Praggnanandhaa overpowers Cheparinov and Vitiugov, now World no.16

Praggnanandhaa and Raunak win two in-a-row

Team C A Solvay drew the first round against Magic Extremadura 3-3. In the second round, they defeated C A Jaime Casas de Monzon by a minimum margin 3.5-2.5. Currently, DuoBeniajan Costa Calida and C A Silla - Integrant col·lectius are the coleaders 4/4, followed by Magic Extremadura and C A Solvay at 3/4 each.

Round 1: C A Solvay - Magic Extremadura: 3-3

In the first round, GM R Praggnanandhaa (C A Solvay, 2727) was paired against GM Ivan Cheparinov (Magic Extremadura, 2654). The game reached an equal same color bishop endgame after 44th move.

Praggnanandhaa - Cheparinov

White traded the pawns 53.gxf5 gxf5. The position is still balanced. However, Praggnanandhaa wanted a win. He kept grinding the World no.1 and arrived at a desired position.

Black is in a virtual zugzwang! The king cannot move as the e5-pawn will fall. Moving the bishop means, allowing white to give a check 82...Bc5 83.Bd8+ Kf7 84.Kg5 e4 85.fxe4 fxe4 86.Kf4 e3 87.Kf3 and the position remains balanced. 82...f4? helps White. 83.Kg4 Bc5 84.Bd8+ Kg6 after a couple of moves White played the only winning move 88.d6! Bxd6 89.Bxb6 Bb4 90.Bd8 and White went on to win the game eventually. White stumbled for a moment before the finish line, allowing Black to salvage a draw. However, Black misplayed once again to lose the game.

Round 2: C A Solvay - C A Jaime Casas de Monzon: 3.5-2.5

Just like the match-up against Cheparinov, GM R Praggnanandhaa was facing GM Nikita Vitiugov (C A Jaime Casas de Monzon, 2719) for the first time in a rated game.

Praggnanandhaa - Vitiugov

In a sharp position, it was Black who made the first mistake which at a first glance seems to be the natural move 29...Qxg4? 30.cxd4 b4 31.Nh2 Qd7? 32.Qc7+- forcing the queen exchange Qxc7 33.dxc7 Ne6 34.Nb5 White's c and d-passed pawns are too strong. Soon Black had to give up an exchange. The technique to convert his advantage into a win was not easy. However, Praggnanandhaa did it diligently and won the game.

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A total of eight teams are taking part in Honor Division in a round-robin tournament. Only six out of 7-12 members can play in each round. The tournament is taking place in Linares, Spain from 16th to 22nd September 2023. The time control was 90 minutes + 30 seconds increment per move.

Replay Round 1-2 Honor Division games

Round 2 results

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Standings after Round 2

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Round 3 pairings

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Links

FEDA: Official site, facebook