Grand Swiss R8: Firouzja beats Sasikiran, extends his sole lead and now World no.4

by Shahid Ahmed - 05/11/2021

Alireza Firouzja (FRA) continues to play fantastic chess as he got an advantage out of the opening against Krishnan Sasikiran in the eighth round of FIDE chess.com Grand Swiss 2021. The France no.1 became World no.4 in the live ratings after he won his game. He now has a full point lead 6.5/8 over his competition. Ten players are at 5.5/8. Harikrishna, Sasikiran and Nihal are at 5.0/8 each respectively. Harika also has the same score in the Women's event, followed by Vantika and Vaishali at 4.5/8 each. Sethuraman, Vaishali and Padmini were the only three victors among Indians. Round 9 starts today at 5:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Anna Shtourman/FIDE

Divya misses a win against Gunina

WGM Divya Deshmukh quite possibly missed the opportunity to score the biggest win of her chess career so far, against GM Valentina Gunina. Although it was a simple tactic, it is evident that such a strong event and high-pressure situation can take a toll on any player.

Firouzja is dashing towards the Candidates | Photo: Anna Shtourman/FIDE

FIDE Grand Swiss 2021 official logo | Photo: FIDE

Firouzja - Sasikiran: 1-0

Sasikiran played a bit aggressively which invited trouble.

Position after 13...f5

13...Bb6 would have been a safer choice, as 13...f5 provokes 14.Neg5 with a Ne6 threat which is what happened in the game. 14...h6 15.Ne6 Qf6 16.d4 e4 17.dxc5 Nde5 and we get the following position.

Position after 18...Nde5

White responded with a fiery 19.Nxe5 as it gives him material advantage. 19...Bxd1 20.Nd7 Qd8 21.Bxc6 Re8 22.Rxd1 bxc6 23.Bf4 and White is now completely winning.

Sasikiran's Namaste and a nice gesture after losing his game to Alireza Firouzja | Video: ChessBase India

Evgeniy Najer - Pentala Harikrishna: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Anna Shtourman/FIDE

Nihal Sarin was forced to draw by perpetual check against Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI) | Photo: Anna Shtourman/FIDE

R Praggnanandhaa - Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB): 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Anna Shtourman/FIDE

Maksim Chigaev (RUS) - Raunak Sadhwani: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Mark Livshitz/FIDE

Baadur Jobava (GEO) - Arjun Erigaisi: 0.5-0.5 | Photo: Mark Livshitz/FIDE

WGM Vantika Agrawal drew with the legendary GM Pia Cramling (SWE) | Photo: Anna Shtourman/FIDE

Vaishali - Bivol: 1-0

IM Vaishali scored an academic victory by converting her advantage against IM Alina Bivol (RUS).

IM Vaishali 4.5/8 | Photo: Anna Shtourman/FIDE

Divya - Gunina: 0-1

WGM Divya Deshmukh got herself a very good opportunity against GM Valentina Gunina (RUS) after the latter overlooked her opponent's tactical shot.

Position after 21...Rdg8

Find out what White missed after 21...Rdg8.

Highlights

A few interesting finishes from Round 8

Maksim Chigaev (RUS) drew with Raunak Sadhwani

Baadur Jobava (GEO) drew with Arjun Erigaisi

Sergei Movsesian (ARM) lost to Ivan Saric (CRO)

FIDE chess.com Grand Swiss Round 8 recap | Video: ChessBase India

Photo Gallery

Tingjie Lei has no plans of slowing down as she made a hat-trick| Photo: Mark Livshitz/FIDE

The tournament hall | Photo: Mark Livshitz/FIDE

FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich and Director General Emil Sutovsky observe Cheparinov vs. Goryachkina | Photo: Anna Shtourman/FIDE

Schedule

Everyday game starts at 2 p.m. local time (4:30 p.m. IST) between 27th October and 7th November 2021. Rest day is on Tuesday 2nd November 2021.

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 top two players in the open event will qualify for the FIDE Candidates 2022. The next six players will earn their spots in the FIDE Grand Prix. The Women's Grand Swiss winner will qualify to the Women's Candidates. The following four best players will qualify for the FIDE Women's Grand Prix.

Prizes

The total prize fund in the Open is US$ 425,000 with the first prize being $70,000. For Women's the total prize fund is $125,000, first prize $20,000. Total numbers of prizes are 60, Open - 40 and Women - 20.

