Gukesh is now World no.17
Both Jorden-Gukesh and Keymer-Grandelius had identical first nine moves in the Slav. Gukesh opted for 9...dxc4 and Grandelius played 9...a5 against their respective opponents.
Gelfand - Arjun: 1-0
Arjun Erigaisi (2701) has played only two rated games against Boris Gelfand (ISR, 2678). Both were in Rapid. He drew one and won the other one at the recently concluded Satty Zhuldyz Rapid and Blitz 2023. The teenager faced the Open Catalan. One can fathom that he is quite well-versed with the opening as his coach, GM Srinath Narayanan often found advocating about Catalan in general.
Black just captured White's pawn 19...exd5. 20.exd5 Ng6 21.Nde4 Qd7 22.f3 maintains some kind of semblance to the position. 20.Nxd5?? blundered material Rxc1 threatening Bxd2 followed by Nf3+ fork 21.Nxb4 Rxa1 22.Rxa1 Qxd2 23.Qxd2 Nf3+ and it's over. White does not have enough compensation for the lost knight.
The Official Photographer of the event, David Llada tweeted on Arjun's game
twitter.com/i/status/1654151883299094533
Jorden - Gukesh: 0-1
The 2021 edition winner and Netherlands no.2, Jorden van Foreest (2689) has played only two rated games against D Gukesh (2732). Both of them were in this year and they were drawn. However, the third game between them turned out to be a decisive.
White's attack diminished after 22.h7+ Kh8 23.a3 Rfd8 24.b4? invited trouble Nb3! 25.Qxb3 Rxd2 26.Rhd1 Rxd1 27.Nxd1 Rxc1+ 28.Kxc1 Kxh7 Black has an extra pawn. However, it is not simple enough to convert the advantage due to the presence of the queens on the board.
White's final mistake in the game was 46.f4. 46.f6+ Kxf6 47.Nf2 would have continued the battle. 46...gxf4 47.Qf3 e4 48.f6+ Kxf6 49.Qxf4+ Qxf4+ 50.Nxf4 and the resultant minor piece endgame is winning for Black.
Time Control
90 minutes for 40 moves and then 30 minutes for the remaining moves with 30 seconds cumulative increment for each move starting from the first move (Malmö rules-no draws before move 40).
Replay Round 1 games
Round 1 results
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||||
| 1 | 1 | 2678 | GM | Gelfand, Boris | 0 - 1 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | 2701 | 8 | |||
| 2 | 2 | 2683 | GM | Svidler, Peter | ½ - ½ | GM | Mishra, Abhimanyu | 2550 | 7 | |||
| 3 | 3 | 2689 | GM | Van Foreest, Jorden | 0 - 1 | GM | Gukesh, D | 2732 | 6 | |||
| 4 | 4 | 2700 | GM | Keymer, Vincent | ½ - ½ | GM | Grandelius, Nils | 2664 | 5 |
Standings after Round 1
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | TB1 | ||
| 1 | 6 | GM | Gukesh, D | IND | 2732 | 1 | |
| 8 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | IND | 2701 | 1 | ||
| 3 | 2 | GM | Svidler, Peter | FID | 2683 | 0,5 | |
| 4 | GM | Keymer, Vincent | GER | 2700 | 0,5 | ||
| 5 | GM | Grandelius, Nils | SWE | 2664 | 0,5 | ||
| 7 | GM | Mishra, Abhimanyu | USA | 2550 | 0,5 | ||
| 7 | 1 | GM | Gelfand, Boris | ISR | 2678 | 0 | |
| 3 | GM | Van Foreest, Jorden | NED | 2689 | 0 |
Round 2 pairings
| Bo. | No. | Rtg | Name | Result | Name | Rtg | No. | |||||
| 1 | 8 | 2701 | GM | Erigaisi, Arjun | GM | Grandelius, Nils | 2664 | 5 | ||||
| 2 | 6 | 2732 | GM | Gukesh, D | GM | Keymer, Vincent | 2700 | 4 | ||||
| 3 | 7 | 2550 | GM | Mishra, Abhimanyu | GM | Van Foreest, Jorden | 2689 | 3 | ||||
| 4 | 1 | 2678 | GM | Gelfand, Boris | GM | Svidler, Peter | 2683 | 2 |
Schedule
4th - 9th May - 3 p.m. CET (6:30 p.m. IST), 10th May - 12 p.m. CET (3:30 p.m. IST).
