Strong points
1.e4 from MVL
Following his impressive victory in the Sinquefield Cup, where MVL scored 4.5 / 5 points with the Whites, the French number one won 3 crushing games as Whites in the Grand Suisse first half. The match between MVL and Anton Demchenko in Round 4 saw a rare variation of Ruy Lopez, in which White takes central control while Black fights for activity on the flanks. MVL’s successive central advances overwhelmed the black defenses and the ensuing king-wing attack proved decisive.
The French defense has recently gained more attention from players at the highest level, as Nepomniachtchi tried the Winawer twice in the 2020 candidates, and some new ideas were shown for black in classic French (3.Nc3 Nf6) by Grischuk and Bluebaum, among others. Therefore, 1.e4 players looked for new ideas to challenge their opponents. In Round 6, MVL used a bet in advanced French with a modern twist of neural network engines. White’s game is based on slowing black’s development and advancing the h-pawn to create pressure on the king-wing.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave wants to qualify for the Candidates | Photo: Anna Shtourman
Departure 3/3 from Firouzja
After a brilliant queen sacrifice in round 2, Alexandr Predke faced a tough clash in round 3 with the black pieces against Alireza Firouzja. Firouzja got a clear advantage from the opening but allowed Predke to escape most of his pressure on the queen wing and reach a tenable final. In the end, the game was decided by the difference in activity of the kings, on which Firouzja had concentrated his efforts.
Alireza Firouzja, 18 years old and with a live-rating of 2777.6 currently world number five | Photo: Anna Shtourman
Sail on Ruy Lopez Vol. 1-3
La Ruy Lopez is one of the oldest openings which continues to enjoy great popularity from club level to the absolute world top. In this video series, US super GM Fabiano Caruana, speaking to IM Oliver Reeh, presents a full repertoire for White.
Fire on board
Alexei Shirov played in his aggressive and uncompromising style to share the first place after 6 laps. In his Round 5 clash against Ivan Saric, Shirov used a fashionable variant of the 6… Bc5 Ruy Lopez and quickly took the initiative after his opponent’s initial setback.
Alexey Chirov | Photo: Anna Shtourman
Ideas everywhere
In a tournament with over 100 Grandmasters, new and exciting ideas can be seen at every turn as everyone tries to put their preparation to good use. Among the many examples to choose from, a match between Jorden Van Foreest and Surya Ganguly caught my eye. Van Foreest made a surprising pawn sacrifice in the English opening, posed huge practical problems for his opponent and won a very good attacking game.
I look forward to the excitement of the last 5 rounds, where the best players in the world battle to qualify for the 2022 Candidates and FIDE Grand Prix events.
Grand Swiss Open – Classification after the 6th round
| Rk. | SNon | name | NOURISHED | Rtg | pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | ||
| 1 | 3 | DG | Firouzja Alireza | 2770 | 4.5 | 20.0 | 22.5 | 16.00 | 0.0 | ||
| 2 | 4 | DG | Vachier-Lagrave Maxime | 2763 | 4.5 | 18.0 | 21.0 | 15.50 | 0.0 | ||
| 3 | 38 | DG | Najer Evgeniy | 2654 | 4.5 | 16.5 | 18.5 | 14.00 | 0.0 | ||
| 4 | 54 | DG | Sasikiran Krishnan | 2640 | 4.5 | 16.0 | 17.5 | 13.25 | 0.0 | ||
| 5 | 32 | DG | Shirov Alexei | 2659 | 4.5 | 14.5 | 16.0 | 11.25 | 0.0 | ||
| 6 | 11 | DG | Yu yangyi | 2704 | 4.0 | 19.5 | 22.5 | 14.50 | 0.0 | ||
| 7 | 1 | DG | Caruana Fabiano | 2800 | 4.0 | 19.0 | 22.0 | 14.50 | 0.0 | ||
| 8 | 89 | DG | Petrossian Manuel | 2605 | 4.0 | 18.5 | 20.0 | 12.75 | 0.0 | ||
| 9 | 41 | DG | Nihal Sarin | 2652 | 4.0 | 18.0 | 20.0 | 12.25 | 0.0 | ||
| ten | 20 | DG | Korobov Anton | 2690 | 4.0 | 17.0 | 19.5 | 12.75 | 0.0 | ||
| 11 | 48 | DG | Tari Aryan | 2646 | 4.0 | 17.0 | 18.5 | 11.75 | 0.0 | ||
| 12 | 27 | DG | Gabriel Sargissien | 2664 | 4.0 | 16.5 | 18.5 | 12.25 | 0.0 | ||
| 13 | 17 | DG | Navara david | 2691 | 4.0 | 16.5 | 18.5 | 11.50 | 0.0 | ||
| 14 | 28 | DG | Sjugirov Sanan | 2663 | 4.0 | 16.0 | 18.5 | 12.00 | 0.0 | ||
| 15 | 40 | DG | Sevian Samuel | 2654 | 4.0 | 16.0 | 18.0 | 11.50 | 0.0 |
… 108 players
All Games – Round 6
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Grand Swiss Women – Ranking after the 6th round
| Rk. | SNon | name | NOURISHED | Rtg | pts. | TB1 | TB2 | TB3 | TB4 | ||
| 1 | 7 | DG | Lei tingjie | 2505 | 5.0 | 18.0 | 20.5 | 16.50 | 0.0 | ||
| 2 | ten | DG | Batsiashvili Nino | 2484 | 4.5 | 20.0 | 23.0 | 16.50 | 0.0 | ||
| 12 | I AM | Elisabeth Paehtz | 2475 | 4.5 | 20.0 | 23.0 | 16.50 | 0.0 | |||
| 4 | 15 | WGM | Zhu Jiner | 2455 | 4.5 | 20.0 | 22.0 | 15.50 | 0.0 | ||
| 5 | 13 | WGM | Pogonina Natalija | 2467 | 4.5 | 18.0 | 20.0 | 14.00 | 0.0 | ||
| 6 | 4 | DG | Harika Dronavalli | 2511 | 4.0 | 19.0 | 21.0 | 13.00 | 0.0 | ||
| 7 | 18 | I AM | Javakhishvili Lela | 2446 | 4.0 | 18.0 | 20.5 | 12.25 | 0.0 | ||
| 8 | 3 | DG | Alexandra Kosteniuk | 2518 | 4.0 | 18.0 | 19.0 | 11.00 | 0.0 | ||
| 9 | 1 | DG | Muzychuk Mariya | 2536 | 4.0 | 17.5 | 20.5 | 13.50 | 0.0 | ||
| ten | 22 | WGM | Zawadzka Jolanta | 2428 | 4.0 | 16.0 | 18.0 | 10.75 | 0.0 | ||
| 11 | 21 | I AM | Munguntuul Batkhuyag | 2433 | 4.0 | 14.5 | 16.5 | 10.00 | 0.0 | ||
| 12 | 8 | I AM | Kashlinskaya Alina | 2493 | 4.0 | 14.0 | 16.0 | 9.00 | 0.0 | ||
| 13 | 2 | DG | Dzagnidze Nana | 2524 | 3.5 | 21.5 | 24.5 | 13.50 | 0.0 | ||
| 14 | 34 | I AM | Assaubayeva Bibisara | 2400 | 3.5 | 18.0 | 21.0 | 12.00 | 0.0 | ||
| 15 | 23 | I AM | Osmak Iulija | 2423 | 3.5 | 17.5 | 20.0 | 11.25 | 0.0 |
… 50 players
All Games – Round 6
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