After 2 hours of play Gawain Jones secured tournament victory by drawing against Pentala Harikrishna who at least will get a shared 2nd prize half a point behind Gawain.
The winner is…
Round 6 report
Five days of hard and long games might have taken it’s toll as the play was untamed at times during round 6.
Nils Grandelius sacrificed a pawn for promising compensation in a Rossolimo Sicilian against Nihal Sarin. As Nils was trying to find a way through, Nihal got his queen tangled on the kingside and the Swede put it out of play with 23.Lg5. After that the win was straightforward.
Parham Maghsoodloo and Ivan Saric played a very sharp game that looked like it could swing either way at times. Surprisingly the exchange of blows led to an equal endgame that could only ever end in a draw.
Pentala Harikrishna got a promising position early on against Dieter Nisipeanu’s french defence. But the thematic manoeuvre Ld7-e8-h5 got black out of trouble and the game ended with a rook ending and a draw.
Gawain Jones took the chance break into the solo lead by beating Tiger Hillarp Persson. After a slow start to the game things soon got exciting as a miscalculation by Tiger allowed Gawain to sacrifice his queen for a decisive attack.
This opens up for a very tense final round! Pentala Harikrishna will need to defeat Gawain Jones as black to leapfrog him into 1st place.
Photos round 6
Yesterday Swedish Chess Federation official photographer, Lars OA Hedlund, arrived from Stockholm and was taking photos during the round. You find those photos here.
Round 5 report
Both leaders drew as Nihal Sarin won the battle of the youngsters against Parham Maghsoodloo. The two Swedes faced off with Nils Grandelius having to win twice to secure the whole point.
Dieter Nisipeanu tried something different (6.Qf3) in the opening and it misfired, with Gawain Jones gaining the upper hand. A black win looked likely during most of the game, but Dieter managed to secure a draw by repetition with some clever play at the end.
A very calm game between Ivan Saric and Pentala Harikrishna suddenly came to life in a very sharp endgame that had study-like twists. Ivan held the draw with a piece down through very exact play.
Nihal held his cool when Parham launched a kingside attack, opting for a breakthrough in the centre. The lone queen dominated against the two rooks and snatched pawn after pawn until black had to resign.
Tiger Hillarp Persson played the Hedgehog against fellow Swede Nils Grandelius. Nils dictated the game and had the opportunity to secure an early win. Tiger defended with vigour and survived into an endgame, only for Nils to force himself into a winning position again and this time claiming the point.