Report
GM Zeng Chongsheng and GM Wan Yunguo kept the lead at the Rodos Palace International Open after Round 6, completed on Sunday 30 August. Their game on the top board ended in a draw, taking both players to 5.5/6, with Zeng ahead on tiebreaks.
FM Rodolfos Stamatiou is half a point behind. Playing White against Yuxin Du, he took advantage of her time pressure and launched a decisive attack after 21...Bxd5 22.Red1. The moves 26.Qh6+ and 27.Rh4 opened the way to the black king and the game ended after 33 moves.
FM Milan Kolesar, Kagan Torun and WIM Kesaria Mgeladze also moved to 5 points. Kolesar needed 82 moves to overcome Ioannis Nikitakis, Torun defeated Yassine Rafik and Mgeladze beat Aikaterini Argyro Gkoutzouki in a complex Sicilian.
Ahmet Unal Gurel, Zhao Yunqing, Janis Lutz, Toprak Gelir, Kseniya Badrakova and Soumela Athanasiou follow on 4.5 points. Only half a point separates the two leaders from the four-player group directly behind them.
Round 7 will be played on Monday 31 August at 16:00.
Stamatiou Rodolfos Yuxin Du 1-0
The game began as a Queen's Gambit Declined: Orthodox Defense, Rubinstein Variation. After 18.e4 dxe4 19.Nxe4, the position opened and Yuxin Du came under serious time pressure.
The critical decision came with 21...Bxd5. Stamatiou replied with 22.Red1, attacked the piece on the d-file and kept control after 23.Nxd5 Nxd5 24.Qd2. The move 25.Rxc4 gave him time to turn his forces towards the king.
The attack took shape with the sequence:
26.Qh6+ Kg8 27.Rh4 Rde8 28.Qxh7+ Kf8
The white rook and queen kept the king exposed. After a series of checks, Stamatiou exchanged one pair of rooks and finished with 33.Qxd5, winning Black's last minor piece. The result moved him to 5/6, half a point off the lead.
Kolesar Milan Nikitakis Ioannis 1-0
FM Milan Kolesar and Ioannis Nikitakis played the longest battle among the leading boards. The queens came off on move 12 and the Ragozin Defense led to a demanding knight-versus-bishop ending that lasted 82 moves.
Kolesar gained serious winning chances with 40.Nc5, but 44.Nc5 allowed Nikitakis to restore the balance. The game turned in White's favour again after 50...Bd7, when 51.Ng7 and 52.f5 set the passed f-pawn in motion.
With less than two minutes on his clock, Kolesar let the winning continuation slip with 66.Kf5. After 66...Kh6, Nikitakis had equalised the ending again and his bishop kept the knight and pawn under control over the following moves.
The final reversal came with 80...Kg8. Kolesar found the continuation:
81.Ng5 Bc4 82.Ne6
Black resigned because the white king, knight and f-pawn created unavoidable mating and promotion threats. After an ending that twice moved from a winning position back to equality, Kolesar finally secured the point and moved to 5/6.
Taladianos Ioannis Leijgraaff Peter 1-0
On board 12, Ioannis Taladianos faced Peter Leijgraaff, who was rated 150 points higher. The game began as a Sicilian Defense: Kan Variation and remained balanced despite a major difference on the clocks.
After 24.Kh1, Taladianos had only 1 minute and 24 seconds left, while his opponent had more than 50 minutes. The move 24...Qe7 gave him the opportunity for 25.Bxh6. The moves 26.Qf4, 27.Bg5 and 28.Bf6 followed, building a direct attack around the king.
Despite the time pressure, Taladianos finished the attack accurately:
30.Qxf3 Qc6 31.Qxc6 bxc6 32.gxf5 exf5 33.Rh4
Black resigned in the face of the threat Rh8#. Taladianos scored one of the most significant wins on the lower boards and moved to 4 points.
Other games that stood out
- Mgeladze Kesaria - Gkoutzouki Aikaterini Argyro 1-0: In a complex Sicilian Defense,
28...Rfg5allowed Mgeladze to begin a series of checks with29.Qf6+. White's rooks took control of the f-file and Mgeladze moved to 5 points. - Yassine Rafik - Kagan Torun 0-1: Torun took control after
16...Nb4. The moves21...Bh3+and22...Bc5+kept the white king at the centre of the attack, before23...Bxf1won the exchange and moved Torun to 5 points. - Kseniya Badrakova - Antonios Spyrou 1-0: In a Caro-Kann Defense,
15...Nc5allowed Badrakova to take the initiative with16.Qf3and17.Nf5. The Austrian kept her advantage into the ending and created an unstoppable passed pawn with42.a6. - Soumela Athanasiou - Zaharias Tiakoudis 1-0: Athanasiou turned around a difficult position after
37...Nc5 38.Rc1. The sequence39...Nxb7 40.Rxc8+gave her a decisive advantage and the h-pawn reached the seventh rank with64.h7.