No fewer than 54 players have won both their first encounters at the main event of the Sunway Festival in Sitges. However, round 2 saw five 2600+ rated players draw against much lower-rated opponents. Russian rising star Andrey Esipenko was held to a draw by French FM Mathieu Phileas, who in fact could have won the game had he made the most of his chances in a queen and rook endgame. | Pictured: The first blitz tournament of the festival took place on Tuesday night
No major upsets were seen in round 1 of the Sunway Main Tournament, as 16 out of the top 20 seeds won their games in Sitges. Amin Tabatabaei, the tenth seed, lost by forfeit, while two former winners of the event (plus Jules Moussard) were held to draws by lower-rated opponents i.e. Ivan Cheparinov and Anton Korobov. | Pictured: A beautiful sunset from the 2021 edition. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
After Nihal Sarin and Anna Ushenina claimed titles in the rapid tournaments of the Tata Steel Chess India event, the 2-day blitz section kicked off on Saturday. The women’s tournament saw Mariya Muzychuk having a blasting start, as she scored 8/9 points to grab a commanding lead. In the open, meanwhile, Arjun Erigaisi tops the standings with 6½/9 points; Shakhriyar Mamedyarov stands close behind, a half point back. | Photo: Lennart Ootes
The World Team Chess Championship kicked off in Jerusalem on Sunday. With a new ‘slow rapid’ format, the event saw the teams from each of the two pools playing two matches on the first day of action. Pool A saw China and Ukraine winning both their matches, while only Azerbaijan managed the same feat in Pool B. Four out of six squads in each group will move on to the quarterfinals. | Pictured: France’s Laurent Fressinet (currently on 2 out of 2) | Photo: Mark Livshitz
The Cantabrians from C.A. Solvay were crowned champions of the Spanish League’s ‘División de Honor’ after securing a decisive victory over Magic Extremadura in the final round. The team led by Pentala Harikrishna and Gukesh Dommaraju was the only one of four co-leaders to get a win in Saturday’s seventh round. DuoBeniaján Costa Cálida from Murcia and Magic from Extremadura got second and third place, respectively. | Photos: Spanish Chess Federation