2021 Superbet Chess Classic – Day 8 Recap
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov maintained his full-point lead in the 2021 Superbet Chess Classic, forcing a quick draw against Giri while neither of his closest rivals was able to make progress in the standings. The only decisive victory went to Levon Aronian, who won his second game in a row to give himself an outside chance of catching up to the leader. With just one round left to play, Mamedyarov can clinch clear first place in Bucharest tomorrow with another draw. But a loss will mean that either Aronian, So, or Grischuk will be able to catch up with a win. Mamedyarov – Giri ½-½ With a full-point lead going into the final two rounds, Mamedyarov opted for a trendy forced draw in the Grunfeld Defense, used by Radjabov earlier in the event and by several top players in recent online events. Giri, playing Black, did not object and the game was drawn soon after the round started. Playing it safe after three wins in a row, Mamedyarov forced a draw today with the White pieces. | Photo: Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes So – Vachier-Lagrave ½-½ A quite unusual variation in the Symmetrical English saw Vachier-Lagrave making eight moves with the same knight out of the first ten, in exchange for White having to move his king and weaken his structure in the center. A sharp battle ensued, with So sacrificing a pawn on the kingside in order to generate a dangerous attack. MVL defended well though and was able to force a series of trades, leading to a drawn opposite-colored bishops endgame. Radjabov – Lupulescu ½-½ For the first time in the event, Radjabov opted for 1.e4 and did not force a theoretical draw with White, opting to play a fighting game against Lupulescu, who went for the Classical Sicilian which he previously used against Grischuk. While Black’s position looked suspect on the light-squares, Radjabov was not able to secure an advantage, and Lupulescu slowly started to take over the initiative. Soon the minor pieces got traded off, leaving both players with a queen and pair of rooks, and neither player able to make progress without exposing their own king. The game was then drawn by repetition after the first time control. Deac – Aronian 0-1 A surprising choice of the Sicilian Defense backfired for Aronian, as he ended up in a slightly worse endgame coming out of the Moscow Variation (3.Bb5+). But he was soon able to outplay the Romanian Junior and 10 moves later Black was already playing for two results. Despite putting up stiff resistance, Deac made a crucial error in a pure bishop vs. knight endgame, and Aronian found a brilliant breakthrough to win his second game in a row. After 60…e5! with the point 61.Nxe5 Kc2!, and White would have no way to stop the plan of bringing Black’s king to f1 to escort the g-pawn, winning. Grischuk – Caruana ½-½ Looking to win to stay in the range of Mamedyarov, Grischuk chose an aggressive approach against Caruana’s Neo-Moller (5…Bc5) Variation of the Ruy Lopez, pushing his kingside early to take lots of space. White’s kingside quickly became overextended, however, and Caruana was the one to seize the initiative in the middlegame, forcing Grischuk to give up a pawn. After a tense time scramble leading up to the first time control, it was Grischuk who managed to come out on top with an extra pawn and seemingly excellent winning chances in the endgame. But a later slip allowed Caruana a nice resource to liquidate most of the material and end up in a drawn rook endgame. The final round of the 2021 Superbet Chess Classic will take place on June 14, starting at 6:50 AM CDT with live coverage from GMs Alejandro Ramirez, Yasser Seirawan, and Maurice Ashley on grandchesstour.org/live. Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy Photo: Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes and Bryan Adams Official website: grandchesstour.org/
Lagno defeats Gunina to advance into quarters
Katerina Lagno prevailed over Valentina Gunina in a dramatic Round of 16 Russian derby to secure her spot in the quarterfinals. Katerina won the longest stage of the match (5+1) by a minimal margin of 4½:3½, but Valentina stormed back in the 3+1 portion to level the score. The opponents exchanged heavy blows in the final 1+1 part of the duel and it came down to the final winner-takes-it-all game. Lagno pulled it off with black pieces and punched her ticket into the quarterfinals. Next up: Round of 16, Match 3 on June 16 at 15:30 CEST – GM Alexandra Kosteniuk vs. GM Harika Dronavalli. 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.
