Grand Swiss chess: Harika draws with Paehtz, in joint third place
Riga (Latvia)(PTI): Indian chess ace Dronavalli Harika could not break through the defences of lower-rated German Elisabeth Paehtz in the 10th round to slip to joint third with 6.5 points in the FIDE Women's Grand Swiss chess tournament here.
Harika was up against Paahtz on the second board in a Alapin Variation of the Sicilian. The Indian GM got a promising endgame but missed her chance to put the German to a serious test.
After Harika opted for natural exchange of the bishops, the game quickly transitioned to a drawn rook ending. The two agreed to split a point on move 31 and both are on 6.5 points after the 10th and penultimate round.
China's Lei Tingjie confirmed her first place in the inaugural Women's Grand Swiss following a draw with the top-seed Mariya Muzychuk.
She is followed by compatriot Zhu Jiner in second place with seven points and five players with 6.5/10 are tied for third place.
Among the other Indian women, Vantika Agrawal and Divya Deshmukh scored wins over Nataliya Buksa and Jesse Nikki February, respectively.
Vantika is on six points, while Divya took her tally to four points after the 10th round.
Meanwhile, R Vaishali and Padmini Rout settled for draws against Antoaneta Stefanova and Elina Danielian respectively.
In the Open event, young GM D Gukesh and the veteran Surya Shekhar Ganguly were the only winners in the round.
K Sasikiran, who was among the leading pack for a few rounds, lost to Russia's Andrey Esipenko to slip to joint fourth with six points with a bunch of players including fellow Indians Nihal Sarin and P Harikrishna.
In a clas of generations, veteran Kiril Georgiev (55) lost to 15-year-old D Gukesh.
In a Ragozin Variation of the Nimzo Indian, Gukesh managed to create a so-called Octopus - a strongly positioned knight - who, following the shape of the letter W', made his easy waltz from b3 via c5-d3-e5 to f3, where he landed a devastating blow to White's defences.
Gukesh meets compatriot GM R Praggnanandhaa in the 11th and final round. Both are on 4.5 points.
Alireza Firouzja has recovered from his loss to Fabiano Caruana on Friday by defeating David Howell in the crucial game of the tenth round of the Grand Swiss.
With this victory, Firouzja has 7.5/10 and is entering the final round with a half-point advantage over everyone else. He is followed by Fabiano Caruana and Grigoriy Oparin who are on 7/10.
Ten Indian men and five women feature in the tournament.
The Grand Swiss Tournament and Women's Grand Swiss 2021 are part of the qualifications for the 2021-23 World Championship cycle. The top two finishers will qualify for the Candidates Tournament 2022.
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Killing of Khamenei cynical violation of human morality, international law: Putin
Moscow (PTI): The killing of Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei was a cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law, Russian President Vladimir Putin declared in his message to his Tehranian counterpart, the Kremlin said Sunday.
Khamenei was killed in an airstrike in Tehran on Saturday during a joint Israel-US attack on Iran.
“Please accept my deepest condolences in connection with the assassination of the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Seyyed Ali Khamenei, and members of his family, committed in a cynical violation of all norms of human morality and international law,” Putin said in his condolence message.
Putin's condolence message to Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian was published on the Kremlin portal.
Earlier on Saturday, Russia condemned the US-Israeli joint strikes on Iran qualifying it as an “unprovoked” aggression against a sovereign state in violation of international law and called for immediate return to diplomacy.
The Russian Foreign Ministry also described the US and Israeli forces' strikes against the Iranian territory as “a pre-planned” act of aggression against an independent UN member state.
Putin also conducted an emergency meeting of the National Security Council online on Saturday to discuss the emerging situation following the US-Israeli strikes and Iran’s retaliation.
Meanwhile, according to reports more than 2,00,000 Russians are stuck in the region due to closure of their airspaces by Iran and Gulf countries.
The situation in the Middle East and the airport closures have affected not only organised tourists from Russia registered with tour operators, but also those travelling on business trips and independently, state-run TASS news agency reported.
“Approximately 2,00,000 people are unable to leave the UAE or return from vacations in the Maldives and other countries,” Alexey Volkov, president of the National Union of Hospitality Industry, told TASS.
UAE and its airports have become a main hub of access to Russia since the Ukraine conflict and closure of EU air space for civilian air traffic under sanction on Moscow.
“The situation remains complex and unpredictable: drone and missile strikes have hit key tourist locations in the UAE, including its most famous hotels.
“And then there are those who aren't counted as tourists at all, but are travelling around the world for business—the Middle East, for example, is currently a major business hub, home to a significant amount of Russian capital, investment, and business,” Volkov said.
