Nothing compares to the excitement of the final round. The audience loves the adrenaline, and the raised stakes can aggravate the pressure but also serve as a motivator for the players: a final boost to the finish. Round 11 of the 2023 U.S. Championships certainly lived up to the excitement, with the live cameras capturing nail-biting moments that could have been in a movie.
Seven Americans and a retired Croatian consistently put their pieces on the wrong squares at the start of each round. Nine times, they tried to get it right, and nine times, they ended up having to play from unusual starting positions with complicated castling rules instead.
The 6th Sharjah Masters was a top tournament with many young players. Before the final round, eight players shared first place. In the top encounters of the last round, only Arjun Erigaisi managed to win his game and emerged as the tournament winner. | Photos: Tournament page
In Game of the Week #569, Merijn van Delft shows why it's good to be prepared and looks at how Samuel Sevian won convincingly against Nodirbek Yakubboev's King's Indian at the Sharjah Masters. | Merijn’s show is available on-demand with a ChessBase Premium Account. You can <a href="https://account.chessbase.com/en/create-account" target=" blank">register a Premium account here</a>.
Four rounds into the strong Sharjah Masters, eight players are sharing the lead with 3 points each. Among them are Ju Wenjun and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu, the only two players who kicked off the tournament with back-to-back wins. Aryan Chopra is also among the co-leaders the 21-year-old, ranked 35th in Sharjah, beat his higher-rated compatriot Arjun Erigaisi in round 4. | Pictured: Co-leaders Praggnanandhaa and Nihal Sarin drew their round-4 encounter | Photos: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/shjmasters/">Tournament’s Facebook page</a>