Grand Swiss 2023 R6: Vidit Gujrathi joins the eight-way lead

by Shahid Ahmed - 31/10/2023

GM Arjun Erigaisi drew against the China no.3 GM Yangyi Yu in the sixth round of FIDE Grand Swiss 2023. GM Vidit Gujrathi defeated GM Hans Niemann (USA) to join the eight player group of leaders along with Arjun. Vidit's Ba7, Bb8 maneuver in the middle game surprised the most successful chess coach of all time, GM Peter Heine Nielsen (DEN). He also quipped on twitter that maybe it was the first time, he was seeing such a maneuver to attack the c7-e5 pawn chain. GM Aravindh Chithambaram drew against GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB). The All-Kerala battle between GM Nihal Sarin and GM S L Narayanan ended in a draw. IM Vaishali R continues her unbeaten fantastic run to hold GM Aleksandra Goryachkina to a draw. Speaking of fantastic, GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR) defeated the sole leader - IM Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) to gain sole lead for herself 5/6. She is also the only player at 5/6 currently. Today is a rest day. Round 7 starts tomorrow, Wednesday 1st November at 2:30 p.m. local time, 7 p.m. IST. Photo: John Saunders

Anna Muzychuk beats Bibisara to gain sole lead, Vaishali draws against Goryachkina

GM Vidit Gujrathi defeated GM Hans Niemann (USA) to become one of the eight leaders 4.5/6 | Photo: John Saunders

GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR) is standing tall by becoming the sole player at 5/6, combining both Open and Women's event | Photo: FIDE/Anna Shtourman

FIDE Grand Swiss 2023 official logo | Photo: Official site

Vidit - Niemann: 1-0

GM Vidit Gujrathi (2716) has played only one Rapid rated game against GM Hans Niemann (USA, 2667). Vidit won that encounter. This was the first-ever Classical rated game against each other.

Position after 26.Bb8

25.Ba7 followed by 26.Bb8 is a unique maneuver. It even made the most successful chess coach of all time, GM Peter Heine Nielsen (DEN) tweet, "Maybe the first time I have seen the middlegame concept, of getting a bishop to b8 to attack the c7-e5 pawnchain."

Position after 39.Qb7

The c7-pawn is a lost cause. The real question is - should Black take h3-pawn right away or first trade pawns on e4? What is the difference? 39...dxe4? loses the game for Black whereas 39...Qxh3 leads to an interesting line where Black can force a draw with correct play. The game continued 39...dxe4? and Black went on to lose the game.

GM Vidit Gujrathi shows some insane complex lines that helped him beat GM Hans Niemann (USA) | Video: ChessBase India

GM Vidit Gujrathi vs GM Hans Niemann (USA) | Video: ChessBase India

Why did Hikaru and Esipenko laugh after the game? | Video: ChessBase India

GM Hikaru Nakamura (USA) analyzes his draw against GM Andrey Esipenko | Video: GMHikaru

Hikaru Nakamura: "If I win this tournament, it will be the highlight of the year for me." | Video: FIDE

Javokhir Sindarov's win against Sevian reminds us of Kasparov like play | Video: ChessBase India

GM Yangyi Yu (CHN) vs GM Arjun Erigaisi | Video: ChessBase India

GM Yangyi Yu (CHN) - GM Arjun Erigaisi: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: IM Sagar Shah

Is Fabiano Caruana closest to Magnus Carlsen in terms of Classical chess strength? | Video: ChessBase India

GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) - GM Aravindh Chithambaram: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: IM Sagar Shah

GM Nihal Sarin - GM S L Narayanan: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: IM Sagar Shah

Two Keralites - GM S L Narayanan and GM Nihal Sarin conversing after their game | Photo: FIDE/Anna Shtourman

GM Aryan Chopra - GM Pentala Harikrishna: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: IM Sagar Shah

Final moments: GM B Adhiban vs GM Eduardo Iturrizaga (ESP) | Video: ChessBase India

Anna Muzychuk - Bibisara: 1-0

GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR, 2510) had played only one rated game against IM Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ, 2469) at World Blitz Women 2021 which the former lost.

