Photo by Mikael Svensson
Erigaisi-Keymer
With the black pieces in the Anti-Marshall, Keymer once again showed how good his opening preparations are. Moves like 16.- Ne3! and 18.- c5 were played without any hesitation. Erigaisi played almost as as fast, so he was probably not that surprised. The sharp opening turned into a calmer position, and once they reached a rook endgame, the game ended in a draw by repetition.
Svidler-Korobov
As white in the Sicilian Defense, Svidler opted for a setup that has become popular in the last years. White takes back with the queen on d4, and follows up with b3, Bb2 and 0-0-0. The position turned very complicated, and perhaps white was slightly more comfortable. However, it was not until 23.- Nb5 24.Bxb5 axb5 25. Qe2! that Svidler clearly got the upper hand. Korobov was in time trouble, and 32.- Rd1+ that allowed the white queen to penetrate, was the final mistake.
Grandelius-Maurizzi
Like he has all through the entire tournament, Maurizzi chose a very ambitious variation, this time as black against Grandelius in the Ruy Lopez. Grandelius was up for the challenge, and sacrificed a piece on move 24. It looked like Maurizzi was in trouble, but he defended well, and finally, they reached a drawn queen ending.
Ju-Abdusattorov
Ju played the Alapin variation against Abdusattorov’s Sicilian Defense. After white had forced the weakening of the black position with f7-f6, it looked like she was better. However, black managed to exchange the light square bishops, and the tables were turned. Black had the advantage coming into the endgame, but at move 48, when Abdusattorov had the chance get a decisive attack by combining moves like Rb2+ and Ne4, he instead chose an endgame where he was a pawn up, but where white had realistic drawing chances. Despite not having much time left, Ju defended perfectly, and Abdusattorov was in the end not ever close to winning.