John Saunders reports: Round eight of the FIDE Grand Swiss, held at the Villa Marina, Douglas, Isle of Man, on Thursday 2 November 2023, started with one leader, Vidit Gujrathi, but ended with four as the sole leader drew with Hikaru Nakamura, while Bogdan-Daniel Deac beat Radoslaw Wojtaszek, Andrey Esipenko beat Vincent Keymer and, finally, top seed Fabiano Caruana beat Etienne Bacrot to catch Vidit and reach 6/8. A further nine players are on 5½. In the FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss, the joint leaders from round seven, Anna Muzychuk, Rameshbabu Vaishali and Antoaneta Stefanova, remain in place with an extra half point each, 6/8, but the group behind them on 5½ now numbers four: Sophie Milliet, Tan Zhongyi, Leya Garifullina and Batkhuyag Munguntuul. A reminder that, because of special circumstances, round nine of the open starts at 11.30 on Friday while the women’s tournament starts at 13.00.
Unusually quick draw for Hikaru Nakamura against overnight leader Vidit Gujrathi
The top board game between Vidit Gujrathi and Hikaru Nakamura ended in a draw in only 16 moves. Quite surprisingly, as Nakamura tends to be a maximalist and tries to keep the fire burning on board. However, when commenting afterwards, he seemed disenchanted with the opening, which was a c3 Sicilian and probably didn’t offer the sort of dynamism he was looking for. The result meant that Vidit remained on the top score of 6/8 and it remained to be seen whether he could be caught by players from the next five boards. It wasn’t the first game amongst the high boards to finish. Board nine, an all-American pairing between Levon Aronian and Hans Niemann, was drawn in 21 moves, though in less time than board one. The opening was a Berlin Ruy Lopez, all of which had been seen before up to move 14.
Andrey Esipenko caught Vincent Keymer out with a highly original piece of opening preparation
Andrey Esipenko played an imaginative opening to put Vincent Keymer on the back foot early in their game. It was a remarkable idea, sacrificing the exchange for a pawn but gaining a menacing phalanx of central pawns which made it hard for Black to develop. Keymer used up a lot of time trying to figure what to do while Esipenko played the opening rapidly, indicating that it was a laboratory-created weapon. Keymer failed to find a viable treatment that preserved his material advantage and ended up sacrificing the exchange back, leaving himself two pawns down, which Esipenko managed to convert.
Trapper trapped: Bogdan-Daniel Deac laid a snare for ace tactician Radoslaw Wojtaszek – and he fell for it
Bogdan-Daniel Deac won a strange game against Radoslaw Wojtaszek. The opening was yet another Giuoco Pianissimo and the first 40 moves or so consisted of White probing the black position for weaknesses with Black resisting firmly. But just on the time control Black played a strange Bf2 move to try and trade pieces in what was a cramped position, but not necessarily a bad one. White didn’t take the bait but offered his own: a free pawn on h4. Black took it but the analysis engine immediately flagged it up as a blunder. With the greedy bishop temporarily out of the way, White could occupy the c5 strongpoint with his knight, play check on the seventh rank with his rook, and that was pretty much conclusive, and even an amateur player would have been able to spot that without the engine’s help. It was astonishing that the tournament’s ace tactician should have overlooked that (and he wasn’t in time trouble). A case of being hoist by one’s own petard.
Fabiano Caruana’s attempts to beat Etienne Bacrot seemed to be coming to nothing – until move 55
Meanwhile Fabiano Caruana didn’t look to be making any impression on a solid Etienne Bacrot. The opening was a Taimanov Sicilian, with the American spending the first session focusing on ways to target Black’s isolated d-pawn. Black was doing OK until move 55 when he mistakenly opted for a knight exchange. That might not have been fatal but for a further error allowing White to propel his a-pawn forward and secure a won endgame.
14-year-old Shreyas Royal could be close to a GM norm in the Grand Swiss
England’s two representatives in the open tournament both drew their games. Nikita Vitiugov played the white side of a King’s Indian Defence against Javokhir Sindarov. It was a steady game, with a lot of exchanges leading to a level king and pawn ending by move 31 which was drawn on move 40. Both players have 5/8 and so have an outside chance of Candidates’ qualification with a big finish. Shreyas Royal had another good result, drawing with Black against 2641-rated Raunak Sadhwani, which may put him on the brink of a GM norm. His score is 3½/8, which is very impressive in this exalted company. Remember, he is only 14.