Position after 25.Qc4

Anna mentioned in the post-game interview that Black should have gone 25...Qd5 here and traded the queens. The resultant knight endgame would have been balanced. Instead, Black played 25...e6.

Position after 43.h6+!

46.h6+! is an excellent pawn sacrifice. Anna wanted to fight and win the game. Thus, she made a humane move 43.h6+! Qxh6 44.Qd7+ Kf8 45.b5 Qg5+ 46.Kf1 Qc1+ 47.Kg2 Qg5+ 48.Kf3 Qf5+ 49.Ke3 Qc5+ 50.Kd3 Qb6?? 51.Kc4+- and now Black can no longer save the game. 50...g5 would have kept the game going.

GM Anna Muzychuk's (UKR) stunning queen endgame to beat IM Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) | Video: ChessBase India

GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR) analyzes her win over IM Bibisara Assaubayeva (KAZ) | Video: FIDE

GM Anna Muzychuk (UKR) scored a fine victory to emerge sole leader 5/6 | Photo: IM Sagar Shah

IM Vaishali R vs GM Aleksandra Goryachkina | Video: ChessBase India

IM Vaishali R - GM Aleksandra Goryachkina: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: IM Sagar Shah

Round 6 in progress | Photo: FIDE/Anna Shtourman

For more photos, please click here.

Video Gallery

Round 6 starting moments | Video: ChessBase India

GM Harika Dronavalli beats two Indian youngsters WGM Savitha and IM Divya to make a comeback | Video: ChessBase India

A Tragic Blunder | GM Nino vs IM Tania | Video: ChessBase India

"I will reveal my trainer if I win this tournament" - GM Andrey Esipenko | Video: ChessBase India

An extremely unusual tactic in the Isle of Man | Lazavik vs Wojtaszek | ChessRanga | Video: ChessBase India

The life story of WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni (LUX) | A charming personality in the world of chess | Video: ChessBase India

Round 6 recap | Video: ChessBase India

Replay Live stream

Replay FIDE Grand Swiss 2023 Round 6 Live Commentary by IM V Saravanan and Amruta Mokal | Video: ChessBase India

Replay FIDE Grand Swiss and Women's Grand Swiss 2023 Round 6 Live Commentary by GM David Howell (ENG) and IM Jovanka Houska (ENG) | Video: FIDE

Schedule

Every day game starts at 2:30 p.m. local time, 7 p.m. IST between 25th October and 4th November 2023, except on 3rd when the game starts at 11:30 a.m. local time, 4 p.m. IST. Rest day is on Tuesday 31st October 2023. The last round on 5th November will start at 2 p.m. local time, 6:30 p.m. IST.

Time Control

The time control for each game is: 100 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 50 minutes for the next 20 moves, followed by 15 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 1.

Qualification

The winner and the runner-up of Grand Swiss shall qualify for the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2024. If one or both these players has (-ve) already qualified to the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2024 at the moment of the beginning of Grand Swiss via different qualification track or do (-es) not need to qualify for the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2024, the qualification spot(s) shall go to the highest-placed player(s) in the final standings who has (-ve) not yet qualified to the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2024 at the moment of the beginning of Grand Swiss

Prizes

The total prize fund in the Open is US$ 460,000 with the first prize being $80,000. For Women's the total prize fund is $140,000, first prize $25,000. Total numbers of prizes are 69, Open - 46 and Women - 23.