Replay Round 8 Open games

Replay Round 8 Women games

Replay the live stream

FIDE chess.com Grand Swiss Round 8 | Live commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India

Round 8 results

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	FED	Rtg	No.
8	1	3	GM	Firouzja Alireza	FRA	2770	5½	1 - 0	5	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	IND	2640	54
8	6	38	GM	Najer Evgeniy	RUS	2654	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Harikrishna Pentala	IND	2719	7
8	10	12	GM	Maghsoodloo Parham	IRI	2701	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Nihal Sarin	IND	2652	41
8	27	81	GM	Praggnanandhaa R	IND	2618	3½	½ - ½	3½	GM	Abdusattorov Nodirbek	UZB	2646	47
8	29	55	GM	Chigaev Maksim	RUS	2639	3½	½ - ½	3½	GM	Sadhwani Raunak	IND	2609	84
8	30	94	GM	Jobava Baadur	GEO	2582	3½	½ - ½	3½	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	IND	2634	60
8	34	22	GM	Matlakov Maxim	RUS	2682	3	½ - ½	3	GM	Ganguly Surya Shekhar	IND	2617	82
8	37	53	GM	Gukesh D	IND	2640	3	0 - 1	3	GM	Yakubboev Nodirbek	UZB	2621	78
8	44	92	GM	Bartel Mateusz	POL	2597	2½	½ - ½	2½	GM	Adhiban B.	IND	2672	25
8	50	79	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	IND	2620	2½	1 - 0	2½	GM	Van Foreest Lucas	NED	2543	102
8	5	4	GM	Harika Dronavalli	IND	2511	4½	½ - ½	4½	IM	Badelka Olga	RUS	2438	20
8	10	17	GM	Cramling Pia	SWE	2447	4	½ - ½	4	WIM	Vantika Agrawal	IND	2322	46
8	15	25	WGM	Vaishali R	IND	2419	3½	1 - 0	3½	IM	Bivol Alina	RUS	2392	36
8	17	47	WIM	Divya Deshmukh	IND	2305	3	0 - 1	3	GM	Gunina Valentina	RUS	2462	14
8	23	45	FM	Eizaguerri Floris Maria	ESP	2328	2	0 - 1	2	IM	Padmini Rout	IND	2380	40

Details

Round 9 pairings

Rd.	Bo.	No.		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	FED	Rtg	No.
9	6	7	GM	Harikrishna Pentala	IND	2719	5		5½	GM	Sevian Samuel	USA	2654	40
9	10	54	GM	Sasikiran Krishnan	IND	2640	5		5	GM	Eljanov Pavel	UKR	2691	16
9	13	41	GM	Nihal Sarin	IND	2652	5		5	GM	Deac Bogdan-Daniel	ROU	2643	50
9	27	49	GM	Saric Ivan	CRO	2644	4		4	GM	Praggnanandhaa R	IND	2618	81
9	31	60	GM	Erigaisi Arjun	IND	2634	4		4	GM	Kuybokarov Temur	AUS	2549	101
9	33	84	GM	Sadhwani Raunak	IND	2609	4		3½	GM	Dreev Aleksey	RUS	2635	59
9	36	79	GM	Sethuraman S.P.	IND	2620	3½		3½	GM	Matlakov Maxim	RUS	2682	22
9	42	82	GM	Ganguly Surya Shekhar	IND	2617	3½		3½	GM	Zhou Jianchao	CHN	2629	67
9	45	25	GM	Adhiban B.	IND	2672	3		3	GM	Martirosyan Haik M.	ARM	2624	73
9	47	53	GM	Gukesh D	IND	2640	3		3	GM	Gretarsson Hjorvar Steinn	ISL	2577	96
9	5	8	IM	Kashlinskaya Alina	RUS	2493	5		5	GM	Harika Dronavalli	IND	2511	4
9	9	46	WIM	Vantika Agrawal	IND	2322	4½		4½	GM	Stefanova Antoaneta	BUL	2475	11
9	10	25	WGM	Vaishali R	IND	2419	4½		4½	GM	Cramling Pia	SWE	2447	17
9	20	19	IM	Arabidze Meri	GEO	2441	3		3	WIM	Divya Deshmukh	IND	2305	47
9	23	40	IM	Padmini Rout	IND	2380	3		2½	GM	Hoang Thanh Trang	HUN	2380	39

Details

Links

Official site

Chess-results: Open and Women

Tournament Regulations: Open and Women

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