If this keeps up, even correspondence chess players are going to complain about the number of draws at the Superbet Romania Chess (not so) Classic. The games weren’t completely uninteresting though, and I was impressed by both players’ efforts in the game between Nodirbek Abdusattorov and Bogdan-Daniel Deac. The games are here (sans notes), and these are the pairings for tomorrow’s final round (players’ scores are given in parentheses):
Giri (3.5) - Caruana (5)
So (3.5) - Gukesh (4.5)
Deac (3) - Vachier-Lagrave (4)
Nepomniachtchi (4) - Abdusattorov (3.5)
Praggnanandhaa (4.5) - Firouzja (4.5)
Based on what we’ve seen so far, it should be thrillzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
July the fourth be with you - happy Independence Day to my fellow Americans.