After some twists and turns, GMs Ian Nepomniachtchi and Peter Svidler are still topping the Levitov Chess Week’s leaderboard. With four rounds to go, it has become a two-horse race as their closest rivals, GM Levon Aronian and GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, are two points behind.

After a rest day, the tournament’s third day saw more distinguished guests like GM Jan Timman, IA Geurt Gijssen, and FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich. It also started 45 minutes earlier than planned. Because GM Vladimir Kramnik was scheduled to play at 5 p.m. in the afternoon in Division III of the AI Cup (the time of round 14 in Amsterdam), his game with Aronian was moved ahead. It was a fantastic fight—but not for Kramnik, who spoiled a completely winning position:

GM Wesley So won Sunday’s Hand & Brain tournament with Aronian as his partner, and the next day he beat him with a lovely combination. During the game, it wasn’t super clear whether it was actually winning but the engine claims it is:

GM Viswanathan Anand’s tournament has had an unfortunate downward trend: after scoring an excellent (and undefeated) 3.5/5 on the first day, he continued with 2/4 on Saturday and then started with three losses today, before recovering somewhat with a draw and a win. His game with Mamedyarov, annotated by GM Rafael Leitao, was spectacular from the start and demonstrated deep opening prep by the Azerbaijani GM:

The two leaders faced each other in the 12th round. It was understandable that Svidler allowed a move repetition at the end with such a dangerous-looking king position, but it was actually winning for Black, and also the clock situation was in Svidler’s favor (over a minute vs. 13 seconds). Perhaps a draw was the best result after all, because Nepo would have been winning earlier if he had found a different bishop maneuver on move 26, which GM Ljubomir Ljubojevic did spot immediately in the VIP area.

Like Kramnik, both Mamedyarov and Nepomniachtchi had to play in the AI Cup after the over-the-board action, but their games were scheduled one hour later than Kramnik’s. Busy days for some of these top GMs!

The Levitov Chess Week ends on Tuesday with four more rounds and a first prize of 40,000 euros on the line.

Round 14 Standings

All Games Day 3

The 2023 Levitov Chess Week takes place September 22-26, 2023, in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It is a 10-player, double round-robin. The time control is 10 minutes for the whole game plus a five-second increment. The prize fund is 130,000 euros, with a first prize of 40,000 euros.

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