Wesley So grabs the lead after rapid portion
The last day of the rapid portion of the 2021 Paris Grand Chess Tour, gave us a series of intense and interesting games. Some players surged, while others tumbled hard, but it was American GM Wesley So who found himself with the most consistent play and landed in the top position as the players move into tomorrow’s blitz portion. The day started with a minute of silence for chess legend Carol Jarecki, who sadly passed away recently. Round Seven Going into the round, it was clear that the all-American matchup between Fabiano Caruana vs. Wesley So would be crucial for the standings. In a sharp variation of the Re1 Berlin, it seemed that both players were well prepared but So was just one step ahead! Immediately after preparation, Caruana made an inaccuracy and after that it was an amazing display of technique and precision by So. Flawless move after flawless move eventually toppled Caruana’s position for a huge win – and with the black pieces. Richard Rapport tried an enterprising 3.h4!? against Peter Svidler’s Grunfeld, and with smashing success. After some dubious decisions, Svidler’s position was untenable after only 18 moves and he was forced to resign. Etienne Bacrot had some winning chances against Teimour Radjabov, but the Azerbaijani defended precisely and saved a point. The other two games were drawn uneventfully. Round Eight The first game to finish was an amazing shock: So sacrificed a pawn to pressure Maxime Vachier-Lagrave’s Grunfeld, but the Frenchman navigated the complications well and he was close to equality. However, a horrific and unfortunate blunder by MVL was immediately punished and So scored his second straight victory as he won his opponent’s queen with a simple combination. Peter Svidler had a strong advantage against his countryman Ian Nepomniachtchi, but the resourceful World Championship Challenger tricked his opponent and forced a perpetual. Radjabov and Rapport split the two points without much happening. Caruana, perhaps hungry for points and feeling the pressure, tried too hard against Bacrot, who got the best of the American in a Rauzer Sicilian. With this win, Bacrot joined Nepomniachtchi in a surprising tie for second behind So. The longest game of the round was the marathon and rollercoaster between Firouzja and Aronian. Blunders, time pressure, a long rook endgame – the game had it all. The two points were eventually split after an astonishing 122 moves of chess! Round Nine The final round of the day was full of action and excitement as the only “simple” draw was between Bacrot and So; finishing an amazing run by Bacrot who will be replaced with former World Champion Vladimir Kramnik for the blitz portion! But there certainly was action everywhere else; MVL tried a piece sacrifice against Firouzja, but the phenom defended like a magician. Just as the game was petering out to a draw in a technical rook endgame, Firouzja finally fumbled and MVL took the two points. Although young Alireza had a myriad of opportunities in the rapid portion, surprisingly he is entering the blitz in the last place. Garry Kasparov not only watched the games, but he gave candid commentary live! Aronian, also exhausted from his previous round, blundered quickly against Svidler allowing the Russian to collect an easy pair of points. Rapport had Caruana against the ropes, on the verge of dealing the third loss in a row to World #2. After playing an excellent move, Rapport’s follow-up was lackluster and Caruana mustered defenses just on time to give a perpetual and save a point from the day. Nepomniachtchi played an absolute brilliancy against Radjabov, but his conversion was extremely poor. The game became a strange roller coaster with both kings running around the board, but in the end, the Russian player was able to prove superiority and collected two points, ending the Rapid portion only one point behind American So. The action continues with the blitz portion – don’t miss the debut of Vladimir Kramnik in the 2021 Grand Chess Tour. The coverage of the 2021 Paris Grand Chess Tour continues on June 21 at 7:00 AM CDT with live coverage from GMs Yasser Seirawan, Maurice Ashley, Cristian Chirila and IM Almira Skripchenko exclusively on kasparovchess.com/grand-chess-tour. Text: GM Alejandro Ramirez Photo: Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes Official website: grandchesstour.org
Hou Yifan sails into the quarterfinals
GM Hou Yifan becomes the 8th quarterfinalist of the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship. In the last match of the Round of 16, she defeated IM Gulnar Mammadova 15:6. The top-rated female player started off with three straight victories and never looked back steamrolling her opponent in the 5+1 and 3+1 segments of the match. Gulnar, on the other hand, found some comfort in winning the last 1+1 section. Hou Yifan’s quarterfinal opponent is Bibisara Assaubayeva. The FIDE Chess.com 2021 Women’s Speed Chess Championship is an online competition for titled female players. The qualifiers for the event took place from May 28-June 6, while the main event runs from June 10 to July 3. Players are battling for their share of a total prize fund of $66,000. Fans can follow the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship by watching the live broadcast with expert commentary on Chess.com/TV and Chess.com’s Twitch channel. They will also be able to enjoy the event through Chess.com’s Events page (https://www.chess.com/events). More info and a full schedule of the FIDE Chess.com Women’s Speed Chess Championship can be found here.
