Super-Tournament in Shenzhen

Bu, Yu, and Arjun (Erigaisi) lead with three rounds to go.

Many of you are probably aware of and following the super-tournament in Prague, but might not have noticed that another very strong tournament is taking place in Shenzhen, China. No Candidates are participating, but five of the eight players are rated over 2700, including former Candidate Anish Giri.

The event is not proceeding as one might expect, however, for the top seed. While Giri enjoyed a crushing victory in round 1, he then lost three games in a row before drawing in round 5. He is tied for last with bottom seeds Ma Qun and Xu Xiangyu. The lead is instead shared by Bu Xiangzhi, Yu Yangyi (both of whom are undefeated), and Arjun Erigaisi.

Erigaisi lost to Bu in round 2 but beat Xu in round 1, Giri in round 3, and Xu in round 4 before drawing with Yu in round 5. For Erigaisi, not only tournament victory is at stake over the next two rounds, but the chance to finish the event as India’s #1. (I think, but might be wrong, that although some players have passed Viswanathan Anand on the live list, none of them has passed him on an end-of-the-month, official FIDE list.) It would be a remarkable achievement if he succeeds, and it is even more remarkable to realize that Anand has been India’s #1 player for more than 35 years.

The two players who are neither tied for first nor for last are Daniil Dubov and Vladislav Artemiev, and their games - along with all the games - can be replayed here with my notes (except for the Giuoco Piano games; thanks, but no thanks).

Prague and other topics will come soon, though not necessarily tonight.