GM Hjörvar Steinn Grétarsson convincingly won the Icelandic Cup which ended March 14 by beating GM Hannes Hlífar Stefánsson, 2-0, in the final. The victory earned Grétarsson the right to represent Iceland at the World Chess Cup slated for July to August 2021 in Sochi, Russia.
Gretarsson, HS (2578)-Stefansson, H (2536) [A28]
Reykjavik (3.2) 2021
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e5 3.Nf3 Nc6 4.e4 Bb4 5.d3 d6 6.a3 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 Ne7 8.g3 Ng6 9.Bg2 Bd7 10.h3 Qc8 11.Bg5 Be6 12.Nd2 Ng8 13.d4 N8e7 14.h4 f6 15.Be3 b6 16.f4 Bg4 17.Qb3 h5 18.f5 Nf8 19.c5 dxc5 20.dxe5 fxe5 21.Bg5 Qd7 22.Nf3 Bxf3 23.Bxf3 0-0-0 24.Rd1 Qe8 25.Rxd8+ Qxd8 26.Qf7 Qd3 27.Kf2 Qc2+ 28.Be2 Nfg6 29.fxg6 Nxg6 30.Qf5+ Kb8 31.Rc1 1-0
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Meanwhile, the preliminary round of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour-Magnus Carlsen Invitational entered its second day with GM Anish Giri (2776) leading the 16-player, single round robin event.
Besides Giri, the other players are: Magnus Carlsen (2847), Ian Nepomniachtchi (2789), Levon Aronian (2781), Wesley So (2770), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2770), Teimour Radjabov (2765), Alireza Firouzja (2759), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2758), Sergey Karjakin (2757), Hikaru Nakamura (2736), Daniil Dubov (2710), Jorden Van Foreest (2701), David Anton Guijarro (2673), Nils Grandelius (2670), and Alan Pichot (2630). The top eight in the preliminary will advance to the quarterfinal knockout stage.
Round 10 Standings: 1. Giri 8; 2. Carlsen, 7½; 3-4. So, Nakamura 6½; 5-6. Firouzja, Vachier-Lagrave, 6; 7-9. Aronian, Dubov, Karjakin, 5; 10-11. Nepomniachtchi, Radjabov, 4½; 12-13. Mamedyarov, Grandelius, 4; 14. Van Foreest, 3; 15. Anton Guijarro, 2½; 16. Pichot, 2.
Giri, A (2776)-Carlsen, M (2847) [B36]
chess24.com (4.1) 2021
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.c4 Nf6 6.Nc3 d6 7.Be2 Nxd4 8.Qxd4 Bg7 9.0-0 0-0 10.Qd3 a5 11.Be3 Bd7 12.Bd4 Bc6 13.b3 Nd7 14.Bxg7 Kxg7 15.Qd4+ Kg8 16.Rfd1 Qb6 17.Qxb6 Nxb6 18.f4 f5 19.exf5 Rxf5 20.g3 g5 21.Bd3 Rc5 22.Re1 Re8 23.Ne4 Bxe4 24.Rxe4 gxf4 25.Rxf4 Nd7 26.Re1 Ne5 27.Be4 b5 28.cxb5 Rxb5 29.Rh4 Rb4 30.Bxh7+ Kg7 31.Be4 a4 32.bxa4 Rxa4 33.Re2 Rh8 34.Rxh8 Kxh8 35.Bd5 Ra5 36.Bb3 Nc6 37.Rd2 Kg7 38.Kg2 Ne5 39.h3 Nd7 40.Re2 Kf8 41.Rf2+ Nf6 42.g4 Kg7 43.Rf4 d5 44.g5 Ne4 45.Bxd5 Nxg5 46.Bb3 e5 47.Ra4 Rc5 48.Rc4 Ra5 49.h4 Ne6 50.Ra4 Nf4+ 51.Kf3 Rc5 52.Rc4 Ra5 53.Rc7+ Kh6 54.Bc2 Ra3+ 55.Kg4 Nd3 56.Kf5 Nb4 57.Be4 Rxa2 58.Kg4 1-0