Replay Round 6 Open games

Replay Round 6 Women games

Round 6 Open results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
6	2	11	GM	Yu Yangyi	2720	3½	½ - ½	4	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	2712	16
6	6	15	GM	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi	2716	3½	1 - 0	3½	GM	Niemann Hans Moke	2667	42
6	13	13	GM	Abdusattorov Nodirbek	2716	3	½ - ½	3	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	2649	56
6	17	25	GM	Nihal Sarin	2694	3	½ - ½	3	GM	Narayanan S L	2651	52
6	25	70	GM	Sargsyan Shant	2631	2½	½ - ½	2½	GM	Praggnanandhaa R	2738	8
6	26	65	GM	Aryan Chopra	2634	2½	½ - ½	2½	GM	Harikrishna Pentala	2716	14
6	36	5	GM	Gukesh D	2758	2	0 - 1	2½	GM	Suleymanli Aydin	2588	92
6	39	83	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	2611	2	½ - ½	2	GM	Martirosyan Haik M.	2696	24
6	42	84	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2609	2	1 - 0	2	GM	Shevchenko Kirill	2671	38
6	47	61	GM	Sadhwani Raunak	2641	2	1 - 0	2	GM	Lazavik Denis	2560	102
6	52	105	GM	Fawzy Adham	2535	1½	½ - ½	1½	GM	Mendonca Leon Luke	2622	76
6	53	104	GM	Adhiban B.	2551	1½	1 - 0	1½	GM	Iturrizaga Bonelli Eduardo	2615	82

Details

Standings after Round 6

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	47	GM	Predke, Alexandr	SRB	2656	4,5	2707	20	22,5	0
2	46	GM	Sindarov, Javokhir	UZB	2658	4,5	2700	18	20	0
3	32	GM	Esipenko, Andrey	FID	2683	4,5	2682	19	21	0
4	16	GM	Erigaisi, Arjun	IND	2712	4,5	2667	19,5	22,5	0
5	2	GM	Nakamura, Hikaru	USA	2780	4,5	2667	17,5	20,5	0
6	1	GM	Caruana, Fabiano	USA	2786	4,5	2661	19,5	22,5	0
7	15	GM	Vidit, Santosh Gujrathi	IND	2716	4,5	2646	17	19,5	0
8	41	GM	Wojtaszek, Radoslaw	POL	2668	4,5	2617	13,5	15	0
9	111	IM	Zhalmakhanov, Ramazan	KAZ	2447	4	2719	18	20,5	0
10	81	GM	Yakubboev, Nodirbek	UZB	2616	4	2695	14,5	15	0
11	39	GM	Bacrot, Etienne	FRA	2669	4	2685	16,5	19	0
12	11	GM	Yu, Yangyi	CHN	2720	4	2667	19,5	22	0
13	3	GM	Firouzja, Alireza	FRA	2777	4	2665	17,5	20,5	0
14	45	GM	Korobov, Anton	UKR	2658	4	2662	16	18	0
15	75	GM	Kuzubov, Yuriy	UKR	2625	4	2655	15	16	0
16	23	GM	Artemiev, Vladislav	FID	2697	4	2654	17,5	19,5	0
17	12	GM	Keymer, Vincent	GER	2717	4	2644	17	19	0
18	20	GM	Deac, Bogdan-Daniel	ROU	2701	4	2636	18	20	0
19	33	GM	Sarana, Alexey	SRB	2682	4	2630	19	21	0
20	27	GM	Fedoseev, Vladimir	SLO	2691	4	2625	15,5	17,5	0

Details

Round 7 pairings

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
7	3	46	GM	Sindarov Javokhir	2658	4½		4½	GM	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi	2716	15
7	4	16	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	2712	4½		4½	GM	Esipenko Andrey	2683	32
7	13	52	GM	Narayanan S L	2651	3½		3½	GM	Aronian Levon	2742	7
7	17	18	GM	Maghsoodloo Parham	2707	3½		3½	GM	Aravindh Chithambaram Vr.	2649	56
7	20	73	GM	Svane Frederik	2626	3½		3½	GM	Nihal Sarin	2694	25
7	24	8	GM	Praggnanandhaa R	2738	3		3	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2609	84
7	26	14	GM	Harikrishna Pentala	2716	3		3	GM	Murzin Volodar	2633	69
7	27	28	GM	Grandelius Nils	2689	3		3	GM	Aryan Chopra	2634	65
7	35	88	GM	Petrosyan Manuel	2604	3		3	GM	Sadhwani Raunak	2641	61
7	44	50	GM	Ivanchuk Vasyl	2653	2½		2½	GM	Karthikeyan Murali	2611	83
7	46	64	GM	Warmerdam Max	2636	2½		2½	GM	Adhiban B.	2551	104
7	47	99	IM	Amar Elham	2568	2		2	GM	Gukesh D	2758	5
7	53	76	GM	Mendonca Leon Luke	2622	2		2	IM	Gurel Ediz	2514	108

