Nepomniachtchi, Svidler Continue To Lead Levitov Chess

Week
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Peter Doggers

A shot from the playing hall on day three. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Levitov Chess Week.

Nepomniachtchi, Svidler Lead As Levitov Chess Week Becomes

Two-horse Race

After some twists and turns, GMs Ian Nepomniachtchi and Peter Svidler are still topping the
Levitov Chess Week's leaderboard. With four rounds to go, it has become a two-horse race
as their closest rivals, GM Levon Aronian and GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, are two points
behind.

How to watch?
You can watch the 2023 Levitov Chess Week on YouTube.com/Chess24. Games from the
event can be viewed on our events page.

The live broadcast was hosted by WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili and GM Arturs Neiksans.

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After a rest day, the tournament's third day saw more distinguished guests like GM Jan
Timman, IA Geurt Gijssen, and FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich. It also started 45 minutes
earlier than planned. Because GM Vladimir Kramnik was scheduled to play at 5 p.m. in the
afternoon in Division III of the AI Cup (the time of round 14 in Amsterdam), his game with
Aronian was moved ahead. It was a fantastic fight—but not for Kramnik, who spoiled a
completely winning position:

It's hard to believe Vladimir Kramnik couldn't finish off this one. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Levitov Chess
Week.

GM Wesley So won Sunday's Hand & Brain tournament with Aronian as his partner, and the
next day he beat him with a lovely combination. During the game, it wasn't super clear
whether it was actually winning but the engine claims it is:

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 A nice rook sac by Wesley So. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Levitov Chess Week.

GM Viswanathan Anand's tournament has had an unfortunate downward trend: after scoring
an excellent (and undefeated) 3.5/5 on the first day, he continued with 2/4 on Saturday and
then started with three losses today, before recovering somewhat with a draw and a win. His
game with Mamedyarov, annotated by GM Rafael Leitao, was spectacular from the start and
demonstrated deep opening prep by the Azerbaijani GM:

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 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov still brings fire to the board on a regular basis. Photo: Lennart Ootes/Levitov
Chess Week.

The two leaders faced each other in the 12th round. It was understandable that Svidler
allowed a move repetition at the end with such a dangerous-looking king position, but it was
actually winning for Black, and also the clock situation was in Svidler's favor (over a minute
vs. 13 seconds). Perhaps a draw was the best result after all, because Nepo would have
been winning earlier if he had found a different bishop maneuver on move 26, which GM
Ljubomir Ljubojevic did spot immediately in the VIP area.

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 Was Peter Svidler too nice for his opponent? Photo: Lennart Ootes/Levitov Chess Week.

Like Kramnik, both Mamedyarov and Nepomniachtchi had to play in the AI Cup after the
over-the-board action, but their games were scheduled one hour later than Kramnik's. Busy
days for some of these top GMs!

The Levitov Chess Week ends on Tuesday with four more rounds and a first prize of 40,000
euros on the line.

Round 14 Standings

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All Games Day 3

The 2023 Levitov Chess Week takes place September 22-26, 2023, in Amsterdam, the
Netherlands. It is a 10-player, double round-robin. The time control is 10 minutes for the
whole game plus a five-second increment. The prize fund is 130,000 euros, with a first prize
of 40,000 euros.

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