BCC Open round 7: top six share the spoils as Jacobson, Van Wely and Gorshtein close in.

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Today’s pre-round announcement echoed like music to the ears of all competitors present, as a purse of 500,000 baht (~15,500 USD) was confirmed by tournament director Kai Tuorila. Strangely enough, the news seemed to particularly stimulate contestants at the lower boards, most of whom kept at it well into the 6th hour of play in an otherwise largely empty ballroom.

On board two, the game between Ghosh Aronyak and Surya Ganguly ended peacefully after just seven moves, thereby ensuring that the pair would not be late for Nigel Short’s evening lecture on his book “Winning!”. Doubtlessly impressed by such foresight, GMs Visakh and Stremavicius followed suit, drawing their game after less than 90 minutes. GM Short then drew on board 1 with the tournament leader, IM Dau, in a longer but evenly balanced game.

Three grandmasters capitalised on these results to rejoin the chasing pack. Brendan Jacobson and Loek Van Wely both punished ill-advised pawn advances by their IM opponents – 25…b5 by Dmytro Davydenko in the first case, 13…f5 by Adika Sadhvik in the second. Meanwhile, on board 6 Ido Gorshtein gradually built up pressure against Dinghra Aaditya’s Queenside to force a decision in the endgame.

Aaditya, Dhingra (2418) – Gorshtein, Ido (2549)

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.h4 h5 5.Bd3 Qd7 6.Nc3 Bxd3 7.Qxd3 c5 8.dxc5 e6 9.Be3 Na6 10.Nf3 Nxc5 11.Qe2 a6 12.Rh3 Qc7 13.O-O-O Ne7 14.Nd4 Nc6 15.f4 g6 16.Kb1 Be7 17.Nb3 Nxb3 18.axb3 b5 19.Bf2 Qb7 20.Qf1 Kf8 21.Qd3 Nb4 22.Qe2 Rc8 23.Rd2 Kg7 24.g4 Kf8 25.f5 hxg4 26.Qxg4 gxf5 27.Qf4 Qc7 28.h5 Nc6 29.Bg3 d4 30.Ne2 Nb4 31.Qxd4

[ Diagr]Here, White’s best chance to hold was 31.c3. Now Black crashes through…

31… Qa5 32.Nc1 Rxc2 33.Rxc2 Qa1+ 34.Kxa1 Nxc2+ 35.Ka2 Nxd4 36.Nd3 Bg5 37.b4 Kg7 38.Bf2 Nc6 39.Kb3 Kh6 40.Nc5 Rd8 41.Nxa6 Nxe5 42.Nc7 Nd3 43.Ba7 Nf4 44.Rf3 e5 45.Nxb5 Kxh5 46.Nc3 Rd7 47.Bb8 f6 48.b5 Ne6 49.Rf1 e4 50.b6 e3 51.Kc4 f4 52.Kb5 f3 53.Bc7 e2 54.Rh1 Kg6 55.b7 Nxc7+ 56.Kc6 Rd8 57.Kxc7 Re8 58.Nd5 f2

0-1

On the home front, IM Prin Laohawirapap’s win today against Alekhya Mukhopadhay will provide him with the opportunity to reappear at the higher boards during the tournament’s final stretch.

Credits: www.bangkokchess.com
Games from the top 25 boards: https://lichess.org/broadcast/23rd-bangkok-chess-club-open-2026/mu6Kv85k
Picture database: https://m.piufoto.com/album/9e2ab6d12f3bf3542c9a22e64b6dc012/
Masters section: https://s3.chess-results.com/tnr1334185.aspx
Challenger section: https://s1.chess-results.com/tnr1334184.aspx

BCC Open Round 6: king Khuong strikes twice as the top seed struggles

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Last night, Dau Khuong Duy was crowned in the blitz finals ahead of fellow IM Arca, leaving both GMs Gareyev and Visakh behind.

He struck again during round 6 of the BCC open, convincingly defeating GM Van Wely’s Sicilian Najdorf on board 1 with a thematic Knight sacrifice on f5. A difficult day for the top seed from The Netherlands, who had already struggled earlier against Johanna Bjorg from the Icelandic chess federation, at the seaside pool of the Sheraton resort and spa during this morning’s promotional photo shoot.

