The first day of what is set to be one of the strongest swiss tournaments ever held saw very tough games in the open section, with the majority of the encounters resulting in draws
Going into Wednesday’s final round in the Russian Superfinals, both the open tournament and the women’s championship have a sole leader with a half-point edge over two players sharing second place. In the open, Nikita Vitiugov leads, with Maxim Matlakov and Vladimir Fedoseev standing close behind; among the women, Valentina Gunina is the frontrunner, with her closest chasers being Evgenija Ovod and Polina Shuvalova. | Photo: Eteri Kublashvili
Pavel Eljanov wins Deutschland Grand Prix chessbase.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chessbase.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
€29.90
“It’s an alien game”
Press spokesman at the Dortmund Chess Festival, Patrick Zelbel, asked Vishy Anand whether it is difficult to avoid thinking about castling during these games. Anand responded:
I feel very uncomfortable, of course. It’s an alien game, but okay, that’s the rule. Of course, you want to castle all the time.
In the third game of the match, the sequence
1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 was seen for a third time in Dortmund. Much like in the first encounter, Vladimir Kramnik pushed his pawn to h5 on Wednesday he had done it on move 9, while now he did it earlier, on move 6.
NC Masters in Dortmund: Anand starts with a win chessbase.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from chessbase.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.