Round 6

After European Champion Matthias Blübaum celebrated an impressive win with Black over veteran Michael Adams in round five to move into the leading trio, the schedule had him facing another co-leader, Radoslaw Wojtaszek, with Black again in round six. The game, eagerly awaited, turned into an uneventful Réti. After a series of quick exchanges it reached a balanced endgame, ending in a draw after 30 moves.

Equally balanced was the game between Igor Kovalenko, who has returned to the board after the war in Ukraine and had drawn all his games so far, and the last-placed Adams. Their encounter lasted until move 64, when Kovalenko abandoned his winning attempts in a rook endgame with an extra pawn.

That was the end of the quiet games. The other three encounters all produced winners. The most important was Nodirbek Yakubboev’s victory, which put him back in sole lead. Against Poland’s Pawel Teclaf, the young Uzbek showed better preparation in the Queen’s Indian Defense and outplayed his opponent with White. Although he let his advantage slip on move 23, Teclaf blundered just three moves later and Yakubboev converted without problems. A fine, tactically rich game.

Your Calculation Compass: Know When to Calculate

In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
Free sample video: Introduction
Free sample video: Invisible moves

After five draws at the start of the tournament, Czech player David Navara scored his first victory in round six. He defeated Jan Klimowski, who in the previous round had upset top seed Aravindh Chithambaram with Black. Navara now sits in fourth place, one point behind the leader. For Aravindh, however, the tournament is going poorly. After a decent start with 2.5/4, he has now lost two games in a row. Following his loss with Black to Bartel, he is in seventh place. The Pole moved ahead of the Indian into fifth place, tied on points with sixth-placed Kovalenko.

Results

Standings

Games

Links

• Tournament page
• Chess-Results