Red-letter day for Manx player Li Wu, who beat a grandmaster (photo: Anna Shtourman)
Manx representative Li Wu had cause for celebration in this round when he defeated GM Alon Greenfeld – the first win by a Manx player against a non-Manx player (Li Wu had earlier defeated his Manx colleague Dietmar Kolbus). Li Wu now has 3/8, having score 2½ from his last three games. Dietmar Kolbus lost again against the formidable Polish GM Michal Krasenkow.
Women’s Grand Swiss
“Who – me?” Anna Muzychuk seems to be saying to Antoaneta Stefanova. Their game ended in a draw so they are still leaders
As in the open tournament, the top board concluded swiftly in a draw. Anna Muzychuk opened with the Ruy Lopez and Antoaneta Stefanova responded with the Schliemann Defence (3…f5). The game followed known theory for around 15 moves, with White having a token extra pawn in return for Black’s superior development. Black gave up a second pawn to create a repetition based on a bishop attacking a rook which had to shuttle between d1 and f1. This left them both on 6/8.
Rameshbabu Vaishali seemed close to victory against Sophie Milliet but Black held firm
Meanwhile, Rameshbabu Vaishali, now with the opportunity to seize the sole lead if she won, stirred up a storm against Sophie Milliet. On move 17, Vaishali landed a powerful punch with Ng6. By move 23 she had won a pawn, exchanged queens and established a powerful attack with her minor pieces. The analysis engine Stockfish 16 awarded it an evaluation of +3, but its assessment lowered drastically after White’s 24 Bb3 in a position where White could have played Re1 followed by Nh4 threatening mate in one. White still enjoyed her extra pawn and an edge but her winning chances had seriously dwindled. With both players in time trouble, White briefly went a second pawn up but it soon dropped off and what was left didn’t leave White enough to win.
Tan Zhongyi bounced back with an excellent win against Aleksandra Goryachkina
There was also a Ruy Lopez on board three, where Tan Zhongyi was White against Aleksandra Goryachkina. White’s handling of the opening didn’t seem impressive but inexorably, after multiple exchanges, the former women’s world champion built up her position, utilising her two bishops to menace the black king. In an uncomfortable position Goryachkina gave up a pawn with a view to a draw with reduced material on the board. However, Tan Zhongyi carefully marshalled her two bishops and king to a point where Black’s position looked hopeless. Black’s only hope was a opposite-coloured bishop endgame but White was clever enough to engineer just such an endgame where it was still a win for her. A set-back for Aleksandra Goryachkina, now in the third score group on 5/8, but still with a chance of staging a come-back if she can maximise her score in the last three rounds; and, of course, the consolation that she arrived in the Isle of Man with her Candidates’ ticket already in the bag. For Tan Zhongyi the win took her to 5½, just half a point behind the leaders and back into contention for one of the Candidates’ places.
Leya Garifullina sprang a deadly mating net around Polina Shuvalova
Board four, between Leya Garifullina and Polina Shuvalova was… yes, you guessed it, another Ruy Lopez. After a lot of exchanges, just before the time control, White succeeded in winning a pawn, but it didn’t look conclusive as it was likely that the pawns would be on one side of the board only. Then, out of the blue, the black king took a wrong turn into a mating net and the game came to a sudden end.
Mai Narva scored her third successive white win against GMs in beating Mariya Muzychuk
Mariya Muzychuk, as third highest rated player in the field, probably arrived in the Isle of Man with high hopes of joining her sister Anna in the Candidates’ tournament, but her aspirations took a severe knock in round eight as she lost to Estonian IM Mai Narva. With a score of only 4/8 even a 3/3 finish might not be good enough. Mariya Muzychuk played the black side of a Sveshnikov Sicilian which followed theory for 17 moves. The position looked level until Black played 32…g6 and weakened her kingside. White didn’t make the best of it and there was even a fleeting moment in time trouble when Black might have turned the tables, but instead she blundered and it was all over.
Medina Warda Aulia conducted a beautiful counter-offensive against GM Elina Danielian to reach 4/8
Elina Danelian ’s loss to Medina Warda Aulia was the stuff of chess (k)nightmares. White was doing fine but one slip and suddenly her queen was tied in knots and two knights were out for her blood. Credit to Black for whipping up such a precise and deadly counter-offensive.
Round nine has unusual split start times because of a fireworks display on the promenade
immediately which would otherwise disturb the end of the round if played at the normal time.
The open FIDE Grand Swiss starts at 11.30 GMT while the Women’s Grand Swiss starts at 13.00 GMT.
Join the broadcast with GM David Howell and IM Jovanka Houska at 11.30 GMT on iomchess.com