Karjakin, S (2757)-So, Wesley (2770) [C50]
chess24.com (2.7) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.c3 0-0 6.0-0 d6 7.Nbd2 a5 8.Re1 Be6 9.Bb5 Qb8 10.Bxc6 bxc6 11.Nf1 h6 12.Ng3 Re8 13.h3 a4 14.Nh4 Kh7 15.Nhf5 Ng8 16.Qd2 Qd8 17.Kh2 h5 18.d4 Bb6 19.Nxh5 g6 20.Nh6 gxh5 21.Nxg8 Kxg8 22.Qh6 Bd7 23.Bg5 Re6 24.Qxh5 Qf8 25.dxe5 dxe5 26.Rad1 Be8 27.Qh4 Rg6 28.Be3 Bxe3 29.Rxe3 Qh6 30.Qe7 Qg5 31.Qxg5 Rxg5 32.g4 Rb8 33.Rd2 Rg6 34.Red3 Rd6 35.Rxd6 cxd6 36.Kg3 Kf8 37.g5 Ke7 38.h4 Bd7 39.f4 Be6 40.a3 exf4+ 41.Kxf4 Rh8 42.Kg3 c5 43.Rd1 Bc4 44.Rh1 Be2 45.Kf4 Ke6 46.Rh2 Bh5 47.Rd2 Bg6 48.Rh2 f6 49.gxf6 Kxf6 50.Rh3 Rh5 51.c4 Ke6 52.Rh2 Kf6 53.Rh3 Bf7 54.Rc3 Rxh4+ 0-1
So, Wesley (2770)-Aronian, L (2781) [E32]
chess24.com (6.8) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.Nf3 d5 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 dxc4 8.e4 g5 9.Bg3 b5 10.e5 Nh5 11.Qe4 Qd5 12.Qg4 Ng7 13.Be2 f5 14.Qh3 g4 15.Qxh6 gxf3 16.Bxf3 Qxd4 17.0-0 c6 18.Rad1 Qb6 19.Ne4 fxe4 20.Bxe4 Rf5 21.Bxf5 exf5 22.e6 Bf8 23.Be5 c5 24.Bxg7 Bxg7 25.e7 Bd7 26.Qh5 Qc6 27.Rfe1 Be8 28.Rd8 Na6 29.Re6 Qd7 30.Rxa8 Nc7 31.Rd8 Nxe6 32.Rxe8+ Nf8 33.Rxf8+ 1-0
Dubov, D (2710)-So, Wesley (2770) [E06]
chess24.com (7.2) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 0-0 6.0-0 dxc4 7.Na3 Bxa3 8.bxa3 Bd7 9.Ne5 Bc6 10.Nxc6 Nxc6 11.Bb2 Nd5 12.Rc1 Nb6 13.e3 Qe7 14.Qc2 Rfe8 15.Rfd1 Rad8 16.h4 h6 17.Rd2 Rd7 18.Qc3 Red8 19.Rcd1 f5 20.Ba1 a5 21.e4 fxe4 22.Bxe4 Qf6 23.Kg2 a4 24.Re1 Nxd4 25.Bxb7 c6 26.Red1 e5 27.Ba6 Kh8 28.Bxc4 Nxc4 29.Qxc4 Qf3+ 30.Kh3 Qf5+ 31.Kg2 Qf3+ 32.Kh3 Ne2 33.Rxd7 Rxd7 34.Rxd7 Nf4+ 35.Qxf4 exf4 36.Bxg7+ Kh7 37.Bd4+ Kg8 38.Kh2 fxg3+ 39.fxg3 Qe2+ 40.Kg1 Qd1+ 41.Kh2 c5 42.Rg7+ Kf8 43.Bf6 Qe2+ 44.Kg1 Qe1+ 45.Kg2 Qe4+ 46.Kh2 Qf5 47.Ba1 Qf2+ 48.Kh3 Qf1+ 0-1
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PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Rxh3!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Sf7 2.Re8#; 1…Bg1/g3/xf4 2.Rxh8#1…Rf6/e6/d6/c6/b6/a6/g7 2.R(x)g7#; 1…Rg5/g4/g3/g2/g1 2.Sh6#; 1…Re3/d3/xf4/g3/xh3/f2/f1 2.Qa8#./PN