2021 Superbet Chess Classic – Day 7 Recap
Things couldn’t have gone better today for World No. 5 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov as he defeated Fabiano Caruana in an explosive fashion to win his third game in a row in the 2021 Superbet Chess Classic. Meanwhile, the previous co-leader Alexander Grischuk lost a difficult game to Levon Aronian, leaving Mamedyarov with a full-point lead ahead of the field. With two rounds left to play, Mamedyarov is now a strong favourite to win the event, which would earn him a first-place prize of $90,000 and 13 Grand Chess Tour Points in the overall circuit. Radjabov – So ½-½ A theoretical Ragozin Defense saw Teimour Radjabov offer a piece sacrifice in order to open up his opponent’s king, but Wesley So promptly declined (accepting would be far too dangerous) and instead found a clever way to simplify into an equal endgame. With even material and opposite-colored bishops, the result was never in doubt and the players drew shortly before move 40. Aronian – Grischuk 1-0 Despite a quiet variation of the Tarrasch Defense, Grischuk found himself in a particularly grueling version of his usual time-trouble, going down to just 13 minutes with 26 moves left to play in the first time control. Although his position wasn’t objectively bad, Grischuk quickly misplayed things, allowing Aronian to weaken Black’s king and soon take advantage with a vicious attack. After 29 moves it was all over, with Aronian’s pieces ready to soon deliver mate. Caruana – Mamedyarov 0-1 The game of the round saw Mamedyarov take his chances with an early and extremely aggressive g7-g5 push in the typically-solid Berlin Defense, looking to attack White’s king from the very start. Although the engine disapproved of Black’s play, Caruana could not refute the line over the board and quickly found himself in trouble, opting to trade queens into a difficult endgame. Despite resistance from Fabiano, sacrificing two pawns in hopes of activity, Mamedyarov accepted the material and accurately converted his advantage, eventually ending in a trivial rook endgame. Giri – Vachier-Lagrave 1-0 Anish Giri was somewhat fortunate today as Maxime Vachier-Lagrave didn’t seem to have many issues equalizing against his anti-Grunfeld with 1.Nf3. Things, however, were not too simple as Giri ended up with an extra pawn in an endgame with rooks and opposite-colored bishops. Despite the drawish tendency of these kinds of endgames, Giri managed to cause problems for MVL; and an untimely trade of rooks left White with decent winning chances in the pure opposite-colored bishops endgame. MVL then made one more mistake and it was all over, as Giri found a nice way to sacrifice his bishop for multiple passed pawns and a decisive advantage. Lupulescu – Deac ½-½ The battle of the two Romanian locals also proved to be an exciting one, with both players fighting for chances in a complicated ‘isolated queen pawn’ middlegame. As the pieces came off the board, it was Deac who had the upper hand in the endgame, thanks to his slightly better structure and more active pieces, but Lupulescu defended well and managed to eventually hold the draw. The coverage of the 2021 Superbet Chess Classic continues Sunday, June 12, at 6:50 AM CDT with live coverage from GMs Alejandro Ramirez, Yasser Seirawan, and Maurice Ashley on grandchesstour.org/live. Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy Photo: Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes Official website: grandchesstour.org/
Assaubayeva beats Koneru to advance into quarters
Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) turned in a dominating performance in the first Round of 16 match against Humpy Koneru (IND) and advanced to the quarterfinals of the WSCC 2021 Main Event. The youngest participant in the field (Bibisara is just 17), who had qualified for the main event, won all three segments (5+1, 3+1 and 1+1) of the duel against the top-rated opponent. Bibisara was particularly strong in the fastest 1+1 stage to finish the match comfortably 14½ : 7 ½ . In the second Round of 16 match scheduled for June 13 – Katerina Lagno takes on Valentina Gunina. 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.
