Nakamura Holds Co-leader Esipenko, 5 Players Join Lead

After six rounds in the FIDE Grand Swiss 2023, eight players are tied for the lead with 4.5/6, while GM Anna Muzychuk takes the sole lead with 5/6 in the Women's.

In the Open, GMs Hikaru Nakamura and Andrey Esipenko fought a sharp battle on the top board, but the fight ended in perpetual check. GMs Fabiano Caruana, Vidit Gujrathi, Javokhir Sindarov, Alexandr Predke, and Radoslaw Wojtaszek all won their games to join the leading group, while GM Arjun Erigaisi stayed in the pack with a draw.

Anna Muzychuk defeated tournament leader IM Bibisara Assaubayeva after a misstep by her younger opponent in an equal but difficult queen endgame. Half a point behind are GMs Aleksandra Goryachkina and Antoaneta Stefanova, as well as IMs Vaishali Rameshbabu and Assaubayeva.

After a rest day, round seven begins on Wednesday, November 1, at 10:30 a.m. ET / 15:30 CEST / 8 p.m. IST.  

• Open
• Women's

Once again, both sections are hard to call, with no single leader having been able to hold onto their lead for a second round after achieving it. The stakes get higher as we enter the second half of the tournament on Wednesday. 

Open

While board one ended in a draw, several players who were a half-point behind took the opportunity to catch up. 

The peaceful result on board one was far from a foregone conclusion as Esipenko and Nakamura dove into complications. With the Hyperaccelerated Sicilian Dragon, Nakamura announced his intention to fight with Black. The U.S. grandmaster's +2 score in their lifetime record may have influenced this decision.

Their latest over-the-board encounters were in the 2022 FIDE Grand Prix, the series that Nakamura won to enter the 2022 Candidates Tournament.

The commentators pointed out that after 7...f6 8.exf6, the missing f-pawn sort of resembled a Leningrad Dutch Defense, which Nakamura plays too. Esipenko sacrificed a pawn and the position exploded, but as it often happens, after 20.Bd3 the sharp game ended in a forced drawing line—neither player could deviate.

"When you have players of this level playing against each other, it's not too uncommon for it to end in a draw. But I felt like I had my chances and my opponent was up to the task," said Nakamura in his analysis video below.

Asked about how he'll spend the rest day, Esipenko answered: "No chess, for sure!"

The first decisive game on the top boards was Sindarov's spectacular and sacrificial attack against GM Sam Sevian. For those who play the Sicilian Dragon, the King's Indian Defense, or any such openings with a "dragon bishop" on g7, it was an instructive attacking masterclass. 

The Uzbek prodigy's masterpiece culminated with a piece sacrifice for an attack that featured several typical motifs. GM Rafael Leitao covers it in our Game of the Day below.

Sindarov played in the World Cup, followed by the Qatar Masters, before the Grand Swiss. He said: "Three hard tournaments and I wanna take a rest [after] this tournament, like one month!"

Caruana rejoined the lead after a nice win against the world number-94 GM Evgeniy Najer. "It was a story of one move," said Caruana after the game. "If he had played something else, probably we would have a very long game."

The critical moment occurred after Najer thought for about four minutes and played 25...Qa5?. In fact, Caruana missed the true way to punish that move, 26.Qf3! Re7 27.Nxg6!!. His move in the game, which objectively let Black off the hook, happened to provoke a fatal mistake. It's a true testament to the saying that chess is a game between humans—and not numbers on a screen.

"Every game which doesn't last like eight hours is a very good thing," said Caruana in his interview. He also added that the time control was "a little too long."

Every game which doesn't last like eight hours is a very good thing.

—Fabiano Caruana 

Vidit had a heartbreaking first round where, in time trouble, he missed a win and even lost the game. His recovery has been nothing short of inspiring as he's now won four of the five games that followed. His latest victory came against GM Hans Niemann.

Strategically, the Indian GM's maneuver with 26.Bb8 to undermine the Black pawn pawn chain was an unusual idea but one that paid off.

Maybe the first time I have seen the middlegame concept, of getting a bishop to b8 to attack the c7-e5 pawnchain. pic.twitter.com/q0LYbs3lC6

— Peter Heine Nielsen (@PHChess) October 30, 2023

That same bishop traveled around the world and back, starting on c1 and ultimately ending the game one square away from where it started. Niemann resigned in this position, where Black's only continuation is 53...Nb1+ 54.Ka2 Qg5 to stop the mate, losing the knight.

