Andorra Open - Round 7: GM Josep Manuel López leads solo with two rounds to go

This seventh round began with the presence of a very special guest, Monsignor Ramón from Canillo, a great chess enthusiast, as all the children who go, year after year, to the Aina Summer Camp well know.

Perhaps outside the country, he is not very well known, but in Andorra, he is quite an institution. If you want to know more, we recommend you look up information on the AINA website!

The Monsignor addressed a few words to all the participants of this edition, and then made the honorary move in the game between Grandmasters Aleksandr Shimanov and Mads Andersen, which marked the start of the round.

The main focus of this seventh round has been on the games of the top three boards, where the six players who, after yesterday's round, were leading the standings with 5 points were located.

The first game to finish was, precisely, the one played on the second board between Shimanov and Andersen. White played an English opening, but the final structure was the typical Indian Benoni with reversed colors. The Danish player came out of the opening with a good position through very logical play. White tried to find a way to turn the situation around, but in any case, at the moment the draw was agreed, the black position was preferable.

On the first board, the match between Grandmasters Josep M. López (ESP) and Cristóbal Henríquez (CHI) ended with a victory for the Spanish player. "Superlópez" just won the Bressol Chess Open last week in Valencia and, as he is demonstrating in Andorra, he continues in great form.

With white pieces, he controlled the game throughout, playing a Catalan opening that transposed into a "stonewall" structure. He made the necessary piece exchanges and opened the queen's side, eventually entering his opponent's position and forcing a resignation. Josep Manuel leads the open tournament solo with 6 points from 7 rounds played.

Regarding the matchup between IM Daniel Garcia (ESP) and GM Andrey Sumets (UKR), this also ended in a draw after over four and a half hours of play. The game, a French defense, was always quite balanced despite some complications. In the end, Daniel reached an endgame with a rook and knight vs. a rook, which is a theoretical draw unless the king is trapped on the first rank, as happened to Judith Polgar against Kasparov. In such cases, there are positions where one can lose. Otherwise, there is no method to force a win, as was the case in today's game.

As for the chasing group of players with 4½ points, today Grandmasters Aryan Tari (NOR), Danyyil Dvirnyy (ITA), and Arthur Kogan (ISR), along with IM Joaquin Fiorito (ARG), secured victories.

The number one player in the tournament, GM Aryan Tari, thus regains ground and joins the group of players half a point behind the leader after overcoming, in a difficult game, IM Cristian A. Hernández (COL). With 5½ points, the group now includes eight players.

From Andorra, it’s worth highlighting the victory of Josep Mª Ribera with the black pieces against FIDE Master Leo Valle (ESP). A great result for our player, who now has 4½ points, equal to FIDE Master Daniel Gómez.

Once again, we would like to remind our players that they still have time to participate in the prize raffle that will take place during the closing ceremony, organized by ChessDrop. Specifically, there are 6 prizes of 100 each for those players who use the website, enter the games they’ve played in the tournament, and share them on X (formerly Twitter).

Additionally, players who have games that could win one of the three prizes for the best game can follow the steps to submit them to the organizers.