FIDE World Cup 2021: Accommodation guide
The Organizing Committee secured a limited number of rooms at discount prices at the following five hotels (“Official Hotels”) in Sochi (Krasnaya Polyana District) for the accommodation of players during the FIDE World Cup. The rooms will be allocated on a “first come first served” basis. The rates include all applicable taxes and charges except Resort Fee 10 RUR (approximately equal to USD 0.14) per person per night, which according to local laws must be paid to hotels directly by hotel guests. Transportation from Official Hotels to/from the Adler / Sochi International Airport (AER) and to/from the playing venue will be provided free of charge. Accommodation costs for players staying at Official Hotels booked via the Organizing Committee will be paid to hotels by the Organizing Committee and deducted from the players’ prize money. All extra costs (room service, early check-in/late check-out, mini bar, laundry, etc.) shall be settled with hotels by players during check-out. In accordance with the legislation of the Russian Federation, all payments to hotels shall be made in Russian Rubles (all major payment cards are accepted). PARK INN ROZA KHUTOR 4*Distance to the competition venue – 2.6 km.Accommodation will be guaranteed by Organizing Committee only for the period from July 10th until July 18th Room rates: Rate for single accommodation (One person per room): Standard Breakfast only – 7 500 RUR per room per night, Full Board – 11 100 RUR Rate for double accommodation (Two persons per room, 2 twin beds): Standard Breakfast only – 8 300 RUR per room per night, Full Board – 15 500 RUR All taxes except Resort Fee (10 RUR per person per night) are included. There are no rooms left in this hotel at our special rates GRAND HOTEL POLYANA 5*Distance to the competition venue – 950 mAccommodation will be guaranteed by Organizing Committee from July 10th Room rates: Rate for single accommodation (One person per room): Deluxe (with a balcony) Breakfast only – 16 400 RUR per room per night, Full Board – 20 400 RUR Extra costs for additional person: Breakfast only – 1 650 RUR per night, Full Board – 5 650 RUR All taxes except Resort Fee (10 RUR per person per night) are included. There are no rooms left in this hotel at our special rates SOCHI MARRIOTT KRASNAYA POLYANA HOTEL 5*Distance to the competition venue – 2.4 kmAccommodation will be guaranteed by Organizing Committee from July 14th Room rates: Rate for single accommodation (One person per room): Deluxe (one bed) Breakfast only – 16 900 RUR per room per night, Full board – 20 900 RUR. Executive Deluxe (one bed) Breakfast only – 20 200 RUR per room per night, Full board – 24 200 RUR. Suite (one bed) Breakfast only – 21 900 RUR per room per night, Full board – 25 900 RUR.Extra costs for additional person: Breakfast only – 1 650 RUR per night, Full board – 5 650 RUR per night. Rate for double accommodation in Deluxe (Two persons per room, 2 twin beds): Breakfast only – 18 200 RUR per room per night. Full Board – 26 200 RUR per room per night. All taxes except Resort Fee (10 RUR per person per night) are included. COURTYARD SOCHI KRASNAYA POLYANA 4*Distance to the competition venue – 1.7 km.Accommodation will be guaranteed by Organizing Committee from July 10th There are no rooms left in this hotel at our special rates MERCURE ROZA KHUTOR 4*Distance to the competition venue – 2.4 km.Accommodation will be guaranteed by Organizing Committee from July 10th There are no rooms left in this hotel at our special rates Dear participants: you should choose the accommodation via the registration system: https://wc2021registration.fide.com/. Please indicate your check-in date as the date of your arrival in Sochi. Indicate your check-out date as the 7th of August. Once you have completed your participation in the tournament, visit the registration system and update your check-out date. Information about Tournament Hall: Gazprom mountain resort, Galaktika center (Achipsinskaya street, 12). Official FIDE World Cup 2021 website: https://worldcup.fide.com
2021 Superbet Chess Classic – Day 6 Recap
It was an exciting day of chess as Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Alexander Grischuk both won their games today to remain in the lead after Round 6 of the 2021 Superbet Chess Classic. The two leaders are currently on 4.0/6, while previous co-leader Wesley So is just a half-point behind with three rounds left to play. Vachier-Lagrave – Caruana An extremely sharp Neo-Moller Variation of the Ruy Lopez tested the opening preparation of both players, where Vachier-Lagrave was the first to slip, mixing up his move order in a critical position (18.f4 instead of 18.Rg5). Caruana spotted the opportunity to seize the initiative, but faltered a few moves later, allowing MVL back into the game. After Fabiano’s slip, neither player had chances to play for a win and a repetition was forced to draw the game. Mamedyarov – Aronian A surprising blunder from Aronian allowed Mamedyarov to win two pawns and achieve a virtually decisive advantage, with the safer king in addition to the extra material. Despite resistance from Aronian, the win was never in doubt and Mamedyarov won his second game of the event, moving to a +2 score. Aronian played 22…Re8, which allowed 23.Rxe8+ Bxe8 24.Bxf7! Deac – Radjabov A quiet 5.Re1 Berlin led to a symmetrical position out of the opening, with neither player able to create any real imbalance. After most of the pieces were traded off on the open e-file, the game was eventually drawn in an equal king and pawn endgame. Grischuk – Lupulescu In a complex Richter-Rauzer Sicilian Grischuk managed to pose some serious problems for Lupulescu, who made a strategic mistake with 17…Bb5, trading off light-squared bishops. After the trade of bishops, White was able to dominate the light-squares in the center, which soon led to material losses for Black. Facing a trade of queens into a hopeless endgame, Lupulescu resigned, giving Grischuk his second win of the event as well. So – Giri The last game of the day to finish saw Wesley So pressing his advantage for many moves in a slightly better endgame. Despite winning an extra pawn, So wasn’t able to generate much progress, as Giri defended with fantastic precision, keeping his pieces active throughout the endgame. The game was later drawn after all the pawns were finally traded off. The coverage of the 2021 Superbet Chess Classic continues Saturday, June 12, at 6:50 AM CDT with live coverage from GMs Alejandro Ramirez, Yasser Seirawan, and Maurice Ashley on grandchesstour.org/live. Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy Photo: Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes Official website: grandchesstour.org/
