Grandelius-Shirov Grandelius played his favorite move 6.d3 against the Ruy Lopez. His position looked promising but Shirov defended well and in the end the game fizzled out into a drawish rook ending. Van Foreest-Niemann In a sharp Italian variation, Van Foreest sacrificed a pawn, which seemed to give a promising …
GM Hans Niemann, USA won this year’s tournament with 5 of 7 points. His good form continues, he came directly to Malmö from Cuba where he won a tournament convincingly.
The penultimate round gave us two more decisive games. Grandelius failed to close in on leader Niemann, who goes into round 7 a full point clear of Erigaisi and Grandelius. Niemann-Grandelius A solid Grünfeld indian with several early exchanges. Grandelius neutralised white’s small advantage and the draw was an obvious …
Adams-Navara In an unusual variation of the Sicilian Navara found 22…g5, an interesting way to create counter-play. The resulting rook endgame was slightly better for black, but never offered any realistic winning chances. Grandelius-Salem The game began as the Panov variation of the Caro-Kann, but after …
Pairings round 7, May 9, 12 p.m. CET GM Nils Grandelius – GM Alexei Shirov GM Jorden Van Foreest – GM Hans Niemann GM Michael Adams – GM Saleh Salem GM David Navara – GM Arjun Erigaisi
Pairings round 6, may 8, 3 pm CET GM Alexei Shirov – GM David Navara GM Arjun Erigaisi – GM Michael Adams GM Saleh Salem – GM Jorden Van Foreest GM Hans Niemann – GM Nils Grandelius
Erigaisi-Grandelius Erigaisi surprised with the unusual 7.Bb5 in the Scotch game. Grandelius was under pressure until he was allowed to play 15…dxe4, followed by Nf5 and could safely steer the game towards a draw. Navara-Van Foreest Navara chose a surprisingly timid line against Van Foreest’s accepted queen’s gambit. Both …
Grandelius-Navara Navara used the Berlin variation of the Ruy Lopez and Grandelius managed to mount some pressure as white. Careful handling of the endgame on Navara’s part secured the draw. Salem-Shirov Salem got a promising position early on in a fianchetto Grünfeld and Shirov’s queen seemed to be in trouble …
Pairings round 4, may 6, 3 pm CET: GM Alexei Shirov – GM Michael Adams GM David Navara – GM Jorden Van Forest GM Arjun Erigaisi – GM Nils Grandelius GM Salem Saleh – GM Hans Niemann
Only one win but plenty of action in round 2! Erigiasi is now in the lead with a 100% start to the tournament. Adams-Grandelius Grandelius equalised comfortably against Adams’ Najdorf Sicilian. Exchanges resulted in an opposite coloured bishop ending and a subsequent draw. Navara-Niemann Niemann’s opening preparation seemed to lack …