This afternoon saw our last tournament games of the year! Many had decisive results as players exerted themselves to try and win. In fact, the round began 15 minutes later than scheduled, at 3:15pm., this decision being taken since some games in the previous round were especially long, thereby delaying the pairings.
The big news is that after six rounds we are back to a single leader, the new front-runner being GM Pierre Laurent-Paoli, who beat IM Tor Fredrik Kaasen with Black. GM Matthew Sadler described this game as ”a good, determined win.” The Frenchman, our second seed, moves up to 5/6.
Our top board clash was an all-Chinese encounter, with GM Pengxiang Zhang, as Black, choosing a remarkably rare move in the opening (9…Nfd7). Haowen Xue, his young opponent, kept a secure plus, and was later a pawn up. In the endgame however Pengxiang showed great composure and held the balance.
Mads Vestby-Ellingsen ”over-equalised” with Black in a Catalan opening against Vignir Stefansson, who offered him a draw after just 18 moves. The Norwegian was happy to accept – his good run here continues.
The other joint leader, India’s IM Siva Mahadevan, faced Shreyas Royal. The young English GM took risks but stirred up complications, his judgment proving correct as the game turned his way. In this manner Shreyas, who started here with a shock loss, finds himself in the group of ten players tied for 2nd place on 4,5/6.
One of the biggest upsets of the tournament happened in this round, as Iceland’s Benedikt Briem beat Mahel Boyer, the French IM who outrates him by nearly 400 points. Other match-ups went in favour of the titled player. Kirk Ghazarian reacted sharply in the opening as Black to seize the initiative, while Sweden’s Jung Min Seo played in a measured, positional style, both GMs securing the full point.
We must also mention the game Ilia Malinovskii versus FM Baptiste Roux, a long and gritty affair which lasted 112 moves – and which ended a draw. The French player was on the verge of defeat but somehow held on.
We wish all players, accompanying persons and those following the Congress a very happy New Year! As midnight approached, the wild sea thumping the pier, it was hard to believe that on more than one occasion the Congress (or part of it) actually took place on that embattled structure. GMs Danny Gormally and Vignir Stefansson now provided us with fireworks too, playing blitz at the White Rock Hotel.
Photograph by Prashila Narsing Chauhan