Queens’ Festival gets underway
The Queens’ Festival project kicked off on June 11 with an online ceremony featuring FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, FIDE Managing Director Dana Reizniece-Ozola, FIDE Vice President Lukasz Turlej and other speakers. The ceremony and the first seminar of the project were broadcast live on the FIDE YouTube channel. In his introductory speech FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich shared his support of the initiative: “My warm greetings on behalf of FIDE to all the participants and organizers of “The Queens’ Festival”. For us, it’s a special event. As you probably know, we announced 2022 – the year of women’s chess. It doesn’t mean that we will only pay attention to this very important trend for one year. We started doing big things already quite some time ago. We increased prizes in women’s tournaments, included more women in chess management, and we’ve just completed the Women’s Grand-Prix Series which was really important for us. Hopefully, this festival, seminars, important speeches and contributions, and, of course, chess events will create a positive image of women in chess for the months to come. It is crucial for us to continue this trend in a long-term perspective on a sustainable basis. We are happy that the International Olympic Committee supported us in this endeavour and contributed to the organization of this event. Please consider me my colleagues as your supporters.” FIDE Managing Director Dana Reizniece-Ozola shared her experience how to balance playing chess and making a career with family responsibilities: “Whenever somebody tells you that you have to choose either to have a family or to have your hobbies and career, don’t believe. You can have it all! I am one of the examples. Today I celebrate the 18th birthday of my eldest daughter, and I have four kids in total. At the same time I’ve managed to play chess, next week I am heading to another chess tournament. And I am also one of those ladies in the management of FIDE. Sometimes we feel we’re living in the men’s world and we do have kind of a “glass ceiling”. In these cases just remember that you have to explode like a supernova, to expand the borders of your universe and break the glass ceilings”. FIDE Events Commission chairman, co-organizer of the event Ozgur Solakoglu underlined that the chess tournaments held as a part of the Festival welcome female participants of all ages, rating and chess experience: “We wanted to inspire all women chess players regardless of their rating to play in a worldwide tournament. We have four continents participating in individual tournaments and then we will have an individual final, but we also have team tournaments where representatives of all rating categories will play. Even a 1500 Elo player can represent her country. We think this is very inspiring.” FIDE Vice President Lukasz Turlej talked about the geography of the project. He said that women from many countries have registered for the seminars of “The Queens’ Festival”: “When I was checking the statistics of the participants of the seminars, I found that we have people from 22 countries registered. This shows that many people are looking forward to such activities. I think this is a very good start before 2022 which will be the year of women in chess”. FIDE Women’s Commission chairman Eva Repkova: “This is a very ambitious project connecting women in chess around the world. This weekend we are starting with Africa and Asia. We already have 240 players from 40 countries registered for our tournaments. There are also many people interested in our side events. They will be held for 2 weeks, so I invite those who haven’t joined us yet, to do so. This is the first edition of «The Queens’ Festival» and we really hope to grow in the coming years. I would like to express our gratitude to FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich who supports women in chess very much and to FIDE management, continental federations, the International Olympic Committee, organizers, and arbiters for making this event possible.” The opening ceremony was followed by the seminar “Women in chess in Africa”. “We love chess and let’s keep pushing for what we love to do. There are so many opportunities but it requires us to take up the challenge.” It was the message to all chess girls and women from FIDE Women’s Commission member Susan Namangale who made a presentation. The project will last until June 27. Female players from Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas will be able to participate in the Continental Online Blitz Qualification Tournaments and those who qualify will advance to the Queens’ Online Individual and Team Finals. For those interested in various chess-related topics, seminars and networking events with special guests will be held. To learn more about the program and to register for the events, please visit queensfestival.fide.com All the seminars and the final stage of the tournament will be broadcast live on the FIDE YouTube channel.
