{"id":3231,"date":"2025-09-14T10:01:19","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T02:01:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/?p=3231"},"modified":"2025-09-14T10:01:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T02:01:21","slug":"lagno-clings-to-top-spot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/lagno-clings-to-top-spot\/","title":{"rendered":"Lagno clings to top spot"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Matthias Bluebaum, Alireza Firouzja, Vincent Keymer and Anish Giri lead after nine rounds in the Grand Swiss Open, all on 6.5\/9. Meanwhile, Lagno mantained her lead in the Women\u2019s event with 7\/9 after narrowly escaping defeat against Bibisara Assaubayeva.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a gruelling day in the FIDE Grand Swiss, with several top games in the Open section lasting more than six hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Alireza Firouzja, playing as Black, overpowered Nihal Sarin in the Sicilian Alapin after a long struggle. Sarin, joint leader at the start of the day, had a very good position early in the game, but misplayed it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
White has just correctly sacrificed a knight and now has a menacing position. After the natural 17.Nd6+ Kd7 18.f4 Qf6 19.f5! gxf5 20.Bxd5 Black is in serious trouble. But Sarin opted for a much weaker continuation 17.f4 Qf6 18.Qe2 <\/strong>(18.Nd6+ is not nearly as efficient here as the f7-pawn is protected) Nfe7 19.g4?<\/strong> Again, missing Nd6+ which promised a better position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
19\u2026Qh4<\/strong> White is a piece down, but has strong compensation. In subsequent play, Firouzja returned the extra piece, transposing into a complicated endgame. The position was tense but even up until White\u2019s 37th<\/sup> move.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
White has two runners \u2013 on the b- and c-file, but his king is exposed and Black\u2019s centralised rook and knight are well coordinated. White should have proceeded with 37.Be2 with the idea of getting it to c4 and outflanking Black. But Sarin played 37.Bf3?? <\/strong>which failed to 37\u2026Re5! <\/strong>All of a sudden, White is losing his c5-pawn as his dark-squared bishop has no safe square on the g1-a7 diagonal. After 38.Bd2 Rxc5 39.Kh1 Rc2 40.Be3 Rh8 41.Bg1 Rh4<\/strong> not only is Black a pawn up, but his pieces are much more active.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But now it was Firouzja\u2019s turn to err. As the game went on, he struggled to convert his advantage and \u2013 at one point \u2013 allowed Sarin to come close to being equal. Eventually, Firouzja found a way to advance pawns (after White\u2019s crucial mistake on move 60)  \u2013 but this took 82 moves and seven hours of play.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Parham Maghsoodloo, who was the leader from round three to round six, lost again today, his second defeat in a row. Playing as White in the Reti, he fell to Germany\u2019s number one, Vincent Keymer. The game saw several sharp tactical twists and turns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The first critical moment occurred on move 22.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
White has just given up a d4-pawn. The best move was 22.Rad1, but Maghsoodloo played with the wrong rook \u2013 22.Rfd1 <\/strong>and now Black has a Zwischenzug \u2013 22\u2026Bg5! 23.Bg3 Bf6<\/strong> With this subtle bishop maneuver Black obtained the decisive advantage. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After 24.Bf4 Kb8 25.Rd3 Ka8 26.Rad1 Rg5!!<\/strong> There was no escape for White. Keymer was not flawless in the conversion but emerged victorious after 70 moves and nearly seven hours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On board two, Uzbekistan\u2019s favourite Nodirbek Abdusatorrov split a point with the other tournament co-leader (and European Champion) Matthias Bluebaum. A draw was agreed after 39 moves, as neither side gained an edge following the King\u2019s Pawn Opening.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On board four, Anish Giri defeated Jorden van Foreest in the Queen\u2019s Gambit Declined. Playing as Black, van Foreest held until the endgame, where he cracked under pressure and lost. On board five, Niemann and Mishra split a point after a long battle in a bishop endgame where White (Niemann) had an extra pawn and tried every way possible to force Mishra to err, but without success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Arjun Erigaisi prevailed over the American Sam Sevian, again joining the group of players half a point behind the leaders. The same goes for Maxime Vachier-Lagrave who beat T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s Erdogmus with a nice finish. After losing to Keymer in round eight, Vidit today defeated Sargsyan and is on 5\/9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Uzbekistan\u2019s Nodirbek Yakubboev scored a beautiful victory as White against Anton Demchenko, in a very sharp line of the Queen\u2019s Gambit Accepted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The opponents followed the game Melkumyan \u2013 Stevic (2019) up to move 12 when Anton tried a natural but erroneous move with catastrophic consequences for Black.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Instead of 12..Ne6 with a slightly inferior position Demchenko played 12\u2026Qe7?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
13.Nf5! Bxf5 14.exf5 Kd8 15.Rac1<\/strong> and Black is completely paralyzed as his king can find no comfort in the center open for White\u2019s heavy pieces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After 23 moves, Demchenko resigned in the following position:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
