Reykjavik Open: Pragg and Andersen score

Three co-leaders

Follow the games from round 9 live!

Max Warmerdam entered round 8 as the sole leader of the Reykjavik Open. Playing white against top seed Pouya Idani, he decided to save some energy after a gruelling double round on Sunday by agreeing to a draw after 19 moves. The half point meant Warmerdam would at least go into the final round sharing the lead.

Idani was one of the five players in the chasing pack. The other four played each other on boards 2 and 3. Both games finished decisively, allowing the winners — Praggnanandhaa and Mads Andersen — to climb to shared first place on 6½ out of 8 points.

With three players sharing the lead and seven players standing a half point behind, we are likely to see a tie for first place in the final standings. In that case, the result in a direct encounter (or encounters, if more than two players are involved) is the first tiebreak criterion. If that is not applicable, the number of games played (byes were allowed in the event) and Median Buchholz are the next criteria that would break the tie.

In the deciding round, Andersen will have the white pieces against Warmerdam, while Pragg will face his compatriot Gukesh with black. Gukesh is one of seven players currently standing a half point behind the leaders.

Round 9 pairings

On Monday, Pragg scored a remarkable victory over Matthieu Cornette. The Frenchman, playing black, was overly ambitious with his 13th move. Pragg immediately grabbed his chance, sacrificing a knight to get a crushing attack on the kingside.

Master Class Vol. 12: Viswanathan Anand

This DVD allows you to learn from the example of one of the best players in the history of chess and from the explanations of the authors how to successfully organise your games strategically, and how to keep your opponent permanently under pressure.

 

Praggnanandhaa R2612

1–0

Cornette, Matthieu2571

Reykjavik Open 2022 11.04.2022

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 0-0 5.Bd2 d5 6.Nf3 b6 7.cxd5 exd5 8.Bd3 Bb7 9.Qc2 Re8 10.a3 Bf8 11.Ng5 g6 12.h4 Bg7 13.0-0-0 Ng4

This was too ambitious by Cornette, threatening to capture on f2. 13...Ba6 forces a trade of light-squared bishops, when White's initiative on the kingside will be vastly undermined. 14.h5 Bxd3 15.Qxd3 c5 14.Nxh7 Pragg goes for it! Kxh7 14...Nxf2 15.h5 Qd6 16.g4 was Black's best defensive attempt. 15.h5 Kg8 16.hxg6 f6 17.Rdf1 The engine does not defend the pawn and immediately goes for 17.Bf5 Nxf2 18.Rh7 Nxd1 19.Qxd1 and the queen will join the party. 17...Nc6 18.Ne2 Qd6 19.Ng3 Ne7 20.Rh7 f5 21.Nh5 Bf8 22.Bxf5 Nf6 23.Bb4 c5 24.dxc5 bxc5 25.Bxc5

All of White's pieces, with the one exception of the f1-rook, are pointing at Black's king - importantly, the bishop threatens to go to d4 and wreak havoc on the long diagonal! Cornette resigned. 1–0

A beautiful shot | Photo: Thorsteinn Magnusson

Standings after round 8

...245 players

Games from round 8

Replay all available games from the tournament at Live.ChessBase.com

Links

• Official site
• Kvika Reykjavik Open 2022: No Covid-restrictions