Photo by Lars OA Hedlund.
Svidler-Abdusattorov
With the black pieces in the English opening, Abdusattorov played an ambitious variation. However, the balance was kept, and there was no decisive move do be found. When they reached an end game with opposite colored bishops, a draw was agreed upon.
Grandelius-Ju
Grandelius opted for the exchange version in the Queen’s Gambit. Very soon, they reached a symmetrical position, where Grandelius had the better light piece. A knight against black’s light squares bishop is a big advantage in practice, but theoretically, it should not be enough to win the game. Grandelius kept maneuvering, but Ju defended herself patiently. After a while, her pieces became somewhat uncoordinated, but by then, Grandelius had used up too much time to be able to take advantage. Instead of keeping up the pressure, he simplified at move 60, reaching a rook endgame that Ju held easily.
Korobov-Keymer
Korobov chose a safe and calm version against Keymer’s Nimzo-Indian Defense. This allowed black to equalize easily. Surprisingly, Keymer did not play 15.- a4. Instead, he allowed Korobov to carry out b2-b4, after which his bishop pair gave him a slight advantage. On move 27, Korobov offered a queen exchange with Qc5. It might have been better to play e.g. 27.Rc1 Nc4 28.Qf4, with the idea of placing the bishop on d4 next move. Even after exchanging queens, white was slightly better, but Keymer defended well and managed to hold on to half a point.
Erigaisi-Maurizzi
It looked like Maurizzi had equalized as black in the Slav Defense, but at move 22, he could not resist sacrificing a piece on f4, something that was absolutely not necessary. It looked promising to begin with, but once Erigaisi managed to get rid of the knight on f4, he had solved his worst problems. Slowly but surely, white moved ahead, and finally, they reached an endgame that white won easily with his extra piece.
