Gibraltar, Round 1: Almost No Surprises
Round 1 of a normal open Swiss system event generally sees the favorites pound the underdogs, and the start of the Gibraltar Chess Congress was no exception. Unless I missed something, it seems that the favorites only gave up three draws and one loss - a pretty big one. Badrakh Galmandakh, rated just 2240, defeated erstwhile 2700 Alexander Motylev, who is still a 2665-rated player. To add insult to injury, White played 1.d3 d5 2.e4 dxe4 3.dxe4 Qxd1+ 4.Kxd1 as his opening, as if to suggest that all he needed to outplay his elite opponent was to avoid opening theory. This time around, he was right!
Of the remaining games I should mention Jovana Vojinovic - Hikaru Nakamura, which saw the former U.S. number 1 make six consecutive queen moves, from moves 3-8. It may not have been completely sound, but it wasn't losing either. It made for a messy game, and as one would generally expect, the higher-rated player did a better job of navigating the complications. I don't think anyone will be repeating Nakamura's opening any time soon, however.
Both games can be replayed here, but without notes (sorry).
Reader Comments