Sardinia Festival 2024 R7: Lorenzo Lodici wins an absolute thriller, Yair misses against Chigaev

by Shahid Ahmed - 02/05/2024

The seventh round of Sardinia World Chess Festival 2024 was an action packed one. The sole leader GM Yair Parkhov (ISR) maintained his lead. However, he missed a good opportunity to extend it by a full point against GM Maksim Chigaev (ESP) in the endgame. GM Jorden van Foreest (NED) gave his all to score a double hat-trick. However, GM Alan Pichot (ESP) provided incredible defense and denied his opponent his sixth win in-a-row. GM Lorenzo Lodici (ITA) won an absolute stunner against GM Paul Velten (FRA). WFM Alexandra Botez (CAN) got the better of Hugues Benoit (FRA) to increase her lead by a full point. Round 8 starts tomorrow at 3 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST. All photos are by Shahid Ahmed unless stated otherwise.

Yair Parkhov still at the top, Alexandra Botez extends her sole lead by a full point

GM Yair Parkhov (ISR) is still in the sole lead 6/7. He is chased by eleven players at 5.5/7. It definitely speaks volumes about how strong and close the competition is.

Italy no.4 GM Lorenzo Lodici quite possibly won the most exciting game of the round and perhaps the tournament too, so far

Chigaev - Parkhov

Position after 38.Re2

GM Yair Parkhov (ISR, 2510) had one solitary opportunity in the entire game to extend his lead. GM Maksim Chigaev's (ESP, 2647) c6-rook is virtually trapped. So, Black needed to attack it 38...Ke7 39.Rd2 Rxd2+ 40.Kxd2 Bf2 41.Ke2 Bxg3 and it would have been good for Black. It was not easy to find. Black played 38...Rad8? the window of opportunity was shut and White salvaged a draw.

GM Yair Parkhov (ISR) had a great opportunity to extend his lead by a full point

GM Jorden van Foreest (NED) pushed a lot for a double hat-trick...

...but GM Alan Pichot (ESP) provided incredible defense

"When Fabi didn't win, we felt like we didn't win" - Evgenij Miroshnichenko | Video: ChessBase India

Fedoseev - Bharath

Position after 40.Qc2

GM Bharath Subramaniyam H (2545) needed to exchange the queens to continue the fight. Declining the queen trade worsened things in a hurry 40...Qa1?? 41.Qc8+ Kh7 42.Qf5+ Kg8 43.Qxa5 and GM Vladimir Fedoseev (SLO, 2545) went to the game.

Velten - Lorenzo

Position after 30.Rxe5

The craziest game of the day was between GM Paul Velten (FRA, 2481) and GM Lorenzo Lodici (ITA, 2565).

A little over 3.5 hours after the start of the game, this position garnered a lot of intrigue among those who witnessed this exciting game

If the above two diagrams doesn't convince you how wild the game was, maybe the next diagram will.

Position after 43...Ka4

Lorenzo ran with his king to find safety. This game is best studied by an explanation by the victor Lorenzo himself, not a computer. Stay tuned for his beautiful analysis video.

GM Lorenzo Lodici analyses his win over GM Paul Velten | Video: ChessBase India

Kanov - Sanan

Positon after 31...b4!

GM Sanan Sjugirov (HUN, 2692) made an excellent knight sacrifice 31...b4! 32.bxc4 bxc3+ 33.Kc2 Nxc4 34.Bxc4 Rxc4 and Black won the game in the next few moves.

Hugues - Alexandra

Position after 12...g5!

WFM Alexandra Botez (CAN, 1971) made an excellent judgment to sacrifice her exchange when she played 12...g5! 13.Bh2 Nf5 14.Nxd8 Kxd8 15.Nd2 Nxe5 Black had enough compensation. She played bravely, capitalized on her opponent's mistake and won the game. An interview with Alexandra will be published soon where she talks about the game, increasing her lead and chances of winning the tournament.

