Yoo in the hunt
The fourth event of the Julius Baer Challengers Tour is a 17-player single round-robin tournament. Since there is an odd number of players, each participant gets to rest in one of the rounds. Out of the three players fighting for first place, only Praggnanandhaa (9½/13) is set to have a bye round on Tuesday. Vincent Keymer (10/12) and Christopher Yoo (9½/12) will play four games on the final day of action, while Pragg will rest in the penultimate round.
When it comes to strategy, one of the key things that chess professionals understand much better than amateur players is the role of the bishop which is the key theme on this video course.
After his stunning 9/9 start, Pragg unexpectedly collapsed on day 3 of action, scoring only a half point in four games. Moreover, the Indian prodigy kicked off the day with losses against both of his direct rivals for the title, Yoo and Keymer.
While Yoo scored 3½/4 to climb to shared second place, Keymer got 3/4 points on Monday, as he lost his second game of the tournament in round 12, against Russian WGM Leya Garifullina — the German star has not drawn a single game so far in the online event.

In the crucial round-11 game between Keymer and Pragg, the German youngster got the better of his colleague after the Indian incorrectly swapped the rooks in a technical endgame.
Keymer vs. Praggnanandhaa - Round 11
Black is a pawn down but can still save a half point after 42...Bb5, since his pieces are active enough to keep the balance. Instead, Pragg’s 42...Ra3 loses to 43.Ra2 Rxa2 44.Bxa2. Endgame specialist Karsten Müller explains why this was a mistake by Black!
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1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bxc4 c5 6.0-0 Nc6 7.Nc3 a6 8.a4 Be7 9.dxc5 Qxd1 10.Rxd1 Bxc5 11.b3 0-0 12.Nd2 Rd8 13.Bb2 Bd7 14.Nce4 Nxe4 15.Nxe4 Be7 16.Nd6 Bxd6 17.Rxd6 Be8 18.Rxd8 Rxd8 19.Bc3 Kf8 20.Kf1 Rc8 21.f4 h5 22.Ke2 Ke7 23.Bd3 f6 24.b4 Ne5 25.Bxe5 fxe5 26.fxe5 Rc3 27.a5 Bc6 28.g3 Rb3 29.Rb1 Ra3 30.Rb2 Ra1 31.Kd2 g5 32.Kc3 h4 33.gxh4 gxh4 34.Bb1 Bd5 35.Kd4 Kd7 36.e4 Bc6 37.Ke3 Ra3+ 38.Kf4 h3 39.Rd2+ Ke7 40.Rd3 Ra1 41.Rb3 Ba4 42.Rb2 Ra3? 42...Bb5 43.Kg4 Ra3 44.Bc2 Re3= 43.Ra2! Rxa2 43...Rb3 44.Bc2+- 44.Bxa2 Bc2 44...Bb5 45.Bb3 Bf1 46.Bd1 Bg2 47.Bg4 Kf7 48.Ke3 Ke7 49.Kd4 Kd7 50.Kc5 Bxe4 51.Bxh3+- 45.Bc4 Kf7 46.Bf1 Bb3 47.Bxh3 Kg6 48.Bg4 Bc4 49.h4 Bb3 50.Ke3 Kf7 51.Kd4 Ke7 52.Kc5 Bc2 53.Bf3 1–0
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
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Keymer,V | 2607 | Praggnanandhaa R | 2617 | 1–0 | 2021 | D27 | Hou Yifan Challenge 2021 | 11.6 |
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GM Müller is impressed by the technical level of the participants. He analysed a victory by Balaji Daggupati over Oliwia Kiolbasa in a rook endgame, and wrote: “Really impressive rook endgame technique by Dagg. Amazing how strong these young players are in the endgame”.
Smyslov cultivated a clear positional style and even in sharp tactical positions often relied more on his intuition than on concrete calculation of variations. Let our authors introduce you into the world of Vasily Smyslov.
Daggupati vs. Kiolbasa - Round 10
In this complex ending, Black would have kept drawing chances with 35...Rd8, while 35...Rc4 was responded by 36.Rxd5 and White went on to show good technique until getting an 88-move victory!
