2023 Superbet Chess Classic: Day 2 Recap
Day 2 of the Superbet Chess Classic saw Ian Nepomniachtchi and Richard Rapport join Wesley So in the lead, with Nepomniachtchi defeating Deac with Black while Rapport ground down Duda in an opposite-coloured bishop endgame. DING – CARUANA | ½-½, 21 moves Facing Ding’s Catalan, Caruana opted for a tricky line starting with 8…Nc6. It seems Ding was caught off-guard as he started to spend time, but he chose a reasonable continuation to trade off his bishops and establish a strong knight on c6. However, Caruana had a tactical way of evicting White’s knight, which equalized the position on the spot, prompting Ding to repeat moves. 17…Nc5! was an equalizer from Caruana, with idea 18.dxc5 Qxc6. Instead the players repeated moves with 18.Nb4 Nb7 19.Nc6 Nc5, etc. Two whites and two draws for the World Champion. | Photo Courtesy Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes VACHIER-LAGRAVE – SO | ½-½, 22 moves In a bit of a surprise, Vachier-Lagrave went for the London System, but failed to achieve any edge against So, who played accurately out of the opening. The players traded queens soon after, and if anyone stood better in the endgame, it was Wesley with the slightly healthier structure. But it wasn’t enough of an advantage to really press, as the game quickly ended in a three-time repetition. So perhaps could have pushed for more but decided not to risk it. | Photo Courtesy Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes GIRI – FIROUZJA | ½-½, 36 moves Despite playing the solid Exchange Slav, Giri fell under certain pressure as he got a slightly worse position in the middlegame. Firouzja tried to increase his advantage by piling up on the c-pawn but didn’t have quite enough to generate real winning chances. From there, the pieces were soon liquidated, and the players entered a dead-drawn endgame. Firouzja was somewhat better against Giri but couldn’t make much out of it. | Photo Courtesy Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes DEAC – NEPOMNIACHTCHI | 0-1, moves A sharp variation in the Queen’s Gambit Declined saw Deac sacrifice an exchange out of the opening, getting a lot of compensation in the form of the two bishops. The ensuing middlegame was quite tricky to play, as Nepomniachtchi slowly activated his rooks and managed to outplay Deac. From there, Deac did not manage to find the best way to defend as Nepo traded into a completely won endgame to pick up his first point. Nepo’s 33…h5 left White without any good options, as the threat of 33…h4 is highly unpleasant. A clean win as Black from Nepo, as he joins the lead. | Photo Courtesy Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes RAPPORT – DUDA | 1-0, 52 moves While Rapport did not achieve much out of the opening, with the players reaching an endgame with opposite-coloured bishops, a dubious decision by Duda (21…b5) suddenly allowed White some play. Despite trading all the rooks off to enter a pure opposite-coloured bishop endgame, Rapport won a pawn and generated serious winning chances thanks to his much healthier structure. The position could have still been held with perfect defence, but Duda ultimately failed as Rapport eventually broke through and scored a victory. Here Rapport played 24.Bxd1!, with the idea to meet 24…cxb5 with 25.b4!, fixing Black’s weakness on a light-square and guaranteeing White a long-term advantage. An excellent endgame win for Rapport, who squeezed water from a stone. | Photo Courtesy Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes The 2023 Superbet Chess Classic continues Monday, May 8, with tournament action live starting at 6:50 AM CT with Grandmaster commentators Yasser Seirawan, Var Akobian, Cristian Chirila and International Master Nazi Paikidze on grandchesstour.org and on the Saint Louis Chess Club’s YouTube and Twitch.tv channels. Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy Photos: Courtesy of Grand Chess Tour and Spectrum Studios; Credits available on Flickr. Further Information:Web: GrandChessTour.org | Twitter: @GrandChessTourInstagram: @GrandChessTour | Facebook: @GrandChessTour#GrandChessTour#SuperbetChessClassic Venue: Grand Hotel Bucharest, Bucharest, RomaniaMay 6 – May 15, 2023 Press Contact:press@grandchesstour.org Livestream:GrandChessTour.org
2023 Superbet Chess Classic: Day 1 Recap
