John Saunders reports: round seven, at the Villa Marina, Douglas, Isle of Man on 1 November, saw the FIDE Grand Swiss competitors return from the rest day suitably reenergised, judging from the rich crop of long games which ensued. The shortest of the top ten boards in the open Grand Swiss lasted 48 moves and the average length was 63 moves for those games. Emerging leader from this sterling struggle was Vidit Gujrathi who beat Javokhir Sindarov with Black to assume the first place on his own. Vidit Gujrathi has 5½/7. No fewer than 11 players now stand on 5/7. The FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss also saw some tough battles, with the upshot being that that Rameshbabu Vaishali and Antoaneta Stefanova joined the previous leader Anna Muzychuk on 5½/7, while Aleksandra Goryachkina and Sophie Milliet are on 5.
Hikaru Nakamura looks relaxed while Alexandr Predke is already studying the board intensely
In the open contest, with eight players on the top score, the first four boards became a mini-match to see how the 2600+ players would fare against the 2700+ elite. It was very long time before the first of the four games ended – five hours, in fact – when Hikaru Nakamura finally stopped trying to defeat Alexandr Predke by allowing a stalemate. The opening was a Sicilian of a less sharp variety than is typical. A lot of material was hoovered off in the run-up to the time control. White won a pawn on move 29, but it was largely symbolic because Black had a much better king position as compensation and the pawn, though passed, had little prospect of advancement. Black even threatened mate which had to be answered with further exchanges which left Nakamura’s pawns vulnerable to the dominant black king.
In 2018, the last time the Isle of Man Masters was held in the Villa Marina, Radoslaw Wojtaszek was the tournament winner
Radoslaw Wojtaszek versus Fabiano Caruana was a Semi-Slav and proceeded evenly, with Wojtaszek (White) retaining a mild edge all the way to the time control. Thereafter Black gradually assumed a slight edge, based on the possession of a passed pawn, but it proved to be token only and a draw was agreed on move 61.
Vidit Gujrathi closes his eyes and meditates before his game with Javokhir Sindarov
Finally, there was a decisive result when Javokhir Sindarov succumbed to Vidit Gujrathi, making the latter the tournament leader. Vidit played the black side of a Giuoco Pianissimo and things started to look suspect for Sindarov when he pushed away a bishop with a g4 pawn push in front of his king, though White’s more serious structural weaknesses were elsewhere. White soon had to surrender a pawn and, before long two knights for a rook. Only a handful of moves later Black crashed through with 27…Rxd3. That really should have been the end of it but Vidit didn’t play the most decisive line, allowing the game to continue longer than it should. However, the win was never really in doubt. Vidit has thus bounced back from his first-round loss to Erwin L’Ami, with a remarkable 5½/6. You will have heard of the Swiss Gambit (whereby a player who loses an early game, benefits from easier pairings, and gets back into contention for first place), but this could be the first time that anyone has achieved a Grand Swiss Gambit.
The last of the top four boards to finish was Arjun Erigaisi against Andrey Esipenko which lasted 90 moves and more than seven hours. It was a Ruy Lopez, not quite a Marshall or an Anti-Marshall, but Marshall- ish. Things became lively and imbalanced, with Erigaisi (White) gaining rook and two pawns for two knights. On move 48 Erigaisi had a fleeting opportunity to saddle Esipenko with an awkward pin by playing 48 Re2! but this winning chance went begging. After that the rest of the game was mere huffing and puffing with little prospect of White making a breakthrough.
Vincent Keymer moved to 5/7 with a win against Anton Korobov
The number of players in the second score group has now swelled to 11, with the addition of Etienne Bacrot, Vincent Keymer, Yuriy Kuzubov, Bogdan-Daniel Deac and Vladimir Fedoseev, all of whom won long games with White. The average number of moves between them was 63 again. They were all very tough and tricky game and don’t lend themselves to instant, overnight analysis, but here’s a flavour of one of them.
England had a very good round. Nikita Vitiugov won with Black against Erwin L’Ami who seems to be tiring after his splendid start to the tournament. The queens came off early in a Queen’s Gambit Declined, and Black gradually outplayed his opponent, eventually winning in 61 moves. Vitiugov now has 4½ and is paired with Javokhir Sindarov in round eight.
