Mamedyarov is a draw away from winning Superbet Chess Classic 2021

by Shahid Ahmed - 14/06/2021

Mamedyarov is well on his way to win Superbet Chess Classic 2021 as he made a short draw with Giri to keep his full point lead 5.5/8. Aronian scored the sole victory of the round against Deac with a picturesque finish in the endgame. Grischuk battled for almost 5.5 hours against Caruana but the American did not budge and the game was drawn eventually. Mamedyarov just needs a draw in the final round to win the event as Aronian, So and Grischuk are at full point behind 4.5/8 each respectively. Round 9 starts today at 5:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

Aronian, So and Grischuk are at shared second place

Mamedyarov made a short draw with Giri to maintain his sole lead. Aronian scored the sole win of the round against Deac. Grischuk played the longest game of the round against Caruana. So drew with Vachier-Lagrave. Currently Aronian, So and Grischuk are tied at the second place with 4.5/8, one full point behind Mamedyarov.

Mamedyarov is all smiles after making a draw with Giri | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

So - Vachier-Lagrave: 0.5-0.5

So and Vachier-Lagrave had an uneventful draw.

Interview with So | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club

So is in a shared second place 4.5/8 | Photo: Bryan Adams/Grand Chess Tour

Mamedyarov made a short draw with Giri | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

Interview with Mamedyarov | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club

Grischuk - Caruana: 0.5-0.5

Grischuk made an incorrect retreat of his bishop which cost him a pawn in the middlegame.

Position after 19.Bc2

19.Bc2 drops the b2-pawn because of 19...Nc4 20.Re1 Nxb2 21.Qd4 Nc4. However, the computer says, 21...Na4 would have been better for black. Grischuk kept pushing for a win, but Caruana provided strong resistance. After almost 5.5 hour long grueling battle, moves were repeated in a seemingly equal rook endgame to make a draw.

Grischuk-Caruana had an interesting encounter | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Grand Chess Tour

Deac - Aronian: 0-1

Aronian had a picturesque finish in the endgame against Deac.

Position after 60.Nd7

Black is completely winning in the above diagram, but what is the most beautiful way to win here?

Interview with Levon Aronian | Video: Saint Louis Chess Club

It is always great to see Aronian playing some beautiful creative chess | Photo: Lennart Ootes/Saint Louis Chess Club

Radjabov - Lupulescu: 0.5-0.5

One must applaud Lupulescu for declining a repetition draw in under 25 moves. He continued the game, took his chances and when there was nothing better to continue the game, only then he accepted move repetition to make a draw with Radjabov.