Kvika Reykjavik Open R5: Praggnanandhaa spices things up

by Shahid Ahmed - 10/04/2022

Praggnanandhaa likes to take chances when he can. In the fifth round of Kvika Reykjavik Open 2022, Pragg's attempt to score a win almost happened until he missed an intermezzo against Iceland no.2 GM Hedinn Steingrimsson. Gukesh had a short 22-move draw against Brazil no.2 Alexandr Fier. Raunak Sadhwani lost a completely winning game against GM Simon Williams. Adhiban had a mysterious draw in a winning position against IM Brandon Clarke. Abhijeet Gupta was held to a draw by Indonesia no.1 woman Irine Kharisma Sukandar. Tania Sachdev registered her second consecutive victory of the event so far. Round 6 starts today at 9 a.m. local time (2:30 p.m. IST). Photo: Thorsteinn Magnusson/Reykjavik Open 2022

Jarmula maintains his sole lead

Praggnanandhaa is playing ambitiously | Photo: Thorsteinn Magnusson/Reykjavik Open 2022

Hedin - Praggnanandhaa: 0.5-0.5

GM Praggnanandhaa R (2624) decided to spice things up against Iceland no.2 GM Hedin Steingrimsson (2538).

Position after 16...exf3+

Black could have played the solid 16...Rd6 and that would have allowed White to put his king into safety 17.0-0-0. Pragg was not interested in it. He wanted to keep things exciting 16...exf3+ 17.Bxe6 f2+ removes White's castling rights. 18.Ke2 fxe6 now 19.Rhf1 would have been fine for White. Yet he opted 19.Bg5 which created an opportunity for Black 19...Qb8. He did not play it, instead he went for 19...Qe8 threatening Qh5+ 20.Bxf6 Nxf6 removing one of the defender and making room for Black only helped Pragg. 21.Qc4 Rd8 22.Kxf2? Neglecting to activate his rooks and munching the f2-pawn could have been fatal for White.

Position after 22.Kxf2

Black played 22...Rd2+ and the opportunity was lost. What was the intermediate move Black needed to make before going Rd2+ ? White managed to escape with a draw.

Praggnanandhaa's intentions for a win almost paid off | Photo: Thorsteinn Magnusson/Reykjavik Open 2022

Brandon - Adhiban: 0.5-0.5

GM Adhiban B (2633) felt home against IM Brandon Clarke (ENG, 2436). He launched an attack in his typical style 23...Nh4. The position was certainly asking for it.

Position after 23...Nh4+

23...Nh4+ exploits the weak king and poorly coordinated white pieces. 24.Kh1 Nf3 25.Nxf3 Bxf3+ 26.Bxf3 Qxf3+ 27.Kg1 Rg8 28.Nd4 Bxd4 29.cxd4 Ng6 and it's all over for White. The game mysteriously ended in a draw after five more moves when White was on the brink of a loss.

Raunak - Simon: 0-1

GM Raunak Sadhwani (2628) was completely winning against GM Simon Williams (ENG, 2464) until he blundered terribly.

Position after 30...fxg2

31.Rxb7 Bxb7 32.Rc7 is completely winning for White. The only threat Black has is somehow trying to get his knight to h3 and queen to h1. Getting either of them is winning for Black. White blundered 31.Nxd8 Rxc7 32.Rxc7 Ng5 33.f3 gxf3 34.hxg5 Qh5 and White resigned.

White's miss surprised Simon's fellow countryman GM Daniel Gormally

Abhijeet - Irine: 0.5-0.5

GM Abhijeet Gupta (2616) had a complex rook and opposite color bishop endgame against IM Irine Kharisma Sukandar (INA, 2386).

Position after 42...Kf3

There was a tiny window of opportunity for White after 42...Kf3. Find out the winning plan for White here.

IM Tania Sachdev won her second consecutive game to move to 3.5/5 | Photo: Thorsteinn Magnusson/Reykjavik Open 2022

View of the tournament hall from the top boards | Photo: Thorsteinn Magnusson/Reykjavik Open 2022

Replay Round 5 Live commentary by FM Ingvar Thor Johannesson with various guests | Video: Reykjavik Open Chess

A total of 244 players including 22 GMs, 27 IMs, 2 WGMs and a WIM are taking part from 39 different federations across the world. The tournament is organized by Icelandic Chess Federation from 6th to 12th April 2022 in the capital of Iceland, Reykjavik. The nine-round Swiss league tournament has a time control of 90 minutes + 30 seconds for 40 moves, with an addition of 30 minutes + 30 seconds increment.

Replay Round 5 games

Round 5 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	1	GM	Idani Pouya	2638	3½	½ - ½	4	GM	Jarmula Lukasz	2434	25
2	10	GM	Fier Alexandr	2573	3½	½ - ½	3½	GM	Gukesh D	2637	2
3	13	GM	Steingrimsson Hedinn	2538	3½	½ - ½	3½	GM	Praggnanandhaa R	2624	6
4	3	GM	Niemann Hans Moke	2637	3	1 - 0	3½	GM	Gretarsson Hjorvar Steinn	2542	12
5	24	IM	Clarke Brandon G I	2436	3	½ - ½	3	GM	Adhiban B.	2633	4
6	5	GM	Sadhwani Raunak	2628	3	0 - 1	3	GM	Williams Simon K	2464	23
7	7	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2616	3	½ - ½	3	IM	Sukandar Irine Kharisma	2386	35
8	36	IM	Martin Julian	2385	3	0 - 1	3	GM	Warmerdam Max	2599	8
9	9	GM	Andersen Mads	2582	3	1 - 0	3	IM	Soham Das	2303	51
10	37	IM	Thorfinnsson Bjorn	2381	3	0 - 1	3	GM	Mishra Abhimanyu	2524	16

Details

Round 6 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	25	GM	Jarmula Lukasz	2434	4½		4	GM	Andersen Mads	2582	9
2	2	GM	Gukesh D	2637	4		4	GM	Steingrimsson Hedinn	2538	13
3	22	GM	Hjartarson Johann	2465	4		4	GM	Niemann Hans Moke	2637	3
4	6	GM	Praggnanandhaa R	2624	4		4	GM	Mishra Abhimanyu	2524	16
5	8	GM	Warmerdam Max	2599	4		4	GM	Williams Simon K	2464	23
6	20	IM	Beerdsen Thomas	2496	4		4	GM	Fier Alexandr	2573	10
7	4	GM	Adhiban B.	2633	3½		3½	FM	Grieve Harry	2387	34
8	39	IM	Song Julien	2373	3½		3½	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2616	7
9	11	GM	Cornette Matthieu	2569	3½		3½	FM	Heimisson Hilmir Freyr	2321	46
10	12	GM	Gretarsson Hjorvar Steinn	2542	3½		3½	IM	Sarkar Justin	2314	48

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament regulations

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