Abdusattorov beats Duda, lead unchanged @ GCT Superbet Romania
GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov (Uzbekistan) scored his first victory, a fine win over GM Duda Jan-Krzysztof (Poland) in the seventh round of the $ 350,000 prize money GCT Superbet Chess Classic Romania at Grand Hotel, Bucharest. Tournament lead position remained unchanged with GMs Alireza Firouzja, Fabiano Caruana, Vachier-Lagrave Maxime and Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu leading the trail at 4.0 points each. Half a point behind were the quartet Wesley So, Deac Bogdan-Daniel, Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Levon Aronian at 3.5 points.
The Uzbek Grandmaster a had good day in office as he held the steering from the word go giving zero chances to Polish GM Duda. This Rubinstein Opening game would go down as one of Abdusattorov’s memorable victories. With white making the best moves, move after move, Duda found himself facing the heat little out of the opening. Like an expert Formula 1 driver never willing to relinquish the lead or space Nodirbek outpaced Duda from pole position to chequered flag. After 18. Rg3 it was white which was calling the shots, when black’s position went from mild discomfort to undefendable very quickly. With 30…Bd6 Duda allowed more structural damage to his king side which white capitalised. The combination of queen and double rooks played havoc forcing black’s resignation by the 49th move.
Remaining four games between Pragg – Firouzja, Aronian – Caruana, Gukesh – So, Deac – MVL ended in draws. With a sub-par performance of minus two so far, the world champion Gukesh would be working to turn it around in the final two rounds. A bare half point separates 8 of the 10 players, showing the intensity of the pack in the home run. The 8th round is scheduled to begin by Thursday, 15th May 2025, at 3 PM local time.
Abdusattorov Nodirbek (2771) – Duda Jan-Krzysztof (2739) 1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. e3 e6 4. Bd3 c5 5. b3 cxd4 6. exd4 b6 7. O-O Be7 8. Qe2 O-O 9. Bb2 a5 10. a4 Ba6 11. Bb5 Qc8 12. c4 Ra7 13. Nc3 Rc7 14. Ne5 Bb7 15. Rad1 Rd8 16. Rd3 Na6 17. Rfd1 Nb4 18. Rg3 dxc4 19. bxc4 Rd6 20. h4 Qf8 21. h5 h6 22. Bc1 Kh8 23. Bf4 Rc8 24. Re3 Na6 25. d5 Nc5 26. Re1 Rdd8 27. Bc6 Ba6 28. Qf3 Kg8 29. Nb5 Bxb5 30. Bxb5 Bd6 31. Bxh6 Bxe5 32. Rxe5 gxh6 33. Qxf6 Rd6 34. R1e3 Rcd8 35. Rg3+ Kh7 36. Kh2 exd5 37. Qf5+ Kh8 38. cxd5 Nd7 39. Bd3 Nf6 40. Qf4 R8d7 41. Rf5 Nh7 42. Bb5 Ra7 43. Re3 Rd8 44. Rfe5 Qd6 45. Re8+ Kg7 46. Rg3+ Ng5 47. Qd4+ f6 48. Rxd8 Qxd8
49. f4 1-0
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (2758) – Alireza Firouzja (2757) 1. c4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 e6 6. g3 Bc5 7. Nb3 Bb4 8. Bg2 d5 9. cxd5 exd5 10. O-O Bxc3 11. bxc3 O-O 12. Qc2 h6 13. c4 dxc4 14. Qxc4 Be6 15. Qa4 Re8 16. Bb2 Nd7 17. Qf4 Bxb3 18. axb3 Qg5 19. Qc4 Nb6 20. Qc2 Nb4
21. Qc3 (better was 21. Qb1 Rxe2 22. Bxb7 Rae8 23. Bf3 R2e7 24. Bg2 a6 25. Rd1 Re2 26. h4 Qh5 27. Bf1 Nc2 28. Bxe2 Rxe2 29. Rd8+ Kh7 30. Re8 Rxe8 31. Qxc2+ Kg8 32. Qd3 Qe2 33. Qxe2 Rxe2 34. Bd4 Nd5 35. Rxa6 gives a clear plus for Pragg..) 21…N6d5 22. Qf3 Qd2 23. Bc1 Qxe2 24. Qxe2 Rxe2 25. Ra5 Nc3 26. Bxb7 Rb8 27. Bf3 Ra2 28. Rc5 Ne2+ 29. Bxe2 Rxe2 30. Rd1 Rc2 31. Be3 Rxc5 32. Bxc5 Na6 33. Bxa7 Rxb3 34. Rd8+ Kh7 35. Rd6 Nb8 36. Bxb8 Rxb8 37. Rd7 Kg8 38. Rd6 Kh7 39. Rd7 Kg8 40. Rd6 Kh7 1/2-1/2
Results (Round 7): Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (4.0) drew with Firouzja Alireza (4.0), Abdusattorov Nodirbek (3.5) beat Duda Jan-Krzysztof (2.5), Aronian Levon (3.5) drew with Caruana Fabiano (4.0), Gukesh Dommaraju (2.5) drew with So Wesley (3.5), Deac Bogdan-Daniel (3.5) drew with Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (4.0)
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