Dau Khuong Duy / Van Wely (Sicilian Najdorf) 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.h3 e6 7.g4 Be7 8.Bg2 Nfd7 9.a4 Nc6 10.Be3 Nde5 11.Qe2 g5 12.h4 gxh4

[diagr.] The decisive mistake, as liquidating the Knight on d4 was the only way for Black to avoid a crushing attack.

13.f4 Ng6 14.Nf5 exf5 15.exf5 h3 16.Rxh3 Nh4 17.Be4 h5 18.O-O-O hxg4 19.Qxg4 Qa5 20.Bf2 Rb8 21.Bxh4 Bxf5 22.Bxf5 Bxh4 23.Rxh4 Rxh4 24.Qg8+ Ke7 25.Re1+ 1-0

On board 5, Titas Stremavicius defeated surprise protagonist Ray Debayan from India (2004 Elo) while GM Visakh checkmated his opponent IM Cahaya following a brutal Kingside attack, as previous BCC winner Ganguly overcame Santosh Ajay after conjuring some endgame magic in an equal 3 + Bishop vs. Knight setup. The Short – Aronyak game was drawn without too much fuss, but GM Brandon Jacobson had to survive a dangerous middlegame spell against IM Tran Gia Phuc Pham of Vietnam.

In the Challenger section, Vanssh Adalja remains alone at the top with a perfect score following yet another artistic performance against co-leader Man Danushka.

Credits: www.bangkokchess.com
Games from the top 25 boards: https://lichess.org/broadcast/23rd-bangkok-chess-club-open-2026/mu6Kv85k
Picture database: https://m.piufoto.com/album/9e2ab6d12f3bf3542c9a22e64b6dc012/
Masters section: https://s3.chess-results.com/tnr1334185.aspx
Challenger section: https://s1.chess-results.com/tnr1334184.aspx

Sweetwater by the sea – Grandmasters narrowly avoid embarrassing defeats

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A handful of BCC Open laureates joined with the organisers and a surprise guest at the seaside pool of the Sheraton Hua Hin Resort and Spa for the yearly photoshoot this Thursday.

Under the bright morning sun and the watchful lens of our very wet photographer Kwang Ng, tournament top seed GM Loek Van Wely faced a high profile visitor in the person of Jóhanna Björg, the President of the Icelandic Chess Federation who is currently enjoying a two-week holiday in Thailand. With his trademark frankness, the Dutch GM admitted to being lucky escaping with a draw.

“I was lucky not to get harpooned”

The second duel featured veteran GM Nigel Short and Nina Tuorila, the daughter of the tournament director. His assessment of the game was as sober as it was fitting: “I was lucky not to get harpooned”.

2024 edition winner Vitaliy Bernadskiy then faced Thai leader Prin Laohawirapap under the watchful eye of Van Wely, who then proceeded to challenge current BCC Open champion Evgeny Romanov. The Macedonian GM, probably blinded by the morning sun, almost played an illegal move but avoided further embarrassment by offering a draw.

By that time, Jóhanna Björg had jumped back into the pool to single-handedly challenge a pair of opponents in two-time winner Suriya Ganguly and his daughter.

BCC Open round 5: the youngsters draw on board 1, Short, van Wely and Aronyak join them on 4.5/5

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The long awaited blitz qualifiers took place on Tuesday night. Whilst most heavyweights made it through, there were some high profile casualties as IMs Satria Cahaya, Thai star Prin Laohawirapap and Paulo Bersamina failed to finish in the top two spots of their respective groups. The finals will be played tonight, in the form of a 16 player round robin tournament. Rating favourites include GM Visakh from India, his mysterious colleague Timur Gareyev who came to Hua Hin especially for this occasion, and BCC Open co-leader on 4/4, IM Khuong Dau.

The latter met with fellow IM Santosh Ajay on board one of today’s BCC Open fifth round. The only two players still on a maximum score buried the hatchet in grandmasterly fashion after 14 moves. Not an altogether unexpected turn of events considering the standings – and even less so knowing that one of the protagonists inquired beforehand about minimum move requirements prior to draw offers.

