Game Of the Week: GM Assem Amin vs. GM Grzegorz Gajewski

GM Assem Amin vs. GM Grzegorz Gajewski

Opening: B50: Sicilian

Player(s): Amin, Gajewski

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The traditional Reykjavik Open is still going strong with a host of big names competing in the Swiss system event. Two of the top prize winners, Pavel Eljanov and Wesley So can be considered usual suspects, but the third, Bassem Amin is something of a surprise. For the 24-year-old Egyptian GM, Reykjavik represents in all likelihood his biggest success to date.

It didn't look like much early on, after a shock loss in round two that is short enough to show within this week's featured game! After beating a few weaker players, Amin turned it on at the end. Anish Giri barely escaped with a draw in the endgame, but David Navara went down in the penultimate round and Grzegorz Gajewski in the finale, putting Amin on an impressive 8/10. Amin doesn't seem to know much theory (he may not be a full-time professional; his Wikipedia page reports he was studying medicine) but the match-up with the extremely creative opening theoretician Gajewski might have been just what Amin needed.