Magnus Carlsen to play in FIDE World Cup in Sochi
The reigning World Chess Champion will be one of the participants in the upcoming FIDE World Cup, to be played in Sochi from July 10 to August 6, 2021. For many players, the World Cup is the first and only opportunity to enter the race for the World Championship crown, since the two top finishers in the event will advance to the next stage: the super exclusive Candidates Tournament. This is even more true in the revamped 2021 edition, which will feature 206 participants (compared to 128 in previous editions), giving players from all over the globe an opportunity to prove their value. However, for the World Champion, the motivations are probably slightly different. Even if he loses his title in the FIDE World Championship match later this year in Dubai, Magnus would have a spot secured in the next edition of the Candidates Tournament, so he doesn’t need to take part in the qualifiers. But Magnus has never won a FIDE World Cup, despite being a firm supporter of knock-out tournaments. The champion probably wants to prove to the world, and to himself, that he can also excel in this format. His last participation, in Tbilisi 2017, was a bit disappointing: he was knocked out in round 3 by the Chinese Grandmaster Bu Xiangzhi. Besides, a record prize fund of $1,890,000 is incentive enough for the World Champion to be tempted and pick up the gauntlet to fight 206 grandmasters in this tough and highly-contested event. The World Cup is one of FIDE’s flagship competitions, and in recent editions, it has clearly become one of the most followed events in the chess calendar. The reigning World Champion, Women’s World Champion, and Junior World Champion are directly invited to the World Cup, as well as the four semi-finalists from the 2019 edition. They are joined by 80 players qualified through Continental Championships, with every continent being guaranteed a minimum quota, and 100 players nominated by the top hundred federations by average rating. The field is completed with the 12 highest-rated players who did not qualify by any of the previous criteria, as well as the highest-placed player of the ACP Tour 2021 as of June 2021. Magnus Carlsen will not cross paths in this event with his challenger for the 2021 FIDE World Chess Championship match, Ian Nepomniachtchi. The Russian star has declined to participate, in order to focus on his preparation for the match. More information: press@fide.comwww.fide.com Official FIDE World Cup 2021 website: https://worldcup.fide.com Photo: David Llada
Ziaur Rahman wins Asian Zonal 3.2 Hybrid Championship
GM Ziaur Rahman of Bangladesh (pictured below) won the Asian Zonal Hybrid Chess Championship 2021(Zone 3.2) and earned a ticket to the FIDE World Cup 2021 that will take place in Sochi, Russia in July-August. The Asian Zonal Chess Championship 2021, the qualifying event for the FIDE World Chess Cup 2021 for South Asia was held from June 01-09, 2021 on the Tornelo platform. A total of 39 players from the South Asian countries of Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Maldives and Sri Lanka participated in the 9-round Swiss tournament. With the strength, India is considered as a single zone by FIDE giving a direct entry to the FIDE World cup. Photo: ChessBase India The Bangladesh Chess Federation conducted the event from Dhaka and the Sri Lankan Players played from the Chess Federation of Sri Lanka headquarters, Gangodawila, Nugegoda. GM Ziaur Rahman was heading to the final round a half-point ahead of his main rival and countryman GM Enamul Hossain who had better tiebreaks. Rahman drew a hard-fought game against his compatriot 11-year old Manon Reja Neer and scored 8 points total. Needing a full point to tie with him Hossain had to win his encounter with SL National Chess Champion Ranindu Dilshan Liyanage of Ananda College. Hossain sacrificed a pawn in the Sicilian Defence with Black and got positional compensation in form of a strong night against a bad bishop but hardly more. With careful play, Ranindu secured the third spot in the final standings, whereas his opponent had to settle for silver. Photo: asianchess.com The prize distribution and closing ceremony of the Zone 3.2 Zonal Hybrid Chess