Three-way tie on the top after Day 2
Round 2 of the GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz was another exciting day of chess. The full tour participants are joined by three unique wildcards in this event: French hero Etienne Bacrot, wunderkind Alireza Firouzja and World Champion Challenger Ian Nepomniachtchi. Today’s round was full of surprises, battles, and tumbling leaders! Round Four Despite some games ending in uneventful draws, it was certain that the game between the 18-year-old phenom Alireza Firouzja and Fabiano Caruana would keep the spectators at the edge of their seats. The young player may have outplayed the World #2, who found himself with his back against the wall – but never underestimate Caruana; as the American managed to wiggle himself out of trouble with a bit of help from his opponent and some resourceful tactics. Meanwhile, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave must have felt the pressure to score a full two points in today’s French derby against Etienne Bacrot (pictured below). This proved to be a fatal mistake, as he overpushed a drawn rook endgame and ended up losing the game. Round Five A round full of action, Teimour Radjabov fumbled the opening and was in a tough situation with white against Wesley So. Unfortunately, the American was unable to put maximum pressure against his opponent and the game petered into a perpetual. Richard Rapport could not do much with his slight edge against MVL, who continued surprising us with his opening choices: a Slav today to complement yesterday’s French. The true action appeared today in the games of Caruana vs. Svidler and Nepomniachtchi vs. Aronian. Caruana went wild with his attack on the kingside, exposing his own position. It seemed that Svidler was handling things well, but a massive blunder on move 37 missing an important bishop retreat cost him the game – Fabiano does not forgive such mistakes. Meanwhile, the World Championship Challenger played a scintillating attack. A beautiful temporary piece sacrifice gave him the coordination necessary to topple his opponent’s defences. With that, Nepomniachtchi took the first sole lead of the tournament. Round Six It was the duel between Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Ian Nepomniachtchi that immediately attracted the spectators – both players fighting with incredible speed on the clock and with vehemently attacking each other over the board. The aggression was nonstop: Black annihilated White’s kingside pawns, but his own king was caught in some sort of net. The brilliant and surprising 26. Nd7!! Put an immediate end to the game and took down Ian Nepomniachtchi for the first time in this tournament. Spectacular 26. Nd7!! Firouzja as usual seems to play heart-stopping endgames. This round he had an insane rook and pawn endgame against Rapport, with both sides threatening to the queen, sacrifice their rooks and even checkmate on the middle of the board! The game ended in a perpetual check, and the players split the point. Other players also had chances in round six, but ultimately all the remaining games of the day ended peacefully. One more day of rapid remains before the players jump into two days of blitz. The coverage of the 2021 Paris Grand Chess Tour continues on June 20 at 7:00 AM CDT with live coverage from GMs Yasser Seirawan, Maurice Ashley, Cristian Chirila and IM Almira Skripchenko exclusively on kasparovchess.com/grand-chess-tour. Text: GM Alejandro Ramirez Photo: Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes Official website: grandchesstour.org