Grand Swiss: Maghsoodloo stuns Firouzja, leads

Open: The first sole leader

Parham Maghsoodloo scored the day’s most significant result by defeating Alireza Firouzja, one of the pre-tournament favourites and champion of the 2021 Grand Swiss. With this victory, Maghsoodloo took the sole lead on 3/3 points.

Going into the third round, Maghsoodloo and Firouzja were tied for first with Anton Demchenko. The Slovenian representative faced second seed Arjun Erigaisi with the black pieces. Demchenko defended tenaciously, but faltered in the endgame, allowing Arjun to break through and join the chasing pack on 2½/3.

Arjun Erigaisi checking out his colleagues’ games | Photo: Michal Walusza

Arjun is one of six players standing half a point behind Maghsoodloo. He is joined by Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, Gukesh Dommaraju, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, Abhimanyu Mishra and Szymon Gumularz, all of whom collected wins on Saturday. The three established stars – Praggnanandhaa, Gukesh and Abdusattorov – are all among the top ten seeds, while Abhimanyu and Gumularz have over-performed at the start of the eleven-round event.

Abhimanyu’s win came against Yu Yangyi, after the Chinese grandmaster allowed his queen to be trapped in a Petroff Defence by a clever tactical resource. Gumularz, meanwhile, defeated Grigoriy Oparin from the white side of a Sicilian Defence.

Other highlights on the leading boards included Boris Gelfand putting up strong resistance against Praggnanandhaa before eventually succumbing, Gukesh exploiting Daniil Yuffa’s mishandling of a sharp opening line, and Abdusattorov outplaying Abhimanyu Puranik with patient, precise manoeuvring.

A notable missed opportunity came on board five, where 14-year-old Turkish prodigy Yagiz Erdogmus outplayed Vincent Keymer, the fifth seed, but failed to find the decisive tactical blow in the last move before the first time control. Keymer survived and held the draw.

The round four pairings on the top boards are surely appealing: Maghsoodloo will have white against Abdusattorov, Praggnanandhaa will play white against Abhimanyu, and Gukesh will take on Arjun in a clash between the second and third seeds.

Nodirbek Abdusattorov | Photo: Michal Walusza

Firouzja 0-1 Maghsoodloo

This video course includes GM Anish Giri’s deep insights and IM Sagar Shah’s pertinent questions to the super GM. In Vol.1 all the openings after 1.e4 are covered.

The ever-fighting Alireza Firouzja | Photo: Michal Walusza

Gelfand 0-1 Praggnanandhaa

Analysis by GM Karsten Müller

Boris Gelfand and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu sharing notes after a hard-fought struggle | Photo: Michal Walusza

Erdogmus ½-½ Keymer

Yagiz Kaan Erdogmus playing white against Vincent Keymer | Photo: Michal Walusza

Abhimanyu 1-0 Yu

From Mating with a queen; a rook; two bishops; a knight and a bishop; to the basics of pawn endgames – here you will gain the necessary know-how to turn your endgame advantages into victories!

Abhimanyu Mishra | Photo: Michal Walusza

Standings after round 3

…116 players

All games

Women’s section: Vaishali keeps perfect score

The women’s tournament also produced a sole leader. Vaishali Rameshbabu, winner of the 2023 Women’s Grand Swiss, is the only player on a perfect 3/3 score. She defeated former co-leader Olga Badelka with white out of a Pirc Defence. The double-edged middlegame saw Badelka miscalculate, and Vaishali seized the chance to punish the mistake energetically, claiming the full point.

Three players are on 2½/3, trailing by half a point: Kateryna Lagno, Song Yuxin and Dinara Wagner. Lagno began the tournament with a draw against Nurgyul Salimova, but has since won two games in a row, beating Umida Omonova and Xeniya Balayeva – both of whom had produced upset victories earlier in the exciting start of the women’s event. Song joined the chasing pack by defeating Vantika Agrawal, whose natural-looking manoeuvre in a sharp French Defence backfired. Wagner, on her part, outplayed Meruert Kamalidenova with black.

A large group of seventeen players stand on 2/3 points (i.e. a full point behind the leader). Among them are three of the highest-rated competitors: Tan Zhongyi, Bibisara Assaubayeva and Mariya Muzychuk.

In this course, we will learn how to identify passively placed pieces in any given situation and how to improve their health by bringing them into active squares.

In round four, Vaishali will play black against Wagner on the top board, while Lagno will have white against Song in the other clash among the frontrunners.

Dinara Wagner playing black against Meruert Kamalidenova | Photo: Michal Walusza

Vaishali 1-0 Badelka

Vaishali Rameshbabu | Photo: Michal Walusza

Song 1-0 Vantika

This DVD focuses on several types of material imbalances, such as Rook vs 2 Pieces, Queen vs 2 Rooks, and Queen vs Pieces.

Song Yuxin defeated Vantika Agrawal | Photo: Michal Walusza

Standings after round 3

…56 players

All games

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