Round 3 report

Jordan Van Foreest is in the lead after three rounds, closely followed by the also undefeated Gawain Jones.

Grandelius-Bacrot
A balanced exchange slav until Grandelius made an uncharacteristic blunder with 26.a4. It cost a piece and soon after the game.

Van Foreest vs Short
Van Foreest vs Short. Photo: Lars OA Hedlund

Van Foreest-Short
Van Foreest surprised with the unusual 11.f4 in a Scotch game. Short replied with the subpar 11.-g6 and Van Foreest soon had a promising attack. Despite black’s inventive defence there was no stopping white’s win.

 

 

 

Bjerre-Sarin
Long theoretical line in the Sveshnikov. The game was never unbalanced and after several exchanges a draw was agreed.

Jones-Keymer
Keymer chose the Caro-Kann defence and equalised comfortably. Both players tried to gain the initiative, but an opposite coloured bishop ending resulted in a draw.

Pairings round 4

Sunday September 26th 14.00 CET

Nigel Short – Jonas Buhl Bjerre
Nils Grandelius – J Van Foreest
Nihal Sarin – Gawain Jones
Etienne Bacrot – Vincent Keymer

Round 2 report

Another exciting round! This time every game ended with hard fought draws.
 
Short vs Grandelius. Photo: Lars OA Hedlund

Short-Grandelius

A sharp Sicilian were both players had chances. Short looked like pulling the longest straw, but after the complications only a drawn endgame was left. 
 
 
 
 
 
Keymer-Bjerre
Despite an early queen exchange the play was sharp. Keymer’s bishop pair could eventually even out Bjerre’s extra doubled pawn and no winner could be found. 
 
Sarin-Van Foreest
Sarin’s early pressure became an extra pawn, but at the cost of a bad overall pawn structure. Van Foreest defended admirably and managed to enter a drawn knight endgame, despite being two pants down. 
 
Bacrot-Jones
An early h4 showed white’s ambitions, but Jones defended with ease. Black then sacrificed the exchange to try and get the initiative. But Bacrot gave back the material and a drawn opposite coloured bishop endgame shared the point. 
 

Parings round 3

Saturday September 25th 14.00 CET

Nils Grandelius – Etienne Bacrot
J Van Foreest – Nigel Short
Jonas Buhl Bjerre – Nihal Sarin
Gawain Jones – Vincent Keymer