WFM Alexandra Botez (CAN) increased her sole lead by a full point 6.5/7

Alessia Natoli (POL) missed a couple of good chances to win against CM Joel Paul Ganta

Interview with the oldest participant of the event - 97-years-old Giovanni Diena (ITA) and his nephew Antonio Rossini (ITA) who helped us translate, will be published soon

For more Round 7 photos, please click here. Lots of exciting, interesting game videos will be published soon, stay tuned!

How an International Master Became a Live Chess Broadcaster: A Fascinating Journey | Video: ChessBase India

Replay live stream

Replay Round 7 live commentary by GM Evgenij Miroshnichenko (UKR) and WCM Alexandra Prado (BOL) | Video: UniChess

Replay Round 7 Open A games

Replay Round 7 Open B games

Replay Round 7 Open C games

Round 7 Open A results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	9	GM	Chigaev Maksim	2621	5	½ - ½	5½	GM	Parkhov Yair	2513	20	PGN
2	5	GM	Pichot Alan	2644	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Van Foreest Jorden	2668	4	PGN
3	7	GM	Murzin Volodar	2632	4½	1 - 0	5	GM	Moroni Luca Jr	2580	12	PGN
4	1	GM	Fedoseev Vladimir	2690	4½	1 - 0	4½	GM	Bharath Subramaniyam H	2544	18	PGN
5	3	GM	Shevchenko Kirill	2675	4½	1 - 0	4½	IM	Aizenberg Benny	2409	46	PGN
6	24	IM	Zhalmakhanov Ramazan	2490	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Dardha Daniel	2630	8	PGN
7	23	IM	Sokolovsky Yahli	2490	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Moussard Jules	2610	10	PGN
8	13	GM	Gurel Ediz	2578	4½	1 - 0	4½	FM	Tudor Henry Edward	2279	81	PGN
9	25	GM	Velten Paul	2481	4½	0 - 1	4½	GM	Lodici Lorenzo	2565	14	PGN
10	27	IM	Costa Leonardo	2476	4½	0 - 1	4½	GM	Sivuk Vitaly	2551	16	PGN
11	40	FM	Kanov Nikola	2423	4½	0 - 1	4	GM	Sjugirov Sanan	2689	2	PGN
12	33	IM	Levin Guy	2451	4	0 - 1	4	GM	Lagarde Maxime	2640	6	PGN
13	41	IM	Haldorsen Benjamin	2419	4	1 - 0	4	GM	Huschenbeth Niclas	2607	11	PGN
14	15	GM	Sonis Francesco	2562	4	1 - 0	4	FM	Lumachi Gabriele	2413	44	PGN
15	19	IM	Erdogmus Yagiz Kaan	2540	4	1 - 0	4	IM	Vantika Agrawal	2398	50	PGN

Details

Standings after Round 7

Rk.	SNo		Name	Typ	FED	RtgI	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	20	GM	Parkhov Yair		ISR	2513	6	31	29	25,50	2498
2	5	GM	Pichot Alan		ESP	2644	5,5	33,5	29,5	25,50	2492
3	1	GM	Fedoseev Vladimir		SLO	2690	5,5	32	28,5	23,50	2442
4	14	GM	Lodici Lorenzo		ITA	2565	5,5	31,5	28	23,75	2418
5	9	GM	Chigaev Maksim		ESP	2621	5,5	31	27,5	23,50	2453
6	16	GM	Sivuk Vitaly		SWE	2551	5,5	30,5	28	23,25	2409
7	3	GM	Shevchenko Kirill		ROU	2675	5,5	30	27	23,25	2377
8	13	GM	Gurel Ediz	U18	TUR	2578	5,5	29,5	26,5	22,50	2380
9	7	GM	Murzin Volodar	U18	FID	2632	5,5	27,5	25	21,25	2421
10	4	GM	Van Foreest Jorden		NED	2668	5,5	26	24,5	19,75	2345
11	8	GM	Dardha Daniel		BEL	2630	5	31,5	28,5	21,75	2446
12	24	IM	Zhalmakhanov Ramazan		KAZ	2490	5	31,5	28,5	21,50	2496
13	53	FM	Vergara Anton Diego	U18	ESP	2387	5	30,5	28	20,25	2396
14	23	IM	Sokolovsky Yahli	U18	ISR	2490	5	30	27	21,00	2406
15	19	IM	Erdogmus Yagiz Kaan	U18	TUR	2540	5	29,5	26,5	19,50	2422

