“Such a hero for continuing playing!”
Round five of the Super Chess Classic Romania ended with five draws, though the day was shaped as much by Alireza Firouzja’s playing conditions as by the games themselves.
After injuring his ankle before round four and missing his scheduled game against Fabiano Caruana on Sunday, Firouzja returned to action against Javokhir Sindarov while lying on a bed in a hotel room. Sindarov was seated opposite the bed, in a highly unusual setting for a chess game. The situation had a notable precedent in Tony Miles’ participation at the 1985 Tilburg tournament, where he played while lying on a massage bed because of acute back pain.
Bent Larsen (1935–2010) was the greatest chess player in Danish history, and for a time, the second-strongest player in the Western world behind Bobby Fischer. Between 1954 and 1971, he won the Danish Championship six times, and achieved numerous international tournament victories throughout his career.
Free video sample: Introduction to Bent Larsen by Peter Heine Nielsen
Free video sample: Introduction to the Opening Section
Firouzja’s decision to continue in the tournament drew comments from several players, most of them praising his willingness to play despite the injury. Anish Giri, who has long experience at elite level, was among those to react, saying:
Poor guy, and such a hero for continuing playing! I really thought it was a perfect opportunity for him to call it a day. But he’s really a hero, for the love for chess!
The game itself became the most eventful encounter of the round. Sindarov, playing with the black pieces, obtained a clear advantage, while Firouzja had to defend under difficult circumstances. The French representative, who had lost his previous two games, managed to escape with a draw against the winner of the Candidates Tournament. The result may prove useful for his confidence, particularly given the conditions in which the game was played. His postponed round-four game against Caruana is scheduled for Tuesday, when the rest of the field will have a rest day.
The other four games had all finished before the hotel-room game was eventually agreed drawn. Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu had a promising position against Wesley So but did not find the strong 35.Qc2! – the threat is stronger than the execution!
Instead, he chose the good-looking yet inaccurate 35.Rf7+?, which helped Black to coordinate his pieces in defence after 35…Kh8 36.Qf4 Rg5
The game was agreed drawn on move 45.
Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu facing Wesley So | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Bogdan-Daniel Deac and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave also reached preferable positions with the white pieces, against Fabiano Caruana and Jorden van Foreest respectively, but neither found the most accurate continuations at key moments.
Anish Giri and Vincent Keymer entered the Berlin Wall, with Giri gaining a slight edge from the opening. The Dutch grandmaster later mishandled the position, however, allowing Keymer to take over the initiative. The game did not develop into a full-scale pressing attempt, as a threefold repetition ended the encounter after 32 moves.
Keymer remains as sole leader, with a half point edge over a three-player chasing pack consisting of Giri, Van Foreest and Praggnanandhaa.
Local representative Bogdan-Daniel Deac got a good position out of the opening against Fabiano Caruana | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Still in the sole lead – Vincent Keymer | Photo: Lennart Ootes
Round 5 results
Standings after round 5