The Daily Update: Havana, Danzhou and More

In Havana, Vassily Ivanchuk continued to star in the Capablanca Memorial. By defeating Ian Nepomniachtchi with Black, Ivanchuk finished the first cycle of this double round-robin event in clear first with 4/5. In second is Nigel Short, who also won with Black - in his case against Lazaro Bruzon. He has 3/5. Both games were picturesque and enough to make the old classicists spin in their graves. (Nepo-Ivanchuk started 1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.f3 Qb6 4.a4 [this is trendy nowadays, believe it or not] 4...e6 5.c3 c5 6.exd5 exd5, and although the players started developing their pieces at this point the game never looked fully "normal". So much the worse for classicism!)

In Danzhou, Bu Xiangzhi consolidated his lead with a draw, and his 3/4 gives him a half point lead over Ding Liren. Interestingly, half of the field is at 2/4, but if you were to conclude that this has been a draw-heavy tournament you'd be mistaken. 11 of the 20 games have been decisive, and 7 of the 10 participants have both won and last at least one game.

In other events, Timur Gareev took clear first in the National Open in Las Vegas with 5.5/6, beating a hitherto perfect Varuzhan Akobian in the final round. Friso Nijboer and Jan Smeets lead a very strong Dutch Championship field with 2.5/3; further back are Anish Giri and Loek van Wely. Finally, there's the 4th Ruy Lopez Masters in Spain. (The tournament is named after the old chess player; it's not a theme tournament.) After 3 rounds, half the field is in first with 2.5/3: Caruana, Sargissian, Cheparinov and Salgado Lopez. Three of the other four are relative outsiders, but the 2722-rated Malakhov is among those who have been left behind (he has 1/3).