On board 3, top seed Loek Van Wely obtained a promising position against 2024 edition winner Bernadskiy in spite of ignoring one of the key commandments of opening play – “Thou shalt develop thy pieces posthaste”.

White’s advantage proved sufficient in the end, as the Ukrainian grandmaster resigned in a lost 3 vs. 1 + Rook endgame.

“There’s some life in the old dog yet.”

Winners on the day also include IM Ghosh Aronyak who defeated GM Zhao, and GM Nigel Short, who dominated IM Ariel Erenberg positionally with the Black pieces. The British legend snatched a stray pawn on h3 and later liquidated into a won pawn finale after a somewhat chaotic middlegame. In the winner’s own words: “There’s some life in the old dog yet.”

[White “Erenberg, Ariel”]
[Black “Short, Nigel D”]

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 c5 4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Bg2 Bg7 8.Nf3 O-O 9.O-O a6 10.a4 Nbd7 11.Bf4 Qc7 12.Qc1 Re8 13.Re1 Rb8 14.a5 b5 15.axb6 Rxb6 16.Ra2 Rb4 17.Bh6 Bh8 18.h3 Nb6 19.Nd2 Qe7 20.Bg5 Qf8 21.e4 Nfd7 22.Nf3 Bg7 23.Qc2 Nc4 24.Bf1 Nde5 25.Nxe5 Nxe5 26.Bg2 Bxh3

[diagr.] The apostolic nuncio (Bishop with diplomatic immunity) enters the fray.

27.Rxa6 Bxg2 28.Kxg2 Reb8 29.Nd1 Qc8 30.Rxd6 Qg4 31.Bf4 Nf3 32.Rh1 Nd4 33.Qd3 c4 34.Qe3 Rb3 35.Nc3 Rxb2 36.Rh4 Qc8 37.Bg5 Qe8 38.Bf6 Nf5 39.Qf4 Bxf6 40.Rxf6 Nxh4+ 41.gxh4 R8b3 42.Qg3 Rc2 43.Rf3 Rcxc3 44.Rxc3 Qxe4+ 45.Qf3 Qxf3+ 46.Rxf3 Rxf3 47.Kxf3 h5 48.Ke3 g5 49.hxg5 h4 50.f4 h3 51.d6 Kf8 52.f5 h2 53.d7 Ke7 54.Kd4 0-1

Round 5 Gallery

Credits: www.bangkokchess.com
Games from the top 25 boards: https://lichess.org/broadcast/23rd-bangkok-chess-club-open-2026/mu6Kv85k
Picture database: https://m.piufoto.com/album/9e2ab6d12f3bf3542c9a22e64b6dc012/
Masters section: https://s3.chess-results.com/tnr1334185.aspx?lan=1&art=0&flag=30&SNode=S0&tno=1334185&zeilen=99999
Challenger section: https://s1.chess-results.com/tnr1334184.aspx?lan=1&art=0&flag=30&SNode=S0

BCC Open round 4: an unexpected duo in the lead

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The previous round had left us with ten leaders on a perfect score. As six of them parted amicably, we were left with two decisive results. IM Khuong Duy Dau defeated his colleague Suresh Harsh after the latter dropped an exchange in time trouble after enduring some positional pressure. On board two, GM Ido Gorshtein parted with his fianchettoed Bishop early on, setting the scene for some interesting developments.

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 g6 3. c4 Bg7 4. Bg2 O-O 5. O-O c5 6. d4 d6 7. dxc5 dxc5 8. Ne5 Nfd7 9. Nd3 Nc6 10. Bxc6 bxc6 11. Qc2 Ne5 12. Nxe5 Bxe5 13. Bh6 Re8 14. Nc3 Qd4 15. Na4 Bf5 16. Qc1 Be6 17. b3 [Diagr]

