Andorra Open - Round 3: Ten players lead the standings with 3 points
The third round of the tournament began exactly as the second, that is, at 16:00 hours, the organization handed player Manel Cabarcos (AND) his birthday gift, a ChessDrop t-shirt along with a chess keychain. Unfortunately, the result of the game was not favorable, but at least he started the round with an applause from the players present in the hall!
Next, the head referee, IA Alexandra Muratet, informed all players that they could register for the upcoming night tournament of Festa Major d’Escaldes-Engordany, which will take place next Wednesday at 22:00 hours at the Hotel Panorama.
Then, the round began, with a bunch of interesting games. As you know, up to 26 boards can be followed live on various platforms, as well as the webcam positioned on the top boards.
As we mentioned in the second round’s report, this was to be expected, as the ELO difference between players is getting smaller, making it harder to secure a point.
So, with three points, we find grandmasters Aleksandr Shimanov, Mads Andersen, Andrey Sumets, Danyyil Dvirnyy, and Josep Manel López. The truth is that all of them, except López, played solid games today, and their victories against their opponents were quite clear.
The only exception was Josep Manel López, as his opponent, Norwegian FIDE master Gunnar Lund, made an incredibly interesting piece sacrifice that left him with a very promising attack. Unfortunately, for his interests, a wrong decision on move 21 (instead of 21...Rc8?, 21...g5) gave him much better chances but ultimately turned the game in favor of the Spanish grandmaster.
2023 champion, Andrey Sumets, also didn’t have an easy time. It wasn’t until over 4 and a half hours of play that he defeated Italian FIDE master Lorenzo Fava in a clearly advantageous rook endgame.
Along with the grandmasters mentioned, we also find the following players with 3 points: International Masters Daniel Garcia (ESP), Francisco Fiorito (ARG), Ruben Domingo (ESP), and FIDE masters Serafin Moral (ESP) and Sohum Lohia (ENG). Therefore, a group of 10 players leads the standings with 3 points.
So, what happened with the number one and two ranked players?
Well, they weren’t able to overcome their opponents and ended up signing a draw.
Grandmaster Aryan Tari (NOR) faced off with the white pieces against International Master Ilya Karp (ISR). Tari gained a clear advantage and seemed to be on track to secure the point, but the tenacity of his opponent allowed him to turn the situation around in time trouble, and Karp even had moments, thanks to a queen sacrifice, to gain an advantage.
On the second board, FIDE master Kobe Smeets (NED) presented many difficulties for grandmaster Cristóbal Henríquez (CHI), who, as a reminder, was the winner of the 2024 edition. In fact, the white pieces came out of the Caro-Kann opening with a clear advantage, but the grandmaster managed to normalize the game during the middlegame complications. Still, a new mistake put him in a delicate position, but the Dutch player couldn’t find the best way to take advantage of it, and the game ended in a draw by repetition of moves.
From the local side, the best-ranked player from the Principality is FIDE master Daniel Gómez with 2 points in a day that hasn’t exactly been very favorable for our players’ interests.
Tomorrow more and better... remember, at 16:00 hours!
