THE RAPID stage of the Paris Rapid & Blitz Tournament, which is part of the 2021 Grand Chess Tour’s calendar of events ended Sunday, June 20, with Wesley So topping the Category 21 (average Elo: 2760) competition. The blitz stage of the tournament got underway and is halfway through as we write this.
Wesley won three games and drew the rest in the 10-player event. Besides Wesley, the other players are Fabiano Caruana, Levon Aronian, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Teimour Radjabov, Richard Rapport, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Alireza Firouzja, Peter Svidler, and Etienne Bacrot. The time control is 25 minutes plus 10 seconds increment per move. The Cavite-born Wesley was the only undefeated player in the event.
The final rapid standings: 1. So, 6; 2. Nepomniachtchi, 5½; 3. Bacrot, 5; 4-5. Svidler, Vachier-Lagrave, 4½; 7-9. Caruana, Radjabov, Rapport, 4; 10. Firouzja, 3½.
As this moment, Round 9 (of 18) of the blitz stage has ended. The blitz time format is five minutes plus two seconds increment per move. Leading the pack is Firouzja with 6½, followed by Nepomniachtchi with six, and then Wesley with 5½. Points earned by a player at the rapid stage will be added to his blitz score to determine the top scorer and champion of the tournament.
So, Wesley (2770)-Rapport, R (2763) [E41]
Paris (2.1) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 c5 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.Nge2 cxd4 7.exd4 d5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.0-0 Nf6 10.Bc2 0-0 11.a3 Bxc3 12.bxc3 e5 13.Bg5 exd4 14.Nxd4 Nxd4 15.cxd4 h6 16.Bh4 Re8 17.Qd3 Bd7 18.d5 Rc8 19.d6 g5 20.Bg3 Ne4 21.Rae1 Rc3 22.Qd1 Nxg3 23.hxg3 Rxe1 24.Rxe1 Be6 25.Qd2 Rxa3 26.Rd1 Bd7 27.Qb4 Ra2 28.Qb3 Ra5 29.Qxb7 Kg7 30.Re1 Rc5 31.Qe4 Qf6 32.Qh7+ Kf8 33.Re7 Be8 34.Bg6 1-0
Nepomniachtchi, I (2792)-Aronian, L (2781) [A13]
Paris (5.5) 2021
1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 dxc4 5.Qa4+ Bd7 6.Qxc4 c5 7.Ne5 Qc8 8.b3 Nc6 9.Nxd7 Qxd7 10.Bb2 Be7 11.0-0 Rc8 12.Rd1 0-0 13.Nc3 a6 14.Rac1 b5 15.Qf4 h6 16.d3 Rfd8 17.Qd2 Qa7 18.e3 Qb6 19.Qe2 Nb4 20.a3 Nbd5 21.Nxd5 Nxd5 22.d4 Nf6 23.dxc5 Rxd1+ 24.Rxd1 Bxc5 25.Bxf6 gxf6 26.Qh5 Bxa3 27.Rd7 Rf8 28.Be4 f5 29.Qxh6 fxe4 30.Rd5 Qxe3 31.Qxe3 exd5 32.Qg5+ Kh8 33.Qxd5 f5 34.Qd4+ Kg8 35.b4 Bc1 36.Qb6 Rf7 37.Qxa6 e3 38.Qc8+ 1-0
Caruana, F (2820)-So, Wesley (2770) [C67]
Paris (7.1) 2021
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.0-0 Nxe4 5.Re1 Nd6 6.Nxe5 Be7 7.Bf1 Nxe5 8.Rxe5 0-0 9.d4 Bf6 10.Re1 Re8 11.Nc3 Rxe1 12.Qxe1 Bxd4 13.Bf4 Ne8 14.Nd5 d6 15.Bg5 f6 16.Bh4 g5 17.Qe4 Bxb2 18.Rb1 Be5 19.f4 gxh4 20.fxe5 dxe5 21.Bc4 Be6 22.Rxb7 Kh8 23.Bd3 Bg8 24.Nxc7 Nd6 25.Qxh4 Nxb7 26.Nxa8 Nc5 27.Bf5 e4 28.h3 Qd4+ 29.Kh1 Qa1+ 0-1
So, Wesley (2770)-Vachier-Lagrave, M (2760) [D85]
Paris (8.1) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Nf3 c5 8.h3 0-0 9.Be2 Nc6 10.Be3 cxd4 11.cxd4 f5 12.Bc4+ Kh8 13.0-0 f4 14.Bd2 Nxd4 15.Bc3 Nxf3+ 16.Qxf3 Bd7 17.Rfd1 Qc7 18.Rac1 Rad8 19.Bb4 Bc6 20.Bd5 Qe5 21.Rc5 Bxd5 22.exd5 Rd7 23.d6 Qe6 24.dxe7 Rxd1+ 25.Qxd1 Qxe7 26.Rc4 Rd8 27.Rc8 1-0
Caruana, F (2820)-Bacrot, E (2678) [B67]
Paris (8.5) 2021
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bg5 e6 7.Qd2 a6 8.0-0-0 Bd7 9.f3 Nxd4 10.Qxd4 Be7 11.Kb1 Rc8 12.h4 h6 13.Be3 h5 14.Qd2 b5 15.Ne2 Qc7 16.Bg5 a5 17.Nd4 Rb8 18.Bd3 b4 19.f4 a4 20.Rhe1 Qc5 21.Nf3 Bc6 22.e5 Bxf3 23.exf6 Bxd1 24.fxg7 Rg8 25.Qxd1 Rxg7 26.Qxh5 Qd4 27.Qd1 Bf6 28.Bxf6 Qxf6 29.Qf3 Kf8 30.Qc6 Qd4 31.Qxa4 Rxg2 32.a3 Rg1 33.Rxg1 Qxg1+ 34.Ka2 bxa3 35.b3 Qc1 36.Qd4 Qb2+ 37.Qxb2 axb2 38.Kxb2 Ke7 39.h5 Rg8 40.b4 Rg4 41.f5 Rxb4+ 42.Kc3 Rh4 43.fxe6 Kxe6 44.Be2 Ke5 45.Kd3 Rh3+ 46.Kd2 Kf4 47.Bc4 f5 48.Bf7 Ke5 49.Bg6 Kf4 50.Ke2 Rh2+ 51.Kd3 Kg4 52.Kd4 f4 53.Kd5 f3 54.Bd3 Kxh5 55.Kxd6 Rd2 0-1
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Rxh3!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Nf7 2.Re8#; 1…Rf6/e6/d6/c6/b6/a6/g7 2.R(x)g7#; 1…Rg5/g4/g3/g2/g1 2.Nh6#; 1…Re3/d3/xf4/g3/xh3/f2/f1 2.Qa8#; 1…Bg1/g3/xf4 2.Rxh8#./PN
