Sindarov-l’Ami
Sindarov played an unusual variation with an early queen exchange against l’Ami’s Najdorf Sicilian. Black got a slightly worse pawn structure, but still seemed to have things under control. However, the attempt to get some active play with 26….Nc5 proved to be a mistake. White could free his pieces, and especially the rooks became very active, with pressure along the e-column. After that, Sindarov had no problems securing the full point.
Grandelius-Robson
With the white pieces in the Nimzo-Indian Defense, Grandelius chose a pretty timid variant. However, having a bishop against Robson’s knight gave him some pressure, but Robson once again defended himself well. Robson managed to reach a well-known rook end game where white has an extra f- and h-pawn, but still cannot win. Of course, Grandelius tried, but Robson knew how to defend and had no problem securing a draw.
Tan -Ivanchuk
In his game against Tan, Ivanchuk made a surprise choice, playing the Scandinavian Defense. The game heated up when Tan sacrificed a piece to attack the black king, something that should have secured at least a draw by repetition. Ivanchuk used up a lot of time, something that might have made Tan continue playing (22.Rh5+ Nxh5 23.Dxh5+ ends in perpetual check). This paid off in a surprising way. At move 28, when he was about to play Reg8, Ivanchuk ran out of time. The position was by then very unclear.
Erdogmus-Rapport
Erdogmus played 3.Bb5 against Rapport’s Sicilian Defense. As usual, Rapport played some original moves, and he finally ended up with an oddly placed rook on the a-column, which proved to be hard to activate. Erdogmus found some good moves and finally reached an advantageous endgame, which he converted into a win in a very impressive manner.