BCC Open round 8: the Magnificent Seven – Dau still in the lead, now alongside half a dozen resurgent favourites

You can’t really blame a tournament leader for being a little risk-averse. Especially as a GM norm beckons at the end of the event. For the second time this week, Vietnamese IM Khuong Dau secured a quick draw – this time against GM Brandon Jacobson from the USA.

Almost as quickly, Indian star Surya Ganguly obtained a compelling advantage due to his opponent Sharma Ayush handling his Kingside pawns in rather gung-ho fashion. White prevailed after 33 moves.

On board 3, Nigel Short went all-in with a Blumenfeld countergambit which long teetered on a knife edge. A two-pawn incursion into White’s position capped with an exchange sacrifice did the damage, allowing the Englishman to join in the lead.

Xu, Zhihang (2487) – Short, Nigel D (2587)

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 c5 4.d5 b5 5.dxe6 fxe6 6.cxb5 d5 7.Nc3 Bb7 8.e4 Nbd7 9.e5 Ng4 10.Ng5 Ngxe5 11.f4 Nf7 12.Nxe6 Qe7 13.Qe2 Rc8? [Diagr] A very human move, of which the silicon monster does not approve as after 14. Bd2, White’s King castles long and gets out of Dodge.

14.b3 Nd6 15.f5 Nxf5 16.Bg5 Nf6 17.Nxf8 Rxf8 18.Qxe7+ Nxe7 19.Bd3 d4 20.Na4 Bxg2 21.Rg1 Be4 22.Kd2 Bxd3 23.Kxd3 Ng6 24.Rae1+ Kd7 25.b6 Kd6 26.Bxf6 gxf6 27.bxa7 Rc7 28.Rgf1 Ne5+ 29.Kd2 Rxa7 30.Rf5 Rff7 31.Ref1 Ke7 32.R5f4 Ra5 33.Rc1 Kd6 34.Rcf1 Ke6 35.Rc1 c4 36.Re1 c3+ 37.Kc2 Kd5 38.Rd1 Rxa4 39.bxa4 Nc6 40.a5?? (A blunder in a tricky position. 40. Rb1 was necessary.) 40…Rb7 41.Kd3 Rb2 : 0-1

Early co-leader IM Santosh Ajay went down to GM Titas Stremavicius. Other winners moving to 6,5/8 include IM Ghosh Aronyak who beat WIM Sakshi Chitlange with the White pieces, GM Ido Gorshtein who broke Chinese IM Bo Li’s stubborn defence in a 5 – 4 Knight vs. Bishop endgame, and GM Loek Van Wely, who overcame GM Visakh in a double Rook endgame.

As the dust settles following this penultimate round, the only certainty is that the final victory in this 23rd edition of the BCC Open will be disputed among the aforementioned seven co-leaders. No such drama in the Challengers though, as the board 1 artist remains sole leader with a staggering 7.5/8.