Meanwhile, Shreyas Royal had a very creditable win against the 2603-rated Vahap Sanal to reach 3/7. Playing White against a Queen’s Indian, Royal maintained a steady plus into the middlegame, manoeuvring cleverly with his knights and driving an enemy rook into danger. A pawn was won and an attempt at perpetual check easily fended off. Today’s opponent was the lowest rated he has met so far and his TPR stands at 2600. In round eight he meets 2641-rated Raunak Sadhwani.
Li Wu, White, the only untitled player in the tournament, secures a solid draw against GM Michal Krasenkow
Of the Manx players, Li Wu had the better day, drawing solidly with Michael Krasenkow to reach 2/7. Dietmar Kolbus lost to Alon Greenfeld. In round eight they swap opponents from round seven.
Bird’s eye view of Max Warmerdam versus Baskaran Adhiban
For the second time in as many rounds, Baskaran ‘The Beast’ Adhiban played the most entertaining game, but this time he was on the receiving end. The end of the game resembled a sheepdog expertly herding a flock of sheep as Max Warmerdam tried to round up six pawns, four of them passed, armed only with his queen.
Round 7: FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss
The FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss tournament now has three joint leaders, as Anna Muzychuk was held to a draw by Aleksandra Goryachkina to reach 5½, while Rameshbabu Vaishali beat Bibisara Assaubayeva and Antoaneta Stefanova beat Mariya Muzychuk to join Anna Muzychuk on the same score.
Tense body language before the game between Aleksandra Goryachkina and Anna Muzychuk
The top board game was cagey. Aleksandra Goryachkina, as White, opened with the Ruy Lopez, but did not attempt to dominate. By move 31 just the queens and pawns were left, with a slightly odd pawn structure – White had two pairs of doubled pawns, contiguous with each and resembling a fire escape staircase, but it didn’t constitute a significant plus for Anna Muzychuk. It wasn’t a surprise when the game was drawn ten moves later.
Bibisara Assaubayeva and Rameshbabu Vaishali compose themselves before their round seven encounter, won by Black
Bibisara Assaubayeva suffered her second successive loss, playing White against Rameshbabu Vaishali. She opened with a Symmetrical English Four Knights, but 14 e4 looked fishy, saddling White with a backward pawn to go with her three pawn groups, and before long Black enjoyed a comfortable positional plus. On move 30 Black came up with an imaginative idea, allowing a combination which swapped off a considerable amount of material, sacrificed a pawn but gained a number of positional advantages. Or was it just a blunder that simply turned out well? As it happened, it was followed immediately by a terrible mistake by White, walking into a pin and allowing Black to advance a passed pawn which forced the win of a piece. White had two pawns for the piece, but it wasn’t enough. The rest of the game was just a long technical exercise in converting Black’s advantage.
Antoaneta Stefanova and Mariya Muzychuk looks to the heavens before their game starts in round seven
The battle of the two former women’s world champions on board three went in favour of Antoaneta Stefanova, who beat Mariya Muzychuk in 62 moves. The opening was a Modern Steinitz Ruy Lopez with Black (Stefanova) emerging with an extra pawn in return for surrendering the right to castle. However, the material was soon set to prevail and it became two minor pieces for a rook. With an exposed king, it proved to be a long task to convert the material advantage but Black eventually managed it with few alarms.
Sophie Milliet found a neat combination to dispatch Marsel Efroimski in round seven, and moves to 5/7
The players in the second score group number just two, namely Aleksandra Goryachkina and Sophie Milliet, who defeated Marsel Efroimski. The decisive moment of this game was on move 22 when an oversight by Black allowed a neat combination winning three pawns for the exchange an also exposing the black king to a lasting attack by queen and knight.
WIM Trisha Kanyamarala scored her first win in the FIDE Women’s Grand Swiss at the expense of IM-elect Alice Lee
The Irish player Trisha Kanyamarala scored her first win in the tournament at the expense of the 14-year-old American FM Alice Lee, who has been finding the going tough. In round eight Trisha Kanyamarala will face ex-women’s world champion Alexandra Kosteniuk, who is having a disappointing tournament, though she did well to save a dubious position against Oliwia Kiolbasa in round seven.