Championship sponsored by SAIF POWERTEC Limited were held at the Shapla Hall Room of Bangladesh Police Headquarter in Dhaka and also virtually on Zoom together with Awards for Zones 3.1 and 3.3 Hybrid Zonals. Dr. Benazir Ahmed, Inspector General of Bangladesh Police, and President of Bangladesh Chess Federation & South Asian Chess Council awarded the prizes as chief guests. Mr. Tarafder Md. Ruhul Amin, Managing Director of SAIF POWERTEC Limited and Vice President of Bangladesh Chess Federation was also present as a special guest. Final standings: 1 GM Rahman Ziaur BAN 2434 8 2 GM Hossain Enamul BAN 2402 7½ 3 CM Liyanage Ranindu Dilshan SRI 2203 6 4 CM Manon Reja Neer BAN 2130 6 5 IM Mohammad Fahad Rahman BAN 2314 6 6 FM Islam Khandaker Aminul BAN 2182 6 7 IM Mohammad Minhaz Uddin BAN 2278 6 8 CM Amarasinghe A A C B SRI 1873 6 9 FM Mehdi Hasan Parag BAN 2187 5½ 10 CM Zia Tahsin Tajwar BAN 2178 5½ Text: Luxman Wijesuriya, Luxman Wijesuriya, President of CFSL and Vice-President of Asian Chess Federation
2021 Superbet Chess Classic – Day 5 Recap
World No. 9 GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov scored the only victory of the day today as he defeated GM Constantin Lupulescu with the Black pieces, catching up to the leaders with a score of 3.0/5. With all four other games drawn, Mamedyarov, So, and Grischuk lead the event heading into the first and only rest day. Deac – So A theoretical pawn sacrifice in the QGD Vienna left Deac with a microscopic edge in a known rook endgame, but So was well-prepared and was able to equalize without any difficulties. The game soon simplified and the players drew after about 90 minutes of play. Radjabov – Grischuk This game also took place in a highly theoretical variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined, where deep preparation by Grischuk allowed him to neutralize Radjabov’s efforts to play for an advantage. Despite White’s extra exchange, Radjabov could not make any progress, and the game quickly simplified into a dead-drawn position. Caruana – Giri Facing the ultra-solid Berlin Variation, Caruana opted for the rare move 9.Qe2, which is not considered dangerous for Black but does come with some surprise value. With a pawn majority on the kingside for White, Giri had to be careful not to allow too many exchanges and end up in a losing king and pawn endgame. Despite going into a somewhat tricky rook ending, Giri managed to defend accurately and eventually held a draw thanks to his precise play. Aronian – Vachier-Lagrave The players started out with a Symmetrical English, though the game quickly became imbalanced as Aronian took on an isolated queen pawn in exchange for active piece play in the middlegame. Although MVL was able to win the weak pawn almost immediately, White had full compensation for the sacrifice, and soon Black was forced to give the pawn back in order to equalize. Aronian kept some pressure all the way into the endgame, and eventually even won an extra pawn of his own, but the position was too simplified to provide any real chances, and MVL held the draw without huge difficulty. Lupulescu – Mamedyarov In the only decisive game of the day, an enterprising approach to the opening paid off for Mamedyarov, as he was able to reach a fresh and unbalanced position with chances for both sides. After quite a bit of strategic maneuvering in the middlegame, the players started running low on time as they approached the first time control, with Mamedyarov beginning to outplay Lupulescu. On move 33 Mamedyarov found his chance to open up the position, seizing an opportunity to triple his heavy pieces on the g-file. With little time Lupulescu missed a devious tactical detail, and his kingside simply collapsed just a few moves later. After 33…e5! Black opened up his rook on d6 to access the g-file With a rest day tomorrow, June 10, Round 6 will take place on Friday, June 11. The coverage of the 2021 Superbet Chess Classic continues Friday, June 11, at 6:50 AM CDT with live coverage from GMs Alejandro Ramirez, Yasser Seirawan, and Maurice Ashley on grandchesstour.org/live. Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy Photo: Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes Official website: grandchesstour.org/