Details

Round 8 Open A pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	20	GM	Parkhov Yair	2513	6	5½	GM	Shevchenko Kirill	2675	3
2	9	GM	Chigaev Maksim	2621	5½	5½	GM	Fedoseev Vladimir	2690	1
3	4	GM	Van Foreest Jorden	2668	5½	5½	GM	Gurel Ediz	2578	13
4	16	GM	Sivuk Vitaly	2551	5½	5½	GM	Pichot Alan	2644	5
5	14	GM	Lodici Lorenzo	2565	5½	5½	GM	Murzin Volodar	2632	7
6	2	GM	Sjugirov Sanan	2689	5	5	IM	Erdogmus Yagiz Kaan	2540	19
7	6	GM	Lagarde Maxime	2640	5	5	IM	Sokolovsky Yahli	2490	23
8	8	GM	Dardha Daniel	2630	5	5	IM	Haldorsen Benjamin	2419	41
9	10	GM	Moussard Jules	2610	5	5	IM	Lewtak Damian	2343	63
10	12	GM	Moroni Luca Jr	2580	5	5	IM	Zhalmakhanov Ramazan	2490	24
11	54	IM	Bellia Fabrizio	2384	5	5	GM	Sonis Francesco	2562	15
12	53	FM	Vergara Anton Diego	2387	5	4½	GM	Velten Paul	2481	25
13	18	GM	Bharath Subramaniyam H	2544	4½	4½	FM	Shohat Yotam	2398	51
14	22	IM	Rozen Eytan	2499	4½	4½	IM	Papadiamandis Elliot	2312	71
15	52	FM	Zemach Nadav	2396	4½	4½	IM	Costa Leonardo	2476	27

Details

Round 7 Open B results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	6	CM	Joel Paul Ganta	1969	5	½ - ½	5		Natoli Alessia	1917	19	PGN
2	8		Wang Shanshan	1966	5	0 - 1	4½		Knors Rudi	1992	2	PGN
3	24		Moreno Latorre Francisco Jose	1899	4½	0 - 1	4½		Dimitrov Dejan	1998	1	PGN
4	16		Benoit Hugues	1935	5	0 - 1	5½	WFM	Botez Alexandra *)	1970	5	PGN
5	28		Botez Andrea *)	1879	3½	1 - 0	3½		Fontaine Thomas	1649	87	PGN
6	13		Becker Alexander	1950	4½	0 - 1	4½		Molinari Carlo	1867	34
7	4		Neri Enzo	1978	4	½ - ½	4½		Mascia Germano	1884	27
8	26		Simonelli Mattia	1886	4	½ - ½	4		Nassa Nicolas	1969	7
9	9		Forno Diego	1961	4	½ - ½	4		Xu Ten Lon	1877	30
10	10		Maida Federico	1961	4	1 - 0	4	AFM	Melis Giovanni	1804	47

