Gazprom becomes FIDE’s General Partner for the period 2021-2023
The International Chess Federation and PJSC Gazprom have announced expanding cooperation and signed a three-year agreement under which Gazprom becomes FIDE’s General Partner for the period of 2021-2023. The sponsorship agreement covers most of FIDE’s main competitions until 2023: the World Cup and Women’s World Cup in 2021 and 2023, the Olympiad in Moscow in 2022, the FIDE World Team Championships in 2021 and 2023, the Women’s Grand Prix series, and the FIDE World Junior Championships in 2021, 2022 and 2023. Alexey Miller, Chairman of the Management Committee for Gazprom: “We believe it is important to support popular sports, to create opportunities for the harmonious development of young people. Chess is a wonderful global game that fosters intelligence, strategic thinking, and self-control. These qualities are useful in every area of life. I am sure that the number of chess fans, including in our company, will only grow.” PJSC Gazprom has been a permanent partner of FIDE since 2019, providing invaluable support to chess worldwide. The company supported such landmark international competitions as the FIDE Online Olympiad 2020, the First FIDE Online Olympiad for Players with Disabilities, and the FIDE Online World Junior Rapid Chess Championship. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich: ”FIDE and Gazprom have a long-standing partnership with several key international tournaments held through our cooperation. Starting this year, Gazprom has become FIDE’s General Partner and this is undoubtedly the key to the global success of chess. Today we proudly observe chess regaining its huge popularity all over the world. The support by global companies such as Gazprom is, first of all, a significant contribution to unlocking the intellectual potential of the entire mankind.” About Gazprom Gazprom is a global energy company focused on geological exploration, production, transportation, storage, processing and sales of gas, gas condensate, and oil, sales of gas as a vehicle fuel, as well as generation and marketing of heat and electric power. Gazprom is the global leader measured by natural gas reserves and production. The Company sells gas to Russian consumers and exports gas to over 30 countries within and beyond the former Soviet Union. Gazprom is the biggest gas supplier to Europe. Gazprom is among the top three oil and gas condensate producers in the Russian Federation, ranking number one nationally in terms of electricity generation among thermal generation companies, as well as thermal energy output. More information: www.gazprom.com Contact: pr@gazprom.ru
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Ian Nepomniachtchi is Carlsen’s next challenger Gazprom becomes FIDE’s General Partner From the “flashcards” to Chessable New in Chess: “A short history… of generosity” Route64: a new chess magazine is born! Brief news from National Federations Birthdays READ NEWSLETTER
Nepomniachtchi keeps sole lead after “bloody” Round 12
Ian Nepomniachtchi outplayed Wang Hao and is heading to the final rest day as a sole leader, while Fabiano Caruana and Anish Giri were deciding who would become his main rival. The American grandmaster took a hard line in the middlegame, but lost the thread and let his opponent grab the initiative. Anish Giri found the precise way to convert his advantage into a full point and continues his pursuit of Nepomniachtchi. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won his first game in the second half of the tournament. He defeated Kirill Alekseenko, who misplayed a sharp line of the Caro-Kann Defense. Alexander Grischuk faltered closer to the time control and lost against Ding Liren. It was a truly remarkable round as for the first time in the FIDE Candidates Tournament 2020-2021, all four games ended decisively. Wang Hao – Ian Nepomniachtchi (0-1) Once again Ian Nepomniachtchi demonstrated his commitment to the “solid strategy” by opting for the Petrov’s Defence, which he had rarely used before. “I’m a new player to Petroff Defence, so I have no experience” admitted Ian at the press conference. Wang Hao chose a seemingly unambitious line with an early exchange of queens. However, Vladimir Kramnik, who was commenting on Round 12, explained that this “modesty” can be tricky and Black has to play accurately enough not to run into some troubles. “I was only thinking of how not to get into trouble. This position, of course, is equal, but it can be unpleasant sometimes as White very slowly builds up. I had no idea what to do, so I just started to move around to fix a structure” shared Ian his thoughts after the game. Wang Hao started spending lots of time, while Ian was responding quickly, coordinated his pieces, and achieved a very promising position. To avoid passive defence, Wang Hao pushed his pawn on the queenside to force massive exchanges. However, White did not manage not completely equalize and on move 39 the Chinese GM made a mistake and found his king off on the first rank. Wang Hao admitted that at some point he could not calculate anything and after the time control started playing like a 2200-rated player. Thanks to a strong a-passer, White had great chances to save the game, but Ian kept looking for opportunities, posing unpleasant problems for Wagn Hao. Already in a difficult position the Chinese GM made a final mistake and capitulated a couple of moves later. The leader Ian Nepomniachtchi on the tournament situation after 12 rounds: “I think it is still very complex and still two rounds to go.” Fabiano Caruana – Anish Giri (0-1) This extremely important game decided who would be the main rival of Ian Nepomniachtchi in the