Details

Round 6 Women results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
6	2	12	IM	Vaishali Rameshbabu	2448	4	½ - ½	4	GM	Goryachkina Aleksandra	2558	1
6	12	7	GM	Dronavalli Harika	2502	2½	1 - 0	2½	WGM	Savitha Shri B	2375	38
6	16	9	GM	Batsiashvili Nino	2475	2	1 - 0	2	IM	Tania Sachdev	2389	32
6	19	18	IM	Vantika Agrawal	2435	2	0 - 1	2	WIM	Mkrtchyan Mariam	2343	44
6	23	33	FM	Lee Alice	2388	1	½ - ½	1½	WGM	Divya Deshmukh	2408	24

Details

Standings after Round 6

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1	TB2	TB3	TB4
1	5	GM	Muzychuk, Anna	UKR	2510	5	2450	21	24,5	0
2	12	IM	Vaishali, Rameshbabu	IND	2448	4,5	2476	20	22	0
3	10	IM	Assaubayeva, Bibisara	KAZ	2469	4,5	2467	19	21,5	0
4	21	GM	Stefanova, Antoaneta	BUL	2424	4,5	2408	16,5	19	0
5	1	GM	Goryachkina, Aleksandra	FID	2558	4,5	2401	16,5	18,5	0
6	25	IM	Garifullina, Leya	FID	2402	4	2482	16	16,5	0
7	30	IM	Milliet, Sophie	FRA	2391	4	2473	18	19	0
8	34	IM	Tsolakidou, Stavroula	GRE	2385	4	2473	17	19,5	0
9	29	IM	Fataliyeva, Ulviyya	AZE	2393	4	2454	17	17,5	0
10	40	IM	Munguntuul, Batkhuyag	MGL	2366	4	2450	19	22	0
11	4	GM	Tan, Zhongyi	CHN	2517	4	2443	22	24	0
12	3	GM	Muzychuk, Mariya	UKR	2519	4	2412	15,5	17,5	0
13	13	IM	Efroimski, Marsel	ISR	2447	4	2398	15	17	0
14	43	WGM	Kamalidenova, Meruert	KAZ	2351	3,5	2485	16,5	18,5	0
15	39	IM	Cori T., Deysi	PER	2367	3,5	2469	15,5	17,5	0
16	27	IM	Narva, Mai	EST	2399	3,5	2446	14	16	0
17	22	IM	Bulmaga, Irina	ROU	2423	3,5	2412	18	19,5	0
18	15	IM	Mammadzada, Gunay	AZE	2441	3,5	2396	17,5	20	0
19	7	GM	Dronavalli, Harika	IND	2502	3,5	2392	15,5	17,5	0
20	19	GM	Ushenina, Anna	UKR	2434	3,5	2392	15	17,5	0

Details

Round 7 pairings

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
7	2	10	IM	Assaubayeva Bibisara	2469	4½		4½	IM	Vaishali Rameshbabu	2448	12
7	8	22	IM	Bulmaga Irina	2423	3½		3½	GM	Dronavalli Harika	2502	7
7	16	38	WGM	Savitha Shri B	2375	2½		2½	WGM	Wagner Dinara	2461	11
7	21	26	IM	Matnadze Bujiashvili Ann	2400	2		2	IM	Vantika Agrawal	2435	18
7	22	24	WGM	Divya Deshmukh	2408	2		2	IM	Aulia Medina Warda	2362	41
7	23	47	WIM	Gomez Barrera Javiera Belen	2266	1½		2	IM	Tania Sachdev	2389	32

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament Regulations: Open and Women

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