The 2023 Grand Chess Tour kicked off on May 07 with Round 1 of the Superbet Chess Classic Romania, a 10-player elite round-robin taking place in Bucharest, Romania, featuring newly crowned World Champion Ding Liren as well as challenger Ian Nepomniactchi. After the first round of action, Wesley So jumped into the sole lead as he managed to score the only decisive result of the day, defeating Alireza Firouzja with the Black pieces. A festive opening ceremony took place last night and featured the drawing of lots, artistic performances, talks by prominent figures and a simul featuring the players along with the 13th World Champion, Garry Kasparov. “The game has a great future because we know we have solid supporters that are making sure that our game will always be treated as it deserves.” – Kasparov. | Photo Courtesy of Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes DING – VACHIER-LAGRAVE | ½-½, 34 moves In his first game as the new World Champion, Ding encountered the Queen’s Gambit Accepted played by Vachier-Lagrave. Ding essayed the solid 7.b3 line but failed to get much pressure. MVL was well-prepared and successfully liquidated all the material to force a drawn endgame. From one champ to another – Garry Kasparov made the opening move for Ding Liren. | Photo Courtesy of Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes NEPOMNIACHTCHI – RAPPORT | ½-½, 42 moves An interesting match-up featuring the recent World Championship challenger Nepomniachtchi, facing off against the main second of his match opponent, Ding Liren. Repeating one of Ding’s openings, Rapport opted for the French Defense, against which Nepomniachtchi once again chose the 3.Nd2 variation (as he played in the match). Soon after Nepo managed to reach a pleasant endgame where he could play against Black’s isolated queen pawn, but sturdy defence by Rapport allowed him to equalize and force a three-time repetition. Nepo had a clear edge out of the opening but couldn’t increase his advantage. | Photo Courtesy of Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes DUDA – GIRI | ½-½, 39 moves The players entered a sharp variation of the Queen’s Gambit Accepted (3.e4 e5), where it seemed like Giri was the better-prepared player, as Duda started to spend lots of time out of the opening. The Polish No. 1 then found a concrete path to force a series of trades and reach an equal middlegame, where more exchanges left the players in a dead-drawn rooks and opposite colored bishops endgame. After 16.Kf2 White’s rook on a1 is hanging, but the threat of b6-b7 will allow him to win the material back. It seemed like Duda was under pressure, but he found his way out. | Photo Courtesy of Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes CARUANA – DEAC | ½-½, 49 moves A rare line in the Nimzo-Indian Defense saw the players reach a complicated but balanced endgame, with two bishops but worse development for Caruana. For the most part, Deac defended well, but in time trouble, he gave Caruana a chance to get a nearly decisive advantage. Unfortunately for Fabi, he missed this opportunity, and the game soon petered out into a drawn rook ending. After 33…Bh5, Caruana missed the chance to play 34.Bxc5 Rxc5 35.g4! Bg6 (35…Bxg4 Rg1+- is the main point, where Black loses a piece) 36.Bd5+-, with a huge strategic advantage as Black’s light-squared bishop is shut out. Caruana had a brief chance to win the game, but he let Deac off the hook. | Photo Courtesy of Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes FIROUZJA – SO | 0-1, 72 moves At first, the game started off rather quietly with a fairly typical Italian position. But after a few trades and a lot of manoeuvring, So seized the initiative with 37…g5, a tremendous kingside advance with the idea of displacing White’s knight. The problems were too tricky for Firouzja to handle, as So quickly won a pawn and took control over the position. In mutual time trouble, So didn’t find the most decisive path to victory but rather took the game into an endgame, where he created two passed pawns on the queenside and gradually converted his advantage. After 37…g5!, So put heavy pressure on Firouzja’s position, threatening to play g5-g4 next. Good technique earned Wesley So the early lead. | Photo Courtesy Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes The 2023 Superbet Chess Classic continues Sunday, May 7, with tournament action live starting at 6:50 AM CT with Grandmaster commentators Yasser Seirawan, Var Akobian, Cristian Chirila and International Master Nazi Paikidze on grandchesstour.org and on the Saint Louis Chess Club’s YouTube and Twitch.tv channels. Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy Photos: Courtesy of Grand Chess Tour and Spectrum Studios; Credits available on Flickr. Further Information:Web: GrandChessTour.org | Twitter: @GrandChessTourInstagram: @GrandChessTour | Facebook: @GrandChessTour#GrandChessTour#SuperbetChessClassic Venue: Grand Hotel Bucharest, Bucharest, RomaniaMay 6 – May 15, 2023 Press Contact:press@grandchesstour.org Livestream:GrandChessTour.org