Andorra Open - Round 6: IM Daniel Garcia Wins Nocturnal Tournament, Results Shift Top Standings

IM Daniel Garcia, winner of a new and crowded edition of the Nocturnal Tournament during the Festa Major of Escaldes-Engordany

Although it did not surpass the number of registered players from 2024, this edition continued to be very well-attended. Despite last-minute withdrawals, the final registration for the Nocturnal Tournament of the Festa Major of Escaldes-Engordany stood at 80 players.

This confirms that chess players are more inclined to play at night, considering the starting time of 10:00 PM, and that these tournaments, where there is no ELO rating, are ideal since they are played in a much more relaxed environment, which is the main goal, as they are open to all players passionate about our sport.

The facilities at Hotel Panorama hosted, without issues, both players from the Principality interested in participating, as well as the many foreign players who, taking advantage of their stay in Andorra or their participation in the international open, decided to join the Festa Major tournament with the aim of having fun playing fast-paced games.

Moreover, the roster for a Festa Major tournament was spectacular! 1 grandmaster, 4 international masters, 7 FIDE masters, 2 female FIDE masters, 5 candidates for master, and 4 female candidates for master, totaling 67 players with international ELO ratings.

As in previous editions, the tournament was played at a blitz pace of 3+2, with eight rounds in a Swiss system. The prizes, in addition to the trophies, were tickets to CALDEA, without a doubt the main attraction for many of the participants!

The winner of the tournament was International Master Daniel Garcia Ramos (ESP) as the sole champion, scoring 7 points out of 8 games, half a point ahead of his closest competitors.

In fact, the podium was decided in the last round, as four players were tied at 6 points. Daniel Garcia, at the top table, defeated International Master Ilya Karp (ISR) with black pieces, and benefited from the result at the second table, where IM Mads Vestby-Ellingsen (NOR) drew with FM Konstantinos Michaelides (CYP).

With this result, Cypriot player Michaelides took second place overall, also being the only player to defeat the champion. With the same score, Norwegian Vestby-Ellingsen finished third.

As for the special prizes, the award for the best local player went to Grandmaster Lance Henderson, who with 6 points finished fourth overall, surpassing Esteve Mateu (hey it's me!), who played a very good tournament but was hurt by the tiebreak system and ended up in ninth place.

In the women's prize category, Spanish FIDE Master Adhara Rodríguez Redondo won again, as she did in 2024. This time, she scored 5 points, finishing 18th.

For the ELO range prizes, the winners were as follows: ELO A range, WFM Rebeca Jiménez (ESP); ELO B range, Jan Balló (ESP); ELO C range, Daniel Sánchez (ESP); and ELO D range, Nabil Habib (AND).

The prize ceremony was attended by the “pubillatge” (local title holders) of Escaldes-Engordany, along with the President of GEVA, Josep Ribera. We would like to express our gratitude once again for the support of the Unió Pro-Turisme of Escaldes-Engordany and hope that future editions can continue to be as well-attended as the recent ones!

Draw on the First Board Between Sumets and Shimanov Causes a New Reorganization at the Top of the Standings

All the attention in the sixth round was focused on the game played on the first board between Grandmasters Sumets and Shimanov. Unfortunately, expectations were not met, as both players chose a solid variation of the Queen's Gambit and drew right after the opening, in a position considered equal by current theory.

This result allowed the players ranked from second to ninth boards, who each had four points at the start of the round (18 players in total), to realize that with a victory they could catch up to the leaders in the standings.

The first to take advantage of this was GM Josep Manuel López (ESP), who, with black pieces, defeated FM Serafin Moral on the seventh board. White had chosen a solid variation to counter the always complicated Najdorf variation of the Sicilian Defense. However, a mistake after the opening allowed the Spanish grandmaster to seize a slight initiative. Slowly, he found ways to increase his advantage and claimed victory.

Next, IM Daniel Garcia (ESP), on the eighth board, with white pieces, defeated the young sub-12 Noam Sason (ISR), a player who has been performing very well so far. However, today he was outplayed by his opponent and had no chances.

The winner of the previous edition, GM Cristóbal Henriquez, was the third player to secure a win, defeating FM Sohum Lohia (ENG). The English player drew after the opening with black pieces but made an error on the queen's side that allowed his more experienced opponent to capitalize on the weaknesses and win with relative ease. The last player to join the leading group was GM Mads Andersen (DEN), who had a long game to defeat FM Andre Nielsen (NOR).

Others were unable to win, as has been typical in the later rounds. The top-seeded GM Aryan Tari (NOR) drew with IM Maicej Czopor (POL). The Norwegian player chose a secondary variation to face the Rossolimo system proposed by the Pole, and managed to surprise his opponent, who may not have played the best plan. However, Tari also missed opportunities, and in the end, the draw was agreed due to a repetition in a strange position where the lack of space for black's pieces balanced the extra piece. The engine confirms the decision of both players.

On the sixth board, sub-16 FM Àlex Villa (ESP) also drew against GM Danyyil Dvirnyy (ITA) in a game where he had an advantage but was in a very complicated position.

On the fifth board, a hard-fought game ended after more than four and a half hours with a draw between FM Gunnar Lund (NOR) and GM Arthur Kogan (ISR). In truth, the grandmaster was lucky, as he escaped via perpetual check after being in a losing position.

As a result of these outcomes, the standings are now led by a group of six players, all tied with 5 points: GMs A. Shimanov, A. Sumets, C. Henríquez, M. Andersen, and JM. López, along with IM D. Garcia.

As for the "surprise" results, the U18 FM Gaurang Bagwe (IND) continued his good form. After yesterday’s draw against GM Jaime Cuartas, today he drew again, this time against IM Mads Vestby-Ellingsen. Also from India, sub-16 G Mallar Arya won against FIDE Master Derek Wu (USA).

Sub-14 Jan Balló is another young player achieving great results, and today he drew against Peter Grove (DEN), a theoretically stronger player.

For the Andorran players, there are 3 with 3½ points: FM Raül Garcia, who drew today, and Daniel Gómez, who won. With the same score, CM Josep Mª Ribera also has 3½ points thanks to today’s victory. Next, Àlex Alcón and Andria Ercoli, both with 3 points, also won their respective games today. Manuel Cristofer Luke, with 3 points, lost after missing a good position in the middlegame. Manel Cabarcos was unable to score.

We also highlight the victory of our sub-12 player Gael Reyes, who now has 1½ points, and sub-14 Idan Toker, who has 2 points, both defeating opponents with higher ELO ratings.