Details

Standings after Round 7

Rk.	SNo		Name	sex	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	5	WFM	Botez Alexandra	w	CAN	1970	6,5	30	27	27,25	1901
2	6	CM	Joel Paul Ganta		IND	1969	5,5	31	27,5	23,00	1857
3	19		Natoli Alessia	w	POL	1917	5,5	30,5	28	22,25	1827
4	34		Molinari Carlo		ITA	1867	5,5	29,5	28	22,25	1849
5	1		Dimitrov Dejan		BUL	1998	5,5	26,5	24	20,75	1805
6	2		Knors Rudi		BEL	1992	5,5	21,5	19	18,50	1826
7	8		Wang Shanshan	w	CHN	1966	5	29	26,5	19,00	1886
8	70		Valente Luca		ITA	1716	5	29	25	20,75	1909
9	16		Benoit Hugues		FRA	1935	5	28,5	27	18,00	1815
10	10		Maida Federico		ITA	1961	5	26,5	24,5	16,00	1843

Details

Round 8 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	1		Dimitrov Dejan	1998	5½	5½	CM	Joel Paul Ganta	1969	6
2	19		Natoli Alessia	1917	5½	5½		Knors Rudi	1992	2
3	27		Mascia Germano	1884	5	5		Wang Shanshan	1966	8
4	5	WFM	Botez Alexandra *)	1970	6½	5½		Molinari Carlo	1867	34
5	7		Nassa Nicolas	1969	4½	4½		Botez Andrea *)	1879	28
6	70		Valente Luca	1716	5	5		Maida Federico	1961	10
7	11		Costabile Vincenzo	1955	5	5		Benoit Hugues	1935	16
8	15		Carfagna Alex	1939	5	5		Peretti Eva	1698	74
9	24		Moreno Latorre Francisco Jose	1899	4½	4½		Neri Enzo	1978	4
10	64		Orman Attila	1728	4½	4½		Forno Diego	1961	9

Details

Round 7 Open C results

Bo.	No.	Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.	Name	Rtg	No.	PGN
1	5	Cilenti Giuseppe Maria	1574	4½	0 - 1	5	Ozdogan Ertan	1399	22	PGN
2	20	Ferraro Luca	1399	5	1 - 0	4	Krishnan Vishwanathan	1575	4	PGN
3	9	Pajak Radoslaw	1542	4	0 - 1	5	Sun Hanyu	1399	26	PGN
4	7	Corbo Giuseppe A.	1558	3½	1 - 0	4	Isaia Daniele	1548	8
5	3	Piovesan Sara	1579	3½	1 - 0	3½	Salis Davide	1503	12

Details

Standings after Round 7

Rk.	SNo	Name	FED	RtgI	RtgN	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	22	Ozdogan Ertan	TUR	0	1399	6	32,5	29	26,50	1496
2	20	Ferraro Luca	ITA	0	1399	6	31	28,5	25,00	1525
3	26	Sun Hanyu	CHN	0	1399	6	29,5	27	23,50	1481
4	3	Piovesan Sara	ITA	1579	0	4,5	29	26	17,00	1482
5	7	Corbo Giuseppe A.	ITA	1558	0	4,5	27,5	25	15,75	1481
6	5	Cilenti Giuseppe Maria	SMR	1574	0	4,5	27	25	13,00	1492
7	14	Geraci Daniele	ITA	1486	0	4,5	24,5	22,5	13,75	1510
8	4	Krishnan Vishwanathan	IND	1575	0	4	32	28,5	15,50	1475
9	9	Pajak Radoslaw	POL	1542	0	4	28,5	26,5	12,50	1430
10	8	Isaia Daniele	ITA	1548	0	4	27,5	25,5	14,00	1474

Details

Round 8 pairings

Bo.	No.	Name	Rtg	Pts.	Pts.	Name	Rtg	No.
1	3	Piovesan Sara	1579	4½	6	Ferraro Luca	1399	20
2	22	Ozdogan Ertan	1399	6	4½	Corbo Giuseppe A.	1558	7
3	14	Geraci Daniele	1486	4½	6	Sun Hanyu	1399	26
4	8	Isaia Daniele	1548	4	4½	Cilenti Giuseppe Maria	1574	5
5	4	Krishnan Vishwanathan	1575	4	4	Saba Andrea	1399	24

Details

Links

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Tournament details

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