Grand Swiss: Firouzja is Sole Leader After Round 8
Tournament leader, 18-year old Alireza Firouzja scored another victory in the Grand Swiss in Riga. He won as White against Krishnan Sasikiran securing that he alone is at the top before Round Nine, a full point ahead of the rest.
FIDE Grand Swiss is a recent addition to the World Chess Championship cycle. It’s a large Swiss event to select two players for the next Candidates tournament. The winner of that tournament will become the challenger for the next World Chess Championship Match, likely to be held in March of 2023. There are 108 players in the Grand Swiss Open section.
In round 8, Firouzja faced another tournament leader Krishnan Sasikiran, a Grandmaster from India (In Swiss events, winners are paired against winners). The opponents chose the Italian Game, recently seen in the Nepomniachtchi – Aronian and Vachier-Lagrave – Swiercz games (White won in both). According to the FIDE round recap, after move 13 the Indian GM Sasikiran introduced a novelty of questionable quality (13...f5?). Black sacrificed an exchange hoping for the counterplay on the kingside, but Firouzja responded by trading his queen for a rook and two lighter pieces and obtained an overwhelming advantage.
In an interview afterword, Firouzja explained that he had to maintain maximum concentration until the very end of the round as his opponent is ‘very resourceful’. The 18-year old prodigy is a full point ahead of the pack. The second spot is shared by Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and Alexey Shirov.
Firouzja’s post game interview
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave played on board two against Shirov. One of Shirov’s pet lines was played – the Morphy Defence of the Ruy Lopez. White sacrificed a pawn and got sufficient compensation but a few moves later Black returned the gift, simplifying the position. The game quickly transpired into an endgame in which Shirov was perfectly solid. After 48 moves the players agreed to a draw. Both players are now on 5.5/8 and with solid chances for the two top places.
Round 9 begins at 1PM Local time and can be followed on World Chess.
