John Saunders reports: the 3rd FIDE Grand Swiss and 2nd FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss tournaments got underway on Wednesday 25 October 2023 at the Villa Marina, Douglas, marking a welcome return for the super-strong event to its plush venue of choice for the first time in five years. 114 competitors, the vast majority of whom are grandmasters, line up in the former tournament, while 50 leading women players compete in the latter, which is being held in the Isle of Man for the first time. Top seeds in the Grand Swiss are Fabiano Caruana and Hikaru Nakamura, ranked 2nd and 4th in the world, while Aleksandra Goryachkina and Alexandra Kosteniuk are the highest rated female players, ranked 3rd and 7th in the world.
Before the chess comes the check-up: arbiters scanning the competitors for hidden electronics
Until 2023 the top of the chess pyramid has been stable for many years. Vishy Anand, and later Magnus Carlsen, reigned supreme as undisputed champions and took part in most of the major events that were organised. But this year has seen cracks appearing in the structure of classical championship chess. Firstly, Magnus Carlsen expressed his disenchantment with the world championship system and withdrew from it altogether. Then, more surprisingly, his successor Ding Liren, having annexed the supreme title, suddenly disappeared from view, hardly participating in any chess activity and drawing comparisons with Bobby Fischer and his stint as non-playing chess champion of the world from 1972 to 1975.
Fabiano Caruana: in 2023 the hottest property in chess
However, the chess world, like nature, abhors a vacuum, and into the breach has stepped the US number one Fabiano Caruana, who seems to be back to the form that took to the brink of the world title. I covered this in some depth in my earlier preview of the event, but since then Caruana has gone on to defend his US title in some style. And, if his round one performance is any indication, he means to add the 2023 FIDE Grand Swiss to his collection of tournament wins.
Of course, there are no easy pairings in a tournament which is ocean-deep in GMs. Caruana’s first round opponent was Ivan Saric, rated 2647, the 2018 European Champion. The Croatian grandmaster tried to be aggressive but his tactics were coolly rebuffed by the American.
Hikaru Nakamura: grandmaster of disaster (very nearly)
On the second board Hikaru Nakamura diced with disaster around move 30 against Rasmus Svane but managed to right his ship in the run-up to the time control.
Levon Aronian: already a leading contender for the ‘best shirt’ prize and a smooth win in round one
On board seven Levon Aronian seemed to be following the lead of his US colleague on board one, giving up a pawn in the opening against Max Warmerdam. His compensation seemed nebulous – so he sacrificed a piece! However, the young Dutchman’s handling of the complications was suboptimal and Aronian eventually got the better of a heavy piece endgame.
Moving further down the draw order, there were wins for the higher-rated players or else draws, until we reach board 15 on which Erwin L’Ami overcame Santosh Gujrati Vidit, which is perhaps not a surprise of the greatest magnitude given the Dutchman’s eminence in the chess world. A draw was the likeliest outcome until the Indian player blundered fatally on the 40th move.
Nikita Vitiugov playing under St George’s flag for the first time. He drew with Vasif Durarbayli
Nikita Vitiugov made his debut as England’s new top ranked player with a steady draw on board 17 but there was joy for 14-year-old England IM Shreyas Royal who defeated 2650-rated Spanish GM Jaime Santos Latasa. The young English player seemed a little worse in the opening but, after a curious sequence in which the four knights performed an elegant dance around each other – not so much a black knights’ tango as a line dance followed by a square dance – his opponent made a mistake. It was still going to be an uphill struggle to win the game with a relatively slight advantage but Royal’s determination paid off when the Spaniard blundered on move 59.
A dream start for 14-year-old English IM Shreyas Royal in round one
Other defeats of Goliath by David included Huschenbeth 1-0 Navara (the latter being both David and Goliath, confusingly); Donchenko 0-1 Jumabayev; the 23-year-old Australian GM Temur Kuybokarov defeated Maxim Matlakov; and on the next board to the Royal 1-0 Santos game was another Spanish calamity, with 2650-rated GM Alan Pichot losing to 2447-rated IM Ramazan Zhalmakhanov of Kazakhstan.
Spanish GM Alan Pichot (White) went down in flames against Ramazan Khalmakhanov of Kazakhstan
Finally, the numbers 113 and 114 in the rankings, Li Wu and IM Dietmar Kolbus, failed to score against opponents rated 2649 and 2648. Chess is a hard game.
Top seed Aleksandra Goryachkina drew with difficulty against Ann Matnadze Bujiashvili of Spain
Turning our attention to the Women’s Grand Swiss, the top seed Aleksandra Goryachkina had a narrow escape against Spanish IM Ann Matnadze Bujiashvili after going wrong immediately after the time control. After seeming on the brink of defeat her opponent then blundered horribly and Goryachkina might even have won before the game finally petered out to a draw.
Eline Roebers pulled off the surprise result of the round, defeating Polina Shuvalova
The major surprise on the higher boards was the defeat of Polina Shuvalova by the 17-year-old Dutch IM Eline Roebers. A game which went back and forth finally ended when Shuvalova gave up a piece to get perpetual check only to discover that her tactic had a fatal flaw.
They travelled from India to play chess against each other on the other side of the world: Tania Sachdev (white) vs Harika Dronavalli
Tania Sachdev and Harika Dronavalli travelled all the way from India to the Isle of Man only to find they were paired against each other in round one. The game seemed to be going in favour of the higher-rated Dronavalli but Sachdev managed to defend for a draw.
Elisabeth Paehtz of Germany defeated young US star Alice Lee
14-year-old US player Alice Lee is a great prospect but she found GM Elisabeth Paehtz in remorseless form. Black neglected her development and White’s attack soon crashed through.
Alice Lee: tough start but her time will surely come.
Round two is at 1430 GMT+1 on Thursday 26 October with live commentary at iomchess.com
