I’m not sure if it was the visit of World Champion Magnus Carlsen that inspired the players, but we had our most bloodthirsty round yesterday, as only 2 games out of the top 23 boards ended in draws!!
On the top board Erwin l’Ami shocked Shakhriyar Mamedyarov when he beat him in only 21 moves! Board 2 saw Eljanov win a long battle against Fier, while on board 3 Granda Zuniga took advantage from a piece sacrifice gone wrong by Stefansson. On boards 4 and 5, Naroditsky and Hansen beat Gao and Gunnarsson respectively.
So after 7 rounds Erwin l’Ami has now taken the sole lead with 6/7, while Eljanov, Naroditsky, Hansen and Granda trail him by just half a point.
In the evening, the traditional football tournament was won by the GM team, which consisted of Magnus Carlsen, Jon Ludvig Hammer, Julio Granda Zuniga, Eric Hansen, Sébastien Mazé, Hjorvar Gretarsson, Hrant Melkumyan and Axel Rombaldoni. You can find the pictures from this event as well as from the rest of the tournament on https://www.facebook.com/ReykjavikOpenChess/photos_stream?tab=photos_albums.
Today’s 8th round will see the clashes Granda Zuniga-l’Ami, Eljanov-Naroditsky and Hansen-Mamedyarov. As usual the games will start at 3pm GMT and you can follow all the action live on www.chess.com/tv!
Fiona Steil-Antoni