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1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d4 exd4 6.0-0 Be7 7.Re1 b5 8.e5 Nxe5 9.Rxe5 d6 10.Re1 bxa4 11.Nxd4 Bd7 12.Qe2 c5 13.Nf3 h6 14.Nh4 Be6 15.Ng6 fxg6 16.Qxe6 Qd7 17.Qc4 Rc8 18.Nc3 d5 19.Qxa6 0-0 20.Qxa4 Qc7 21.Bf4 Qb7 22.Qb5 Qxb5 23.Nxb5 Ne4 24.Be3 Bf6 25.f3 Ng5 26.Bxg5 Bxg5 27.a4 Rb8 28.Rad1 Rfd8 29.Re5 Bf6 30.Re6 Bxb2 31.Rc6 Bd4+ 32.Nxd4 cxd4 33.Rxd4 Rdc8 34.Rxg6 Rxc2 35.h3 Rc4? 35...Rd8 36.h4 Rd7 36.Rxd5 Rb7 36...Rxa4 37.Rd7+- 37.a5 Kf7 37...Ra4 38.a6 Ra7 39.Rdd6 h5 40.Kf2 h4 41.Ke3 38.Rgd6 Ra4 39.Rd7+ Rxd7 40.Rxd7+ Kf6 41.Ra7 h5 42.Ra8 h4 43.a6 Ra2 44.a7 Kg6 45.Kf1 Kh7 46.f4 Kg6 46...g6 47.Ke1 Kg7 48.Kd1 Kh7 49.Kc1 Kg7 50.Kb1 Ra6 51.Kb2 Kh7 52.Kb3 Kg7 53.Kc4 Ra4+ 54.Kd3 Ra3+ 55.Ke2 Kh7 56.Kf2 Kg7 57.g4 hxg3+ 57...Kh7 58.f5 gxf5 59.gxf5 Kg7 60.f6+ Kf7 61.Rh8 Rxa7 62.Rh7++- 58.Kg2 Kh7 59.h4 Kg7 60.Kh3 Kh7 61.h5 gxh5 62.f5 h4 63.f6 Ra2 64.f7 g2 65.f8Q g1Q 66.Qf7+ Qg7 67.Qh5+ Qh6 68.Rh8++- 47.f5+ Kh7 48.Ke1 Ra4 49.Ke2 Ra3 50.Kf2 Ra4 51.Kf3 Ra2 52.Kf4 Rf2+ 53.Ke5 53.Kg4 Rxg2+ 54.Kxh4 Ra2 55.Kg3 Ra4 56.h4 Ra1 57.h5 Ra4 58.h6+- 53...Re2+ 54.Kd6 Rd2+ 55.Ke6 Re2+ 56.Kf7 Ra2 57.f6 gxf6 58.Kxf6 Rf2+ 59.Ke5 Re2+ 60.Kf4 Rf2+ 61.Ke3 Ra2 62.Kf3 Ra4 63.Rf8 Rxa7 64.Rf4 Ra3+ 65.Kf2 Ra2+ 66.Kg1 Kg6 67.Rxh4 Kg5 68.Rg4+ Kh5 69.Kh2 Ra3 70.Rf4 Kg5 71.Rf3 Ra2 72.Kg3 Rb2 73.h4+ Kh5 74.Kh3 Rb4 75.g4+ Kg6 76.Ra3 Rb6 77.h5+ Kg5 78.Ra5+ 78.Kg3?? Rb5= 78...Kf6 79.Kh4 Rb4 80.Ra6+ Kg7 81.Ra5 Kf6 82.Rf5+ Kg7 83.Kg5 Ra4 84.h6+ Kg8 85.Kh5 Ra3 86.Kg6 Ra6+ 87.Rf6 Ra5 88.h7+ 1–0
- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Daggupati,B | 2442 | Kiolbasa,O | 2376 | 1–0 | 2021 | C84 | Hou Yifan Challenge 2021 | 10.5 |
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Standings after round 13
All games
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
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- Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
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