17… Qxa1 18. Qxa1 Bxa1 19. Rxa1 f6 20. Bd2 h5 21. f3 g5 22. Ba5 Kf7 23. Nxc5 Rh8 24. e4 Rag8 25. Re1 g4 26. f4 h4 27. f5 Bc8 28. Bc7 hxg3 29. hxg3 Rh5 30. a4 Rgh8 31. Re2 e6 32. fxe6+ Bxe6 33. Nd3 Rh1+ 34. Kf2 Rb1 35. Nc5 Rh5 36. e5 f5 37. Ke3 Rh3 38. Rd2 Rxg3+ 39. Kf4 Rf3+ 40. Kg5 g3 41. Nxe6 Kxe6 42. Rd6+ Kf7 43. Rd7+ Ke8 44. Rd2 Rbxb3 0-1

With this result, IM Santosh Ajay becomes co-leader with Dau – a duo which in all fairness wasn’t on many bingo cards when we started the round. These two U-18 talents will face one another in the marquis match-up of round 5, with a peloton of players on 3,5/4 including grandmasters Short, Van Wely, Zhao and Ganguly in pursuit.

In the challengers section, WFM Astrid Barbier continued her march on board one with a convincing win over local player Poompat. A veteran of the BCC Open, he candidly admitted to being outplayed in an opening of which he did not quite grasped all the intricacies. Four players share a maximum score of 4 out of 4 – Barrier, Danushka, Adalja and Gutsulyak.

BCC Open round 3: ten leaders emerge as Thai new year celebrations kick off

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At the outset of Round 3 of the BCC Open, only two things appeared certain. For starters, April 13 marks the beginning of a three-day celebration of the Thai New Year, known as Songkran. As with many things in Thailand, Songkran is essentially a matter of personal taste. It can be a religious celebration and a time-honoured way to pay respects to the elders. Or it can be a raucous, 72 hour long water gun showdown, complete with improvised swimming pools and trucks pouring barrels of water over the heads of hapless motorists and passers-by. Your choice.

The other given is that the 112 available spots for the yearly BCC blitz tournament are all but taken, mere hours after registration opening earlier today.

Just as closely contested were the games played on the top boards of this third round. Among the top ten seeds, four players emerged from a wave of draws. GM Ido Gorshtein quickly overcame IM Ritviz in a Rossolimo Sicilian after White opened up the position on move 10, possibly underestimating the long range potential of Black’s as of yet undeveloped pieces. On board 6, IM Aronyak dismantled Dagur Ragnarsson’s position with an exchange sacrifice on e6 while on board 7, GM Visakh capitalised on his positional pressure to force a decision against untitled youngster Adam Bivor. Lastly, second seed Brandon Jacobson defeated IM Dhulipalla in a tricky endgame following some very original opening play:

1. e4 e5 2. d4 exd4 3. Qxd4 Nc6 4. Qc4 Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Bf4 Be67. Qe2 Qe7 8. O-O-O O-O-O 9. Nf3 9… h6 10. Nd5 Bxd5 11. exd5 Qxe2 12. Bxe2 Ne713. Bc4 Ng4 14. Rhf1 Ng615. Bd2 N6e5 16. Nxe5 Nxe5 17. Be2 Be7 18. f4 Nd7 19. Bh5 g6 20. Bg4 h5 21. Bxd7+ Kxd7 22. f5 gxf5 23. Rf2 f4 24. Rxf4 Rh7 25. Rf5 Rf8 26. Re1 Rg8 27. Re2 Rhg7 28. g3 Rh7 29. Re4 h4 30. g4 h3 31. Bc3 Bd8 32. Kd2 c6 33. Ke2 Rg5 34. dxc6+ bxc6 35. Rxg5 Bxg5 36. Kf3 f6 37. Be1 c5 38. Ra4 Ke6 39. Bg3 Bc1 40. Re4+ 40… Kd7 41. b4d5 42. Re1 Ba3 43. b5 d4 44. Re4 Rf7 45. Ke2

After long oscillating between equality and a White pull, the position now unravels for Black: [Diagram]

45… f5 46. gxf5 Rxf5 47. Rh4 Rf7 48. Kd3 Rf3+ 49. Ke4 Rc3 50. Rh7+ Ke6 51. Rh6+ Kf7 52. Ra6 Re3+ 53. Kf5 Kg8 54. Bf4 Rf3 55. Ke4 1-0