MVL, Deac down So & Aronian, Firouzja leads @ Superbet Chess Classic Romania
Long positional grinds from Maxime Vachier-Lagrave & local star Deac fetched them their first wins in the second round of the GCT Superbet Chess Classic Romania at Grand Hotel, Bucharest. Wesley So’s fortunate win on the earlier round got evened out by MVL, while Aronian defended slightly unpleasant position for long before going down to Deac. Firouzja leads the pack with 1.5 points, followed half a point behind by rest of the pack sans Aronian.
World Champion Gukesh Dommaraju shuffled into his second draw through a quiet but well fought Italian against Abdusattorov. The youngest world champ in the history exerted considerable pressure on the Uzbek, but met with resilience and precision. 24.Ng1 the backward knight move by Abdusattorov came up with praise from chess pundits and by the turn of first time control it was down equal Queen and double rook ending. A pawn down into the fifth hour didn’t deter the former World Rapid champion who held on to a gamely draw in 56 moves. Also drawn were the games between Duda – Firouzja & Caruana – Praggnanandhaa.
Little out of the Nimzo Indian Aronian traded off the queen but found himself in back foot as Deac had space and positional edge. The wildcard from hosts Romania played steady and pressurized black who slipped through 29…Nd7 allowing a pawn roll on the queen-side. With a knight caught off-side 33…Na8 black had a ground work to do. Aronian gave a pawn to unwind a bit but Deac never loosened the grip. Aronian defended by a thin margin in the rook and pawn ending but eventually gave on the 81st move.
With a high stake of $ 350,000. prize money one can expect a fight through the whole tournament. This nine round GCT classical event concludes on 16th May, 2025. The 3rd round is scheduled to begin by Friday, 9th May 2025, at 3 PM local time.
Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (2723) – So Wesley (2751) 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Nxe4 6. d4 Be7 7. Re1 b5 8. Rxe4 d5 9. Nxe5 Nxe5 10. Rxe5 bxa4 11. Qe2 f6 12. Re3 c5 13. dxc5 Kf7 14. Nc3 Bxc5 15. Rd3 Qe7 16. Be3 d4 17. Bxd4 Qxe2 18. Nxe2 Re8 19. Nc3 Bxd4 20. Rxd4 a3 21. bxa3 Bf5 22. Nd5 Bxc2 23. Nc7 Rad8 24. Rxd8 Rxd8 25. Nxa6 Ra8 26. Nb4 Bf5 27. a4 Rxa4 28. a3 h5 29. f3 g5 30. Kf2 h4 31. Ke3 Ra5 32. Kd4 Bd7 33. Nd3 Bc6 34. h3 Ke6 35. Rc1 Kd6 36. Nb2 Rd5+ 37. Ke3 Re5+ 38. Kf2 Rb5 39. Nc4+ Ke7 40. Re1+ Kd7 41. Ne3 f5 42. Nc4 Bd5 43. a4 Rb4 44. Ne3 Be6 45. Ra1 Rb2+ 46. Kg1 Re2 47. Ra3 Kc6 48. a5 Kb7 49. a6+ Ka7 50. Rc3 Kb6 51. Nc2 Rd2 52. Nb4 Bd7 53. Ra3 Ka7 54. Re3 Rd1+ 55. Kh2 g4 56. hxg4 fxg4 57. fxg4 Bxg4 58. Re4 Bc8 59. Rxh4 Rc1 60. Rf4 Kb6 61. Rf6+ Kb5 62. Rf8 Kb6 63. Rf4 Rc5 64. g4 Rg5 65. Kg3 Rg8 66. Re4 Kb5 67. Kh4 Rh8+ 68. Kg5 Rg8+ (68…Kb6 might still hold)
69. Kf6 Bxg4 70. Kf7 Rd8 71. Rxg4 Rd1 72. Ke6 Kb6 73. Rg7 1-0
Deac Bogdan-Daniel (2668) – Aronian Levon (2747) 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e3 O-O 5. Bd3 d5 6. Nf3 b6 7. O-O Ba6 8. cxd5 exd5 9. Bxa6 Nxa6 10. Bd2 Re8 11. Rc1 Bf8 12. Qa4 Qc8 13. Ne2 Qb7 14. Qc6 Qxc6 15. Rxc6 Ne4 16. Rfc1 Rad8 17. Be1 Bd6 18. g3 f6 19. h4 Nb8 20. R6c2 c6 21. Nh2 Bf8 22. Nf4 Bd6 23. Ne2 Bf8 24. Kg2 Nd6 25. Nf4 Nb7 26. Nf3 Bd6 27. Nd3 c5 28. dxc5 bxc5 29. Rd1 Nd7 30. b4 c4 31. Nb2 Nb6 32. a4 Bf8 33. a5 Na8 34. a6 Nd6 35. Rxd5 Nb6 36. Ra5 Rc8 37. Nd4 Re5 38. b5 Rc7 39. Kf3 Re8 40. Na4 Nd7 41. Ke2 Kf7 42. g4 Rb8 43. f3 Re8 44. Bg3 Rcc8 45. Nc3 Nc5 46. Bxd6 Bxd6 47. Nc6 Rc7 48. Ra1 Bf8 49. Rd1 Nd3 50. Ne4 Ne5 51. Nd6+ Bxd6 52. Rxd6 Rec8 53. Nxe5+ fxe5 54. b6 axb6 55. Rxb6 c3 56. h5 Rd7 57. h6 g5 58. Rb7 Rxb7 59. axb7 Rb8 60. Rxc3 Rxb7 61. Kd3 Ke6 62. Ra3 Kd5 63. Ra5+ Ke6 64. Ke4 Rb4+ 65. Kd3 Rb3+ 66. Ke2 Rb2+ 67. Kf1 Rb1+ 68. Kg2 Rb2+ 69. Kg3 Rb3 (69…Kf6 was better)
70. Kf2 Rb2+ 71. Kg3 Rb3 72. Ra7 e4 73. Rxh7 Rxe3 74. Rg7 Rxf3+ 75. Kg2 Rf8 76. Rg6+ Ke7 77. Rxg5 Ke6 78. Rg6+ Ke5 79. Rg7 e3 80. h7 Rh8 81. g5 Kd5 1-0
Results (Round 2): Vachier-Lagrave Maxime (1.0) beat So Wesley (1.0), Deac Bogdan-Daniel (1.0) beat Aronian Levon (0.5), Caruana Fabiano (1.0) drew with Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (1.0), Duda Jan-Krzysztof (1.0) drew wtih Firouzja Alireza (1.5), Abdusattorov Nodirbek (1.0) drew with Gukesh Dommaraju (1.0).
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Picture Courtesy: Official Site