World Champion Gukesh D made another draw today, against Armenian Robert Hovhannisyan. On several occasions, Gukesh had more chances but allowed them all to slip. After nine rounds, the World Champion has only two victories.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In a notable result of the day, in the duel of the two former world champion candidates (albeit in different categories), Alexandra Goryachkina defeated Boris Gelfand in 41 moves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Women\u2019s event<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kateryna Lagno narrowly held onto her lead in round nine of the Women\u2019s Grand Swiss, escaping defeat against Bibisara Assaubayeva. Meanwhile, Irina Krush and Tan Zhongyi scored important wins, tightening the race at the top.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Lagno, leading the tournament, saved a lost position against Bibisara Assaubayeva on board one. With the white pieces, she gained a slight initiative out of the King\u2019s Indian, but from move 19 Lagno made several subpar moves and lost a pawn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After reaching the first time control, Assaubayeva was on the brink of victory. Unfortunately for her, she threw it all away in just one move in the following position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/pre>\n\n\n\n
Black should have just proceeded with advancing her pawn and collecting the f2-pawn. For example: 43\u2026c3! 44.Rc6 Kd7 45.Rc4 Rxf2 46.Rxc2 Ne2! 47.Ra3 f4 and Black\u2019s pawns are much faster.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Instead, Bibisara played 42\u2026Kf8?<\/strong> which allowed White to save her skin with the timely bishop sacrifice \u2013 43.Bxc4!<\/strong> and after 43\u2026Rxc4 44.Rf6+ Ke7 45.Rxf5<\/strong> now White just pushed pawns, traded the rooks and forced a draw due to insufficient material.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n
A very lucky escape for Lagno, allowing her to still cling on to the leading position in the tournament.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
After her first loss in round eight, Vaishali Rameshbabu held Song Yuxin to a draw in a balanced encounter. Both now sit on 6.5\/9.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On board three, Irina Krush was better as White against the former Women\u2019s World Champion Antoaneta Stefanova. Following the English Opening, Stefanova erred in the middlegame, directly entering a lost position.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
23\u2026Bxb5 24.Qxb5 Re8 was the best path for Black, leading to a slightly inferior position. Instead, Stefanova grabbed the poisonous pawn in the center with 23\u2026Nxd5<\/strong> and after 24.Rd1 Qa8 25.Qd2 Bb7 26.Nc7<\/strong> there was no way to protect the knight. Black\u2019s position was hopeless and soon Stefanova capitulated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The victory pushed Krush to 6\/9, a point behind Lagno.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Former Women\u2019s World Champion Tan Zhongyi has accelerated in the tournament, scoring three consecutive victories. Today, she defeated US Women\u2019s Champion Carissa Yip with the black pieces. Despite being in a lot of trouble throughout the game, a critical blunder by White allowed Tan to turn the tables and end up winning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Yip was clearly better most of the game, but several imprecisions before the time control by White allowed Black to escape and even emerge slightly better. Here the accurate 40.Ra7 was called for, but Carissa started retreating and committed a critical error with 40.Rc2??<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n
After 40\u2026Qb1+ 41.Kh2 Kg7 42.Ne3 Bxh4<\/strong> Tan grabbed an extra pawn. Soon, White\u2019s king fell into a mating net, and it was all over for Yip. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In round ten, Tan will be playing tournament leader Lagno on board one, in a direct challenge for first place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n
Written by Milan Dinic<\/em> <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Photos: Michal Walusza<\/em> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Matthias Bluebaum, Alireza Firouzja, Vincent Keymer and Anish Giri lead after nine rounds in the Grand Swiss Open,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3232,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[44,7],"tags":[39],"class_list":["post-3231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international","category-newsbeat","tag-chess"],"aioseo_notices":[],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/D09-Firouzja_compressed.jpg",1000,644,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/D09-Firouzja_compressed-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/D09-Firouzja_compressed-300x193.jpg",300,193,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/D09-Firouzja_compressed-768x495.jpg",640,413,true],"large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/D09-Firouzja_compressed.jpg",640,412,false],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/D09-Firouzja_compressed.jpg",1000,644,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/D09-Firouzja_compressed.jpg",1000,644,false],"morenews-large":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/D09-Firouzja_compressed-825x575.jpg",825,575,true],"morenews-medium":["https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/D09-Firouzja_compressed-590x410.jpg",590,410,true]},"author_info":{"info":["admin"]},"category_info":"International<\/a> Newsbeat<\/a>","tag_info":"Newsbeat","comment_count":"0","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/D09-Firouzja_compressed.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3231"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3233,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3231\/revisions\/3233"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3232"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.infinitysport.asia\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}