Chess Go Spinny

Group A Oparin-Aronian was a complex tactical battle in which one mistake could be decisive, and Aronian was the one who made it. This meant that Oparin had a chance of qualifying if Esipenko could get a result against Nakamura, but it was not to be; the American defended skilfully and notched up the full point.   Final scores: Nakamura 4, Oparin 3½, Aronian 3, Esipenko 1½ Group B Mamedyarov-Dubov was a fairly tame draw. This meant that one of the players in the other game would at least reach a playoff; as it turned out, it was Keymer, whose kingside attack against Dominguez won him the exchange and the game.   Final scores: Mamedyarov and Keymer 3½, Dominguez 3, Dubov 2   Group C Shankland forced a quick draw by repetition against Vachier-Lagrave. This proved to be enough to get him to the playoffs when the other game, despite So's having a slight edge throughout, also ended in a draw.  Final scores: So and Shankland 3½, Predke and Vachier-Lagrave 2½ Group D This ...

  Group A Oparin's tenure at the top of the group was short-lived, as he was beaten by Nakamura. Aronian joined Nakamura in the lead by demolishing Esipenko; it emerged afterwards that Esipenko had mistaken the orders of the round 5 and 6 games and had prepared for Nakamura instead. Group B Dominguez-Mamedyarov was a fairly uneventful draw. Dubov, needing a win against Keymer to keep his qualification chances alive, sacrificed a piece for an attack; this resulted in an ending where he had several pawns for the piece. Enough compensation, but no more than that, and this game was also a draw. Group C Predke sacrificed a pawn early on against Shankland and never quite got enough for it. Vachier-Lagrave's game against So was a complex battle in Nimzo-Indian theory, and So emerged the victor after a tense struggle. Group D Yu will have been kicking himself after this game, as he blundered in a winning position against Tabatabaei; the latter managed to wriggle out with an ingenious p...

 Round 3 Group A This was the one that got away for Oparin, as he got a winning position against Nakamura, but couldn't find the right move. Even after that, he had a much better position, but it gradually slipped to a draw. In the other game, Aronian briefly held a clear advantage against Esipenko, but again a failure to find the right continuation led to a draw. Group B Mamedyarov-Dominguez was an interesting game, in a state of dynamic equality throughout, but accurate play from both sides meant it ended up as a draw. In the other game, Keymer demolished Dubov to leave the latter a point adrift at the bottom of the group. Group C Shankland was better throughout against Predke, but it lead to one of those frustrating rook endings where he could make no progress despite his extra pawn. So's game against Vachier-Lagrave meanwhile had a load of early exchanges that led to a draw there as well. Group D Giri-Vitiugov was an exciting opposite-side castling game where black ended up...

 With Richard Rapport having set a marker with his 20 points from events 1 and 2, it was now time for event 3 to see if anyone else could hit that mark. While there were a few combinations of results, all involving Nakamura reaching the semi-finals but not winning the event, that could have created a tie on that score, it was widely expected that the Grand Prix qualifiers would be Rapport and one other. It helped him that both of the event 1 finalists, Nakamura and Aronian, were drawn into the same group, and also that Andreikin, runner-up in event 2, had withdrawn for personal reasons. He was, as in event 1, replaced by Esipenko. The other big news with regard to Candidates places was that Karjakin had been suspended by FIDE for breaching the FIDE code of ethics ; assuming this stands, it opens up a Candidates place for the highest-placed eligible player not already qualified. This may prove to be Ding Liren. Round 1 Group A Aronian had found an improvement on his  game again...