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Reykjavik Open Rd 08: Adhiban beats Rapport to take sole lead!

by Aditya Pai - 14/03/2018

In the penultimate round of the Reykjavik Open, GM Adhiban Baskaran outsmarted the top seed of the tournament GM Richard Rapport with some excellent opening preparation and took sole lead in the tournament. This win means that the Chennai lad only needs a draw in the final round to etch his name on the champion's trophy. Half a point behind Adhiban is his final round opponent Mustafa Yilmaz who beat GM Daniel Fernandez to keep himself in title contention in round 8. In another important game of the round, IM R Praggnanandhaa came very close to defeating GM Emre Can but failed to find the killer blow at the crucial moment and had to settle for a draw. An illustrated report with game analysis by IM Sagar Shah. 

Round 8

In the eighth round of the Reyjkavk Open, India’s Adhiban Baskaran scored his fifth straight win of the tournament. In the penultimate round, Adhiban defeated Hungarian number one, GM Richard Rapport on the top board. Rapport and Adhiban had been leading the event at the commencement of the round. With this win, Adhiban has taken sole lead in the tournament whilst killing most of his competition. The only player who can better Adhiban’s score is the Turkish GM Mustafa Yilmaz who got the better of GM Daniel Howard Fernandez.

Adhiban scored his fifth consecutive win of the tournament in round 8 | Photo: Fiona Steil-Antoni

Adhiban’s game against Rapport was undoubtedly the most important game of the round. If there was a decisive result on this board, the winner was almost certain to go on to clinch the title. With all this in mind, this was a high pressure situation for Adhiban. On the one hand, Rapport was the higher rated of the two. If Adhiban risked too much and lost, he’d have sunk deep enough on the leaderboard so as to not be able to have any chance at the title prize in the final round. On the other hand, Adhiban had the white pieces and this was a good opportunity to push for a win. A draw would of course make way for several players to flood in at the top and then it could have been anyone’s game.

The most important game of round 8 | Photo: Fiona Steil-Antoni

Adhiban’s opening choice was excellent for this game. He went for a rare line in the Slav Defence. About Adhiban’s opening choice, IM Sagar Shah remarked after the game, “Computer analysis has proved that this line leads to equal positions but if your opponent isn’t expecting it, it can always lead to interesting positions”. And that’s exactly what happened. Rapport was caught off guard and began making mistakes. On his 17th move, Rapport blundered and let his opponent gain two strong bishops in exchange for his rook. The rest of the game was simply a mopping up operation for Adhiban who finished the game off in merely 27 moves.

What also worked in Adhiban’s favour was the fact that only one of the five players sharing the second spot – Mustafa Yilmaz – was able to win his game. This means that in the final round, Adhiban will play Yilmaz and a draw would be sufficient for the Chennai lad to take home the title.

For Yilmaz, making it to the top board in the final round involved a bit of luck. | Photo: Fiona Steil-Antoni

Playing black against GM Daniel Fernandez, he was unable to claim any advantage in any point in the game until his English opponent blundered in the endgame on the 53rd move and almost walked with his king into a mating net. Saving the mate required Fernandez to give up a couple of pawns in addition to the one he had already sacrificed and this gave Yilmaz a decisive material advantage.

Nihal Sarin and Vaibhav Suri agreed to a quick draw on board three | Photo: Fiona Steil-Antoni

On board three, the all Indian clash between Vaibhav Suri and Nihal Sarin was a short 19 move draw. With the black pieces, Sarin countered Suri’s English Opening with the Four Knights variation. Out of the opening, neither side had any advantage. The players went for a three-fold repetition move 16 onwards and decided to call it a day.

IM R Praggnanandhaa came very close to beating GM Emre Can | Photo: Lennart Ootes

IM R Praggnanandhaa, who is on the hunt for a GM norm in Reykjavik, had a promising position in his game against GM Emre Can. The game began with an Open Catalan where Praggnanandhaa had the black pieces. On his 33rd turn, Emre blundered and gave Praggnanandhaa a decisive advantage but the Indian little prodigy also fumbled a few moves later and gave away a big part of his advantage. Praggnandhaa tried hard to win after this. He had a bishop and three pawns against his opponent’s rook. Materially speaking, this should have been enough to win but Can’s rook was active enough to restrain his opponent’s pawns and stop Praggnanandhaa from making any progress in the position. After trying for 94 long moves, Praggnanandhaa decided that it was time to sign peace and call it a day.

A win in this game would have hugely raised Praggnanandhaa’s chances of scoring a GM norm. However, with this game drawn, it might be that Praggna gives his norm a narrow miss. Whatever the case, he will have to fight for a win in the final round and see what happens.

Standings

About the Author

Aditya Pai is an ardent chess fan, avid reader, and a film lover. He holds a Master's in English Literature and used to work as an advertising copywriter before joining the ChessBase India team.

Previous reports on the Reykjavik Open

Reykjavik Open Rd 1: Adhiban suffers an early upset

Reykjavik Open 02:Top seeds have a tough time

Reykjavik Open 04: Nihal Sarin beats Ahmed Adly; Yilmaz takes sole lead

Reykjavik Open 05: Nihal joins Yilmaz in the lead

Reykjavik Open 06: Adhiban joins the leaders; Nihal holds Kamsky

Nihal Sarin scores his second GM norm with two rounds to spare!

Reykjavik Open 07: Adhiban and Rapport lead

Coverage on Firstpost

Reykjavik Open Chess: India's Adhiban Baskaran held to draw by compatriot Soham Das in Round 1

Reykjavik Open Chess: Vaibhav Suri takes joint lead; Nihal Sarin, R Praggnanandhaa share 2nd spot with 20 others

Reykjavik Open 2018: Nihal Sarin shocks Ahmed Adly, R Praggnanandhaa suffers bitter defeat in Round 4

Reykjavik Open 2018: 13-year-old Nihal Sarin continues purple patch in Round 5, B Adhiban also makes good progress

Reykjavik Open 2018: Nihal Sarin holds five-time US champion Gata Kamsky, B Adhiban joins leaders after Round 6

Reykjavik Open 2018: 13-year-old Nihal Sarin proves his genius by inching closer towards being a Grandmaster

Reykjavik Open 2018: Adhiban Baskaran, Richard Rapport win; Nihal Sarin draws in Round 7