Predke defeated GM Sam Shankland after gaining a crazy but good position out of the opening. GM Erwin l'Ami essayed the Albin Countergambit, considered to be dubious, against Wojtaszek, and lost on board nine. The latter's reward will be a game against Caruana on board one.

Upsets And A Brilliancy On The Lower Boards

He's been mentioned in every article so far, but he keeps on giving. IM Ramazan Zhalmakhanov is undefeated with a 2833 performance. After a draw with GM Anish Giri, he's half a point from the leaders with 4/6. His next opponent will be GM Vladimir Fedoseev.

GM Aydin Suleymanli (2588) upset GM Gukesh Dommaraju (2758), who suffered his second defeat in a row. GM Benjamin Gledura (2633), who had a rough start when he lost rounds two and three, just won his second consecutive game, this time against GM Jorden van Foreest (2707). 

White missed a beautiful win here. Jorden still has chances, but this would have been fantastic! pic.twitter.com/fQmpBtRmRu

— GM Jacob Aagaard (@GMJacobAagaard) October 30, 2023

On board 52, GM Adhiban Baskaran defeated GM Eduardo Iturrizaga with a creative queen sacrifice. 

How much is a queen really worth?#FIDEGrandSwiss pic.twitter.com/ZOvsJwj6Jk

— chess24.com (@chess24com) October 30, 2023

On board one in round seven we will see Wojtaszek-Caruana, with Nakamura-Predke and Sindarov-Vidit on the subsequent boards. 

Round 6 Standings | Top 20 

(Full results here.)

Women's

Assaubayeva was the first player to reach the sole lead of the Women's tournament. One round later, she's been replaced with Anna Muzychuk. The follow-up question, of course, is if the Ukrainian grandmaster will hold onto the lead—or if the game of hot potato will continue. 

Anna Muzychuk opted for the Alapin Sicilian but didn't get much out of the opening objectively. It was, however, a solid way to "play for two results," a win or draw—a strategy that was rewarded in the end.

The game logically progressed to a queen endgame where White was the only one with a passed pawn. 43.h6!? was a fantastic way to stir things, and in a difficult position, the Kazakh IM stumbled into a lost position with one unfortunate move, 50...Qb6??. 

It's Anna Muzychuk's first time in the Isle of Man. Asked how she likes it, she responded: "For chess players, the main thing depends on how their tournament goes!" 

Boards two through four ended in draws. The spiciest game was on board four, where IM Marsel Efroimski sacrificed a piece against IM Batkhuyag Munguntuul, but the point was still split in half.

The only player on 3.5 points to win was Stefanova against IM Irina Bulmaga, who, from an equal position, managed to get her passed pawn through.

Eight players are on four points, a point behind the leader.

An upset on the lower boards was IM Deysi Cori's victory over second-seed GM Alexandra Kosteniuk. We should also mention IM Ulviyya Fataliyeva's victory against GM Elisabeth Paehtz. 

Anna Muzychuk will have the black pieces against top-seed Goryachkina on Wednesday, a big matchup. Assaubayeva will have White against Vaishali, while Mariya Muzychuk, who's a point behind her sister, faces Stefanova on board three. 

Round 6 Standings | Top 20 

The 2023 FIDE Grand Swiss (FGS) is one of the events of the FIDE World Championship cycle with the top two players qualifying for the 2024 Candidates Tournament. The FGS started on October 25 at 9:30 a.m. ET/15:30 CEST/19:00 IST and features a $460,000 prize fund.

The 2023 FIDE Women's Grand Swiss (FWGS) features a $140,000 prize fund and runs concurrently. The top two players qualify for the 2024 Women's Candidates Tournament.

Previous Coverage:

• Assaubayeva Leads Women's, Nakamura Scores Hat Trick In Open
• Esipenko Leads In Open, 4-Way Tie In Women's
• Vaishali Plays Brilliancy As Anna Muzychuk, Tan Take Lead
• Caruana Beats Niemann, Returns To 2800 Club
• Caruana Leads Pack Of 32 Winners
• FIDE Grand Swiss 2023: Who Will Qualify For A Shot At World Title?