FIDE Grand Swiss 2021

[Mick Norris]

Howell has somehow made a draw on move 142!

And is rewarded with Black vs Praggnanandhaa - yikes.

Howell v Neiksans

Pete Doggers round 2 report

With all of Wednesday's coronavirus test results coming back negatively, the 158 participants of the FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss and Women's Grand Swiss could safely return to the playing hall on Thursday for the second round. They will undergo a test every three days.

The idea is that the players are in a "bubble" while being in either the hotel or playing hall, and they are not supposed to interact with people outside that bubble throughout the tournament. However, it is not always easy to keep a proper distance (two meters is recommended in Latvia), and face masks are not always consistently worn. In addition, there is no strict control on the players; some have already visited a supermarket even though that's not supposed to happen and delivery service is available. All in all, the bubble is unlikely to be maintained perfectly.

[Chris Rice]

Kosteniuk and Alekseenko having a ponder

[NickFaulks]

The Open tournament contains 107 GMs and a single IM, Madagascar's best ever player. He was presumably happy to open his account with a draw in the third round, but instead of repeating moves he should surely have played on. 32...Bxc3, if nothing else suggests itself.

https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2021-fi ... _Antenaina

[Mick Norris]

round 4 pairings and women

Firouzja the only player in either tournament with 3/3

[Mick Norris]

The Open tournament contains 107 GMs and a single IM, Madagascar's best ever player. He was presumably happy to open his account with a draw in the third round, but instead of repeating moves he should surely have played on. 32...Bxc3, if nothing else suggests itself.

https://www.chessbomb.com/arena/2021-fi ... _Antenaina

How old is he? FIDE have his birth year as 1999, but 2700 chess have him rated number 22 online with an age of 7

[Chris Rice]

Intense thinking going on here... (photo Anna Schtourman)

[Chris Rice]

FIDE going above and beyond here....

Sutovsky: "We gave such handmade mittens to all participants of Grand Swiss. Handmade is not by chance. This highlights our attitude. A special one. Artificial. The desire to create a special atmosphere."

[NickFaulks]

How old is he? FIDE have his birth year as 1999, but 2700 chess have him rated number 22 online with an age of

I would say that those two pieces of information are equally suspect.

[David Sedgwick]

How old is he? FIDE have his birth year as 1999, but 2700 chess have him rated number 22 online with an age of

I would say that those two pieces of information are equally suspect.

He played in the World U10 Championship in November 2009, so a year of birth of 1999 is consistent with that.

[Graham Borrowdale]

Intense thinking going on here... (photo Anna Schtourman)

It looks like quite a line up of pieces on the d-file

[Mick Norris]

Thanks both; I'm aware that the photos on the FIDE ratings are not a useful indicator, as you don't know when they were taken

Wiki has 1999 as well (yes, I know, equally unreliable), although I assume it is possible to verify all of

Rakotomaharo won the Malagasy Chess Championship in 2013 and 2018. In May 2019, he won the FIDE Zone 7.3 zonal, qualifying to play in the Chess World Cup 2019 in September, where he was defeated by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in the first round. He won the 2020 French university championship held in Nancy.

[NickFaulks]

How old is he? FIDE have his birth year as 1999, but 2700 chess have him rated number 22 online with an age of

I would say that those two pieces of information are equally suspect.

To be clear, it is the two pieces of chess2700 information that are suspect. There is no reason for his year of birth on the FIDE website to be in question.

[NickFaulks]

Meanwhile, Howell has taken over 45 minutes on move 8. I know that is how he plays, but still cannot stop wishing that he wouldn't.

[Matthew Turner]

Anyone care to pick a winner yet?

I have kept feeling Caruana was a clear favourite, but he keeps letting it slip.

Given everything, I think there is a very good chance of a Russian winning, but there are so so many good ones to choose from! So, by a detailed algorithmic process I'll plump for Fedoseev.

Great to see Shirov rolling back the years and it would be nice to seeing him winning, but I'm not sure how realistic that is.

[Nick Burrows]

MVL