Artūrs Neikšāns finished his draw indefinitely in the third round of the Grand Chess tournament of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in Riga on Friday, still fighting without losses.
After the 142-run marathon in the second round, this time Neikšāns (2570), playing with white figures, agreed on a peace treaty with the US Grandmaster Samuel Sevian (2654) already on the 23rd.
The first loss after two draws was suffered by Normunds Miezis (2467), who lost to Russia’s Maxim Chigayev (2639) with white figures.
The third Latvian participant in the “Open” tournament, in which 108 participants participate, Nikita Meškovs (2550) won the first half point at the top of various shows, playing with black figures in a draw with Kazakh chess player Rinat Zhumabayev (2658).
After three rounds of the competition, Neikšāns takes a shared 13th-14th place with two points. Barley with one point is in the 72nd place, but Meškovs is in the 102nd-105th place with a half point.
Alireza Firuzzda, an 18-year-old French chess player of Iranian origin, is still in the lead with three points, while six more chess players have accumulated 2.5 points.
In the women’s tournament, in which 50 chess players compete, the first points were won by both Latvian representatives – Laura Rogule (2289) and Madara Golsta (2003).
Rogule with white figures in the 44th race led the Peruvian chess player Deissey Kori (2382) to surrender, but Golsta with white figures in the 59th race agreed to draw with the English chess player – British champion with Czech roots Jovankas Houska (2381).
After three rounds, Rogule is in 41st place in the women’s tournament, but Golsta is in 48th place with a half point.
There are 2.5 points for nine chess players, but the first place is taken by Chinese chess player Zhu Jin.
FIDE “Grand Swiss” tournaments will take place until November 7 in the cultural space “Hanzas perons”. Two tournaments are held in parallel – the “Open” competition and the women’s tournament, in which a total of 158 chess players from 42 countries participate.
Latvia is represented by five players – Artūrs Neikšāns, Ņikita Meškovs, Normunds Miezis, Laura Rogule and Madara Golsta.
Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the competition takes place without the presence of spectators. Players who have arrived in Riga are only allowed to visit the tournament venue and hotel.
The games start at 2 pm, with each player giving about three hours per game, so one game can last about six hours. All games can be viewed online on the Chess.com website.
Fabiano Caruana from the USA, Levon Aronjan from Armenia, who is the fifth in the ranking, and other strong chess players take part in the tournament.
The prize pool for the tournament is $ 550,000 (€ 472,000), of which the first place winner will receive $ 70,000 and $ 125,000 (€ 107,747) from the total prize pool will go to the women’s tournament.
Initially, it was planned that the competition would take place in the British Isle of Man city of Douglas, but due to strict Covid-19 regulations, it was moved to the capital of Latvia, where players do not have to spend two weeks in solitary confinement.
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