Everyone understands that last rounds of tournaments are decisive in settling the final places, but the penultimate rounds of important events are also incredibly important! We were treated today to three decisive results on the top three tables, fixing the highest scores going into the final day.
Our top board pairing between the joint leaders did not disappoint. With the White pieces, Haowen Xue kept a small but durable advantage following the opening. His 23.Nd2 with the d6 square in his sights was strong, Pierre Laurent-Paoli deciding to sacrifice the Exchange rather than absorb further pressure. Although his passed d4-pawn was an asset, Black’s chances soon dipped and the young Chinese ruthlessly applied the finishing touches: Pierre sportingly played on until checkmate. This crucial point leaves Haowen in pole position on 6,5/9, half a point clear of his closest rivals.
China celebrated a second victory on board two, as GM Pengxiang Zhang beat IM Aaravamudhan Balaji with Black. The extra pawn that the Chinese GM pocketed in the opening became a lethal weapon, advancing all the way to the seventh rank, Black offering his Queen for rook and bishop without too much concern. This was another assured performance from our top seed, who like last year has impressed. He has 6/8 with one to play.
The second player to reach 6/8 is GM Danny Gormally. With Black versus GM Vignir Stefansson his task looked difficult, with the Icelander clearly in a combative mood, but after an opening which looked about equal Vignir’s 17.Ne3 was a misguided attempt to keep tension. With natural moves Danny assumed a significant advantage. As Vignir later admitted, he only noticed Black’s powerful bishop sacrifice on f2 after exchanging his own bishop for the knight on c6, by which time there was hardly any way back. Danny executed the finish in style.
GM Kirk Ghazarian also reached the magic score of 6/8, overcoming IM Yang-Fan Zhou in a close game where White’s activity in an endgame tipped the scales in his favour. None of the other players on 5/7 were able to win. The most dramatic of these encounters was between IM Tor Fredrik Kaasen and FM Hugo de Melo Lux. By launching his h- and g-pawns early on the Brazilian made his intentions clear, sacrificing the Exchange too. White survived, but then blundered in trying to untie his pieces. A killing blow was overlooked, and the game ended in a sudden draw by perpetual check.
This evening we held our second blitz event, a 9-round, individual Open tournament, FIDE-rated, at the White Rock Hotel. More than thirty players signed up. The single GM in the field, Vignir Stefansson, triumphed with 8,5/9.
Photograph by Anniken Vestby