Kvika Reykjavik Open R8: Praggnanandhaa crushes Cornette in 25 moves

by Shahid Ahmed - 12/04/2022

GM Praggnanandhaa set the board on fire as he crushed Matthieu Cornette (FRA, 2569) in 25 moves. He is now one of the three leaders along with GM Max Warmerdam (NED) and GM Mads Andersen (DEN) at 6.5/8. Pragg will square off against India's youngest GM D Gukesh in the final round. He scored a beautiful victory over GM Johann Hjartarson (ISL) in the penultimate round. Gukesh is at 6.0/8 with six other players. IM Tania Sachdev missed an opportunity to draw against GM Mads. GM Abhijeet Gupta and IM Soham Das won, GM Adhiban and IM Vardaan drew their respective games. Round 9 starts today at 11 a.m. local time (4:30 p.m. IST). Photo: Niklesh Jain

Gukesh set to face Praggnanandhaa in the final round

Both Praggnanandhaa and Gukesh are playing fantastic chess in this event. They are undefeated. It is only fitting they face each other in the final round with championship implications.

Praggnanandhaa scorched the board with his fiery play | Photo: Niklesh Jain

Praggnanandhaa - Cornette: 1-0

GM Matthieu Cornette (FRA, 2569) took GM Praggnanandhaa (2624) lightly and went for the weak 13...Ng4. It certainly begs for trouble.

Position after 13...Ng4

Try to think like Pragg and find out the best way to exploit Black's mistake 13...Ng4. He obviously struck 14.Nxh7. Black could have opted for 14...Nxf2 15.h5 Qd6 16.g4 and the trouble is a little less than what was played in the game 14...Kxh7 15.h5 Kg8 16.hxg6 f6. Now White decelerated a bit with 17.Rdf1, 17.Bf5 is the computer's choice. Practically, sometimes it is good to slow down and regroup. Since White had a substantial advantage, there was time to do that. He won the game in another eight moves.

Final position after 25.Bxc5

Except for the rook at f1, every piece is actively participating in the destruction of black king.

Praggnanandhaa crushes 2571 GM in 25 moves | Video: ChessBase India

Tania - Anderssen: 0-1

IM Tania Sachdev (2392) gave a couple of unnecessary checks which helped his opponent GM Mads Anderssen (DEN, 2582) to improve his king's position. Despite losing valuable time, it was still not over.

Position after 43...Kb4

44.Rc8 is an incorrect approach to this position. According to theory, rook is placed best behind the passed pawn, be as a defender or the attacker. However, in this position, it is certainly not applicable for the defender. White needed to play on her advantage which is on the kingside. The only way White gets a draw out of this position is to create a passed pawn of her own on the kingside, sacrifice the rook for the a-pawn by dragging the black king furthest from the white pawns. The only way to start that is 44.Kf4 which was possible to play two moves ago. However, it is still not too late. The game continued 44...Ra7 and Black won the game in the next three moves.

Gukesh - Hjartarson: 1-0

GM D Gukesh (2637) scored a fine victory against GM Johann Hjartarson (ISL, 2465).

Position after 29.Nb5

In an already difficult position, Black made further mistakes 28...Qd6 29.Nb5 +- Rxc1 30.Nxd6 Rxd1+ 31.Bf1 Ba6 32.b5 Rd8 33.Qc2 Ra1 34.Qb2 Ra5 35.Nf5. and Black's position fell apart in a hurry.

Final position after 46.Qxc5

What a beautiful finish by Gukesh 46.Qxc5. Black resigned in lieu of 46...bxc5 47.d7 and White regains his queen by promotion.

Replay Round 8 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 8 games

Round 8 results

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	8	GM	Warmerdam Max	2599	6	½ - ½	5½	GM	Idani Pouya	2638	1
2	6	GM	Praggnanandhaa R	2624	5½	1 - 0	5½	GM	Cornette Matthieu	2569	11
3	33	IM	Tania Sachdev	2392	5½	0 - 1	5½	GM	Andersen Mads	2582	9
4	2	GM	Gukesh D	2637	5	1 - 0	5	GM	Hjartarson Johann	2465	22
5	28	GM	Thorfinnsson Bragi	2419	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Niemann Hans Moke	2637	3
6	25	GM	Jarmula Lukasz	2434	5	1 - 0	5	GM	Sadhwani Raunak	2628	5
7	29	GM	Romanishin Oleg M	2415	5	0 - 1	5	GM	Fier Alexandr	2573	10
8	12	GM	Gretarsson Hjorvar Steinn	2542	5	1 - 0	5	FM	Willow Jonah B	2411	30
9	14	IM	Yoo Christopher Woojin	2532	5	½ - ½	5	IM	Korley Kassa	2400	31
10	38	IM	Fantinel Thibault	2378	5	½ - ½	5	GM	Maze Sebastien	2524	15

Details

Round 9 pairings

Bo.	No.		Name	Rtg	Pts.	Result	Pts.		Name	Rtg	No.
1	9	GM	Andersen Mads	2582	6½		6½	GM	Warmerdam Max	2599	8
2	2	GM	Gukesh D	2637	6		6½	GM	Praggnanandhaa R	2624	6
3	1	GM	Idani Pouya	2638	6		6	GM	Mishra Abhimanyu	2524	16
4	10	GM	Fier Alexandr	2573	6		6	GM	Libiszewski Fabien	2510	18
5	25	GM	Jarmula Lukasz	2434	6		6	GM	Gretarsson Hjorvar Steinn	2542	12
6	3	GM	Niemann Hans Moke	2637	5½		5½	GM	Thorhallsson Throstur	2422	27
7	7	GM	Gupta Abhijeet	2616	5½		5½	GM	Thorfinnsson Bragi	2419	28
8	11	GM	Cornette Matthieu	2569	5½		5½	IM	Tania Sachdev	2392	33
9	34	FM	Grieve Harry	2387	5½		5½	IM	Yoo Christopher Woojin	2532	14
10	15	GM	Maze Sebastien	2524	5½		5½	IM	Kolbus Dietmar	2312	49

Details

Links

Official site

Tournament regulations

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