“Today was a bloody round” were GM Ilya Smirin’s first words to me when we left the venue this evening. None less than four out of the six games of the round had a decisive result: a huge percentage for this type of event.
But the official commentator’s considerations had more to do with the ups and downs experienced during the games. Time-trouble, stranded centre kings, sudden attacks followed by counterattacks, rejected three-fold draw repetitions … All in an afternoon’s work!
