Smirin crushes Svidler in Rd.7

Svidler’s CaroKann Demolished

Round 7 saw Ilya Smirin dismantle Peter Svidler’s CaroKann in fine style, allowing the Israeli grandmaster to come within half a point of the tournament leader, Lenier Dominguez, with just 2 rounds to go. Svidler finds himself in second to last place, a very unusual occurrence for the Russian star.

gm Smirin,I – gm Svidler,P
Netanya rd.7 30.6.2019
(1-0)

One of my favourite players, Peter Svidler has had some painful setbacks this year. It goes with the territory: after being one of the world’s leading players for more than 2 incredible decades, the ‘magic’ is less often seen today, and worse still: the 1-move blunders are beginning to set in…

Hopefully, however, Peter will prove us all wrong and have a SUPER second half of the year!