Round 2 summary by GM Stellan Brynell

Stellan Brynell
GM Stellan Brynell Photo: Lars OA Hedlund

A very exciting round, all four games had a winner!

Gukesh-Keymer

Keymer opted for the Ruy Lopez, and Gukesh soon applied some pressure with the white pieces. However, it was not until Keymer allowed 22.Bxh6 that things got real bad for black. In the complications that followed, Gukesh made no mistake and secured the win with exact play.

Gelfand-Svidler

Svilder made some risky choices in the opening, playing 5…Bf5 and 6…Qc8. This gave Gelfand a chance to dominate the center of the board. After having found a couple of clever moves, Svidler managed to get some counter-play. In time trouble, Gelfand made a serious error when he played 32.Bxe5, which put him in a close to hopeless position. The correct move would have been to exchange the other bishop with 32.Bxd7.

Photo: David Llada.
Gelfand – Svidler round 2.

Mishra-Van Foreest

With the black pieces, Van Foreest opted for an extremely sharp version of the Catalan Defence. He launched an early attack on the king side, which looked very dangerous. Mishra defended well and after some inexact moves from black, he seized the initiative with 24.e4. When Keymer played 25…b5 (the final mistake), Mishra could open up the a-file and bring his rook to a7, after which black was totally lost. Despite some serious time trouble, Mishra found the right moves, and by move 40, it was all over.

Erigaisi-Grandelius

Grandelius surprised Erigiasi with an unusual setup in the Najdorf Sicilian, and things soon looked promising. Erigiasi must have missed that after 19…Qb6, he could not play 20.b3, due to loosing material after 20…Qe3+. A desperate rook sacrifice by white kept the game going, but Grandelius kept his cool and managed to simplify into a winning endgame.

Pairings round 3

Pairings round 3, Saturday May 6th

GM Peter Svidler – GM Arjun Erigaisi
GM Jorden Van Foreest – GM Boris Gelfand
GM Vincent Keymer – GM Mishra Abhimanyu
GM Nils Grandelius – GM Gukesh D

Round 1 summary by GM Stellan Brynell

Stellan Brynell
GM Stellan Brynell Photo: Lars OA Hedlund

Gelfand-Erigaisi

Erigaisi chose an extremely sharp variantion in the Catalan and seemed to be well prepared, playing very fast. Gelfand made a terrible mistake, allowing 20…Rxc1, followed by Bxd2 or Qxd2 and Nf3+. This cost him a piece and the game.

Svidler-Mishra

Svidler went for the Moscow variation (Bb5+) in the Sicilian. He seemed to be better off, with a strong knight on e4, but after rooks and queens were removed from the board, Mishra had no problems securing a draw.

Keymer-Grandelius

Grandelius chose the Slav Defence as black, and played the unusual 11…a5. Keymer seemed to be prepared for this, but should perhaps have played 15.f4, to stop black from solving all his problems with 15…e5. When Grandelius found the clever 24…g4, this led to a clearly drawn position with opposite-colored bishops.

Van Foreest-Gukesh

Gukesh also went for the Slav Defence. The players castled in opposite directions, leading to a complicated game. Black soon looked to have the better attacking prospects, and when van Foreest felt that he had to play b4, it did not look good for him. Gukesh was clearly better, but inexact play gave van Foreest a chance to get back in the game. The best alternative for van Foreest might have been to capture on f5 with the queen at move 45. Instead, he played 45.gxf5 and followed up with 46.f4, a move that clearly did not work. After that, Gukesh had no problems winning the game.

Photo: David Llada
Van Foreest – Gukesh round 1.

 

Pairings round 2

Pairings round 2, Friday May 5th

GM Arjun Erigaisi – GM Nils Grandelius
GM Gukesh D – GM Vincent Keymer
GM Mishra Abhimanyu – GM Jorden Van Foreest
GM Boris Gelfand – GM Peter Svidler