 22 |
|
WGM | Zawadzka Jolanta |
|
2428 | 4,0 | 16,0 | 18,0 | 10,75 | 0,0 |
| 11 | 21 |
|
IM | Munguntuul Batkhuyag |
|
2433 | 4,0 | 14,5 | 16,5 | 10,00 | 0,0 |
| 12 | 8 |
|
IM | Kashlinskaya Alina |
|
2493 | 4,0 | 14,0 | 16,0 | 9,00 | 0,0 |
| 13 | 2 |
|
GM | Dzagnidze Nana |
|
2524 | 3,5 | 21,5 | 24,5 | 13,50 | 0,0 |
| 14 | 34 |
|
IM | Assaubayeva Bibisara |
|
2400 | 3,5 | 18,0 | 21,0 | 12,00 | 0,0 |
| 15 | 23 |
|
IM | Osmak Iulija |
|
2423 | 3,5 | 17,5 | 20,0 | 11,25 | 0,0 |
Replay all games at Live.ChessBase.com
