Report
After the second round of the Rodos Palace International Open, twenty players remain on a perfect two points. For the second day in a row, all 16 games on the live broadcast ended decisively: White won seven and Black won nine.
On board one, GM Zeng Chongsheng defeated Inge Bunschoten with Black, while GM Wan Yunguo beat Evaggelos Michelakis in 19 moves. FM Rodolfos Stamatiou, FM Milan Kolesar, WIM Kesaria Mgeladze, WIM Yunqing Zhao and Aikaterini Argyro Gkoutzouki also moved to 2/2.
Among the Greek players, Ioannis Nikitakis, Antonios Spyrou, Antonios P. Papadopoulos, Stamatios Karavas and Soumela Athanasiou also recorded a second straight win.
WIM Kesaria Mgeladze produced one of the round's most impressive attacking victories. From a Maróczy Bind, she opened lines on the kingside with f5 and h4, then sacrificed a rook on f6 to create a forced mating attack.
The day's longest battle lasted 90 moves. Christodoulos Tsompanoudis came close to victory twice against Antonios Spyrou but could not find the finish. The game reached a drawn rook ending before a mistake on move 82 finally decided it.
Round 3 brings the first direct clashes between players on 2/2. The leading group is beginning to take shape and every half-point now carries more weight.
Mgeladze Kesaria Tugay Dogan 1-0
Mgeladze chose the Maróczy Bind against the Accelerated Dragon and steadily restricted Black's counterplay. Black could still organise the defence with 26...Bf6. Instead, 26...gxh4? opened the h-file and, after 27.Qxh4, White's attack gathered real force.
The move 27...Qb7? made matters worse and allowed the powerful 28.f6!. Then came 29.Bd3+, 30.Bxh6 and the final sacrifice:
30...Kf8? 31.Rxf6! exf6 32.Bxg7+ Kxg7 33.Qh7+ Kf8 34.Qh8+ Ke7 35.Re1+
Black resigned with checkmate unavoidable. Mgeladze turned steady pressure into a direct attack and finished the game in style.
Tsompanoudis Christodoulos Spyrou Antonios 0-1
The game began in the Panov Attack of the Caro-Kann Defense and remained finely balanced for a long time. Tsompanoudis gained the upper hand twice but could not find the decisive continuation.
After 35...Rxf4? 36.Rxb5 Re7?, White had a forced mate with 37.Rb8+!. Tsompanoudis chose 37.Rxe7?! and, soon after, 38.Ra7? allowed Black to reach a drawn rook ending.
The balance held for more than 40 further moves. The move 82.Rf8+? pulled the white rook away from its best defensive square and Spyrou took his chance, ending the game with 90...Rh4#.
Other games that stood out
- Badrakova Kseniya – Stamatiou Rodolfos 0-1: In mutual time pressure,
25...Rae8?gave White a chance to equalise. The replies26.Bc3?and27.Be4?let the opportunity pass and Stamatiou reached 2/2. - Tsakiris Nikolaos – Zhao Yunqing 0-1: The move
20.Qxe5?allowed Black to win material immediately. Zhao stayed in control and won in 31 moves. - Gkoutzouki Aikaterini Argyro – Kaka Rengina Tsampika 1-0: The move
13...b5?gave Gkoutzouki her first major chance. She let some of the advantage slip with14.Bc3?, then regained control and won the endgame in 55 moves. - Nikitakis Ioannis – Katsiolis Orestis 1-0: Nikitakis entered the endgame with a clear advantage. The advance of White's pawns eventually made the position impossible to defend.