RUSSIAN GM Ian Nepomniachtchi increased his lead to a full point at the ongoing FIDE Candidates Tournament in Yekaterinburg, Russia, after defeating countryman Kirill Alekseenko with relative ease in Round 10 action on Wednesday.
The 31-year old Nepomniachtchi essayed the Reti Opening and surprised the 24-year-old Alekseenko right at the opening bell, then winning in just 31 moves. Alekseenko would later admit he plumb forgot the opening sequences and lines. Nepomniachtchiās victory was the only decisive game of Round 10, as close pursuers Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and Anish Giri all drew their games. Caruana sacrificed a pawn against Liren Ding but unable to hatch a winning plan, and settled for a draw after 40 moves of a Ruy Lopez Anti-Marshall. Vachier-Lagrave also agreed to a draw with Giri after 40 moves of a Sicilian Sveshnikov that started in complications but ended in equality. Hao Wang and Alexander Grischuk also split the point after 41 moves of a French Defense.
Round 11 promises to be another exciting round with Nepomniachtchi facing Caruana, Giri against Ding, Vachier-Lagrave vs. Grischuk, and Alekseenko vs. Wang.
The standings after Round 10: 1. Nepomniachtchi, 6Ā½; 2-4. Caruana, Vachier-Lagrave, Giri, 5Ā½; 5-7. Wang, Grischuk, 4Ā½; 8. Ding, Alekseenko, 4.
Caruana, F (2842)-Ding, L (2805) [C88]
Yekaterinburg (10.1) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.a4 b4 9.a5 d6 10.d3 Be6 11.Bxe6 fxe6 12.c3 Rb8 13.Nbd2 Rb5 14.d4 bxc3 15.bxc3 exd4 16.cxd4 Qc8 17.Ba3 Nxa5 18.Qc2 c5 19.e5 dxe5 20.dxc5 Nc6 21.Ne4 Nxe4 22.Rxe4 Rd8 23.Rae1 Bf6 24.h4 h6 25.R4e3 Rd5 26.g4 Qe8 27.Kg2 h5 28.g5 Be7 29.Nxe5 Bxc5 30.Bxc5 Rbxc5 31.Qg6 Qxg6 32.Nxg6 e5 33.f4 Rd2+ 34.R3e2 Rxe2+ 35.Rxe2 Nd4 36.Re4 Rc2+ 37.Kf1 Rc1+ 38.Kf2 Rc2+ 39.Kf1 Rc1+ 40.Kf2 Rc2 Ā½-Ā½
Vachier-Lagrave, M (2767)-Giri, A (2763) [B33]
Yekaterinburg (10.2) 2021
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e5 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Nd5 Nxd5 8.exd5 Nb8 9.c4 Be7 10.c5 Na6 11.cxd6 Bxd6 12.Bc4 0-0 13.0-0 Nc7 14.Nxd6 Qxd6 15.Qf3 b6 16.Rd1 Bb7 17.Bg5 h6 18.Bh4 b5 19.Bb3 Na6 20.Qe2 Nc5 21.Qxb5 Nxb3 22.axb3 Rfb8 23.f3 a6 24.Qa5 Rc8 25.Qa3 Qb6+ 26.Bf2 Qb5 27.d6 Qd7 28.Qa4 Bc6 29.Qh4 Re8 30.Rac1 Rac8 31.Rc4 Re6 32.Bc5 Rg6 33.Qf2 Re8 34.Re1 e4 35.fxe4 Rg4 36.h3 Rgxe4 37.Rexe4 Rxe4 38.Rxe4 Bxe4 39.Qe2 Bb7 40.b4 Qc6 Ā½-Ā½
Wang, H (2762)-Grischuk, A (2777) [C11]
Yekaterinburg (10.3) 2021
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e5 Nfd7 5.Nce2 c5 6.c3 Nc6 7.f4 Be7 8.Nf3 f6 9.Be3 0-0 10.g3 Qb6 11.Qd2 cxd4 12.Nfxd4 Nc5 13.exf6 Bxf6 14.Nb3 Ne4 15.Qd3 Qc7 16.Bg2 Nd6 17.Bf2 Nc4 18.Qc2 Ne7 19.0-0 e5 20.fxe5 Bf5 21.exf6 Bxc2 22.fxe7 Rfe8 23.Nf4 Nb6 24.Nxd5 Nxd5 25.Bxd5+ Kh8 26.Nd4 Qd7 27.c4 Bg6 28.Ne6 Rxe7 29.Rae1 Bf7 30.Nxg7 Bxd5 31.Rxe7 Qxe7 32.Nf5 Qf8 33.Bd4+ Kg8 34.cxd5 h5 35.d6 Kh7 36.Ne7 Qe8 37.Rf6 Rd8 38.Bc3 Rxd6 39.Rxd6 Qxe7 40.Rd4 Kg6 41.a3 Qe3+ Ā½-Ā½
Nepomniachtchi, I (2774)-Alekseenko, K (2698) [A13]
Yekaterinburg (10.4) 2021
1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 e6 3.Bg2 d5 4.Nf3 dxc4 5.Qa4+ Nbd7 6.Qxc4 a6 7.Qc2 c5 8.Nc3 Be7 9.0-0 0-0 10.d4 cxd4 11.Nxd4 Qc7 12.Rd1 Rd8 13.Be3 Nb6 14.Rac1 e5 15.Nf5 Bxf5 16.Qxf5 Nc4 17.Bg5 Rxd1+ 18.Nxd1 Rd8 19.Bxf6 Bxf6 20.Be4 Qa5 21.Nc3 Kf8 22.Nd5 b5 23.Qxh7 Rxd5 24.Bxd5 Qd2 25.Rxc4 bxc4 26.e4 Qxb2 27.Qh8+ Ke7 28.Qc8 Qb6 29.Qxc4 Qb5 30.Qc7+ Qd7 31.Qc5+ 1-0
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PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Qd8!, and Blackās futile options are: 1…Nxf8, Kc5 2.Qa5#;1…Nb6/c5/xe5 2.Qxd6#; 1…dxe5 2.Qxd7#; 1…Kxe5 2.Qg5#./PN
