Kvika Reykjavik Open R6-7: Tenacious Tania beats Iceland no.2 Hedinn Steingrimsson

by Shahid Ahmed - 11/04/2022

IM Tania Sachdev started Kvika Reykjavik Open 2022 with only 1.5/3. Then she won her next four games in-a-row. The seventh round victory against Iceland no.2 GM Hedinn Steingrimsson is extra special. She showed her resilience and beat his opponent in a completely lost queen endgame. Adhiban, Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh all three of them were unable to beat him. GM Max Warmerdam (NED) has taken sole lead 6.0/7. He is closely followed by Praggnanandhaa, Mads Andersen (DEN), Tania, Pouya Idani (IRI) and Matthieu Cornette (FRA) at 5.5/7 each. Round 8 starts today at 4 p.m. local time (9:30 p.m. IST). Photo: Thorsteinn Magnusson/Reykjavik Open 2022

Tania soars to the top, joins Praggnanandhaa

GM D Gukesh played excellent against IM Pierre Laurent-Paoli (FRA). However, he was unable to convert his advantage and eventually salvaged a draw, after his opponent could not find a way to win. Raunak Sadhwani won both of his games, second one being a short 22-move victory. He is now at 5.0/7, same as Gukesh. Abhijeet Gupta, Adhiban, IM Soham Das and IM Vardaan Nagpal are at 4.5/7 each.

Tania's perseverance paid off | Photo: Thorsteinn Magnusson/Reykjavik Open 2022

Round 6: Praggnanandhaa - Abhimanyu Mishra: 1-0

GM Abhimanyu Mishra (USA, 2524) went wrong early in the middlegame against GM Praggnanandhaa (2624).

Position after 17.Qd1

17...Bc5 18.Nxe5 Qxe5 19.Rd2 is fine for Black. However, he opted 17...Nxc4 18.Rxc4 Be6 19.Nb5 causes Black to lose bishop pair for a rook. He decided to give up his queen for a rook and bishop 19...Bxc4 20.Nxc7 Bxc7. It did not change the outcome, only prolonged the inevitable.

Battle of prodigies | Praggnanandhaa vs Abhimanyu Mishra | Video: ChessBase India

Round 7: Pierre - Gukesh: 0.5-0.5

GM Gukesh (2637) got himself a very good position against IM Pierre Laurent-Paoli (FRA, 2487).

Position after 31...a3

Black's passed pawns on a and b-file certainly look menacing. White's attack on the kingside lacks proper direction. However a couple of inaccurate moves by Black allowed White to get back in the game 32.Qg3 f6 33.e6 Ba2. Soon things turned completely in White's favor, despite Black having two queens on the board.

Position after 39.Ng6

39.Rxe6 would have been good enough for White. 39.Ng6 is also winning. After some inaccuracies by White, the game liquidated into a queen and rook endgame where draw became the obvious result.

Hedinn - Tania: 0-1

IM Tania Sachdev (2392) could have defended the queen ending actively against GM Hedinn Steingrimsson (ISL, 2538). Well, the result probably would have ended in a draw.

Position after 75.Qxc6+

Black has only one pawn left at d4 and White has three. Black's king is relatively safer in the open and should be happy to salvage a draw out of this. White has to play precisely to convert this into a win. White can win in many ways, of course it is not easy. Soon Black found herself promoting her queen faster than the opponent. He had to resign because of imminent checkmate threat.

Final position after 94...d1Q+

Never give up! Tania Sachdev's queen endgame vs GM Steingrimsson | Reykjavik Open 2022 | Video: ChessBase India

Replay Round 6 Live commentary by FM Ingvar Thor Johannesson with various guests | Video: Reykjavik Open Chess

Replay Round 7 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 6-7 games

Round 7 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	9	GM	Andersen Mads	2582	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Praggnanandhaa R	2624	6
2	22	GM	Hjartarson Johann	2465	5	0 - 1	5	GM	Warmerdam Max	2599	8
3	20	IM	Beerdsen Thomas	2496	4½	0 - 1	4½	GM	Idani Pouya	2638	1
4	21	IM	Laurent-Paoli Pierre	2487	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Gukesh D	2637	2
5	10	GM	Fier Alexandr	2573	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Jarmula Lukasz	2434	25
6	24	IM	Clarke Brandon G I	2436	4½	0 - 1	4½	GM	Cornette Matthieu	2569	11
7	31	IM	Korley Kassa	2400	4½	½ - ½	4½	GM	Gretarsson Hjorvar Steinn	2542	12
8	13	GM	Steingrimsson Hedinn *)	2538	4½	0 - 1	4½	IM	Tania Sachdev	2392	33
9	39	IM	Song Julien	2373	4½	½ - ½	4½	IM	Yoo Christopher Woojin	2532	14
10	15	GM	Maze Sebastien	2524	4½	½ - ½	4½	IM	Cummings David H.	2321	45

Details

Round 8 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	8	GM	Warmerdam Max	2599	6		5½	GM	Idani Pouya	2638	1
2	6	GM	Praggnanandhaa R	2624	5½		5½	GM	Cornette Matthieu	2569	11
3	33	IM	Tania Sachdev	2392	5½		5½	GM	Andersen Mads	2582	9
4	2	GM	Gukesh D	2637	5		5	GM	Hjartarson Johann	2465	22
5	28	GM	Thorfinnsson Bragi	2419	5		5	GM	Niemann Hans Moke	2637	3
6	25	GM	Jarmula Lukasz	2434	5		5	GM	Sadhwani Raunak	2628	5
7	29	GM	Romanishin Oleg M	2415	5		5	GM	Fier Alexandr	2573	10
8	12	GM	Gretarsson Hjorvar Steinn	2542	5		5	FM	Willow Jonah B	2411	30
9	14	IM	Yoo Christopher Woojin	2532	5		5	IM	Korley Kassa	2400	31
10	38	IM	Fantinel Thibault	2378	5		5	GM	Maze Sebastien	2524	15

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament regulations

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