final stretch of the tournament. Giri chose the tricky move order in the Sicilian Defence trying to get the Sveshnikov system while avoiding the Rossolimo system (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 ). The most principled continuation for White could have led to a crazy position, where the white’s king has to move to the center of the board. Caruana deviated from this line and opted for a relatively quiet one. An original, approximately equal position with mutual chances appeared on the board after the opening. White voluntarily destroyed his pawn structure on the queen’s side, in order to get the central outpost on d5. Caruana was very optimistic about his chances, but Giri’s strong defensive move 20… Qf8! came as an unpleasant surprise for him. At this moment White should have switched to the fight for a draw by organizing the c4-c5 but according to Caruana, he didn’t see how to continue after Nc4. The American grandmaster lost the track of the game while the Dutchman felt the right moment to push for a win. Black got an important strategical advantage by exchanging the dark-squared bishops and securing an “eternal” stronghold on e5 for his knight. Although Giri made an inaccuracy on move 40, it did not affect the evaluation of the position as hopeless for White. Five moves down the road Fabiano hoisted the white flag. Anish Giri: “You have to be lucky of course [to win with black pieces] … I felt Fabiano was quite enthusiastic about his position but after 20…Qf8, which is a good move, he probably realised that he is no longer playing for an advantage … I think it was a big let-down for him.” Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – Kirill Alekseenko (1-0) Kirill Alekseenko tried to surprise his opponent by essaying a new opening – the Caro-Kann Defense. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave returned a surprise by choosing a sharp system with 3.f3, which is not a fixture in his opening repertoire. Kirill chose the most ambitious continuation, however, by his own admission, he mixed up several variations, and by the 10th move Black’s position looked precarious. Maxime pointed out that there are many very complex variations in this line, and he didn’t remember all the details but remembered enough to gain an advantage. Alekseenko rejected a central pawn sacrifice and was forced to defend an endgame, in which White had two bishops, active pieces and a mobile pawn center. To complete the development, Black had to give up a pawn but did not get sufficient compensation. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave instructively converted his advantage: the Frenchman was methodically improving his position not giving his opponent a single tactical chance, and confidently won the game. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave: “I feel mostly relieved. It’s the case of opening gone bad. I was happy with how I was calculating things. Hopefully, it was alright and it would mean I can move on with my tournament and try to play two good games.” Ding Liren – Alexander Grischuk (1-0) The opponents tested one of the popular lines of the Queen’s Gambit, which Alexander Grischuk himself tried to break through exactly 10 years ago. During the Candidates Matches in Kazan he had White pieces against Levon Aronian and Vladimir Kramnik and obviously, extensively analyzed this somewhat passive, but extremely solid line. However, in the 12th round of the Candidates he played this line with Black. Alexander penetrated with his
Deac and Ciolacu win Romanian 2021 Championship
The Romanian Chess Championship saw the triumph of teenagers: Bogdan-Daniel Deac (aged 19) and Alessia-Mihaela Ciolacu (aged 17) won the national titles for the first time in their careers. Both Open and Women’s championships were 9-round Swiss tournaments held in Iasi, Romania from April 19-25. In the Open tournament it came down to the wire as Bogdan-Daniel Deac and Costica-Ciprian Nanu were heading into the final round with an equal amount of points – 6½ out of 8. Costica-Ciprian who had black pieces and slightly better Buchholz over his rival played it safe and made a quick draw with George Stoleriu. It was up to Bogdan-Daniel Deac (pictured below) to make his move and the rating favourite did not disappoint. He gradually outplayed David Gavrilescu and came out on top a half-point ahead of Nanu. Three players shared third place but the Buchholz tie-breaks favoured George Stoleriu, who clinched bronze. Photo: John Saunders Final standings: 1. Bogdan-Daniel Deac (2625) – 7½2. Costica-Ciprian Nanu (2503) – 73. George Stoleriu (2349) – 6½4. Samuel-Timote Ghimpui (2315) – 6½5. George Albu (2050) – 6½6. Vlad-Cristian Jianu (2532) – 67. David Gavrilescu (2476) – 68. Nicodim-Cosmin Stepanencu (2104) – 69. Lucian-Ioan Filip (2442) – 610. Matei-Marius Ignat (1978) – 6 The women’s event produced a minor sensation. The fifth-rated Alessia-Mihaela Ciolacu (pictured below) turned in an excellent performance scoring 7½ out of 9 points and took her first national title at the tender age of 17. Photo: Alessia-Mihaela Ciolacu Facebook page The rating favourites Mihaela Sandu and multiple Romanian champion Corina-Isabela Peptan finished a half-point behind and tied for second place. Mihaela took silver thanks to better tiebreaks whereas Corina-Isabela had to settle for bronze. Final standings: 1. Alessia-Mihaela Ciolacu (2052) – 7½2. Mihaela Sandu (2268) – 73. Corina-Isabela Peptan (2392) – 74. Ema Obada (1940) – 65. Miruna-Daria Lehaci (2188) – 5½6. Andreea-Marioara Cosman (2164) – 57. Maria Anghel (1918) – 48. Lia-Alexandra Maria (1713) – 49. Aureliana-Eugenia Pancu (1878) – 3½10. Daria-Ana Marcu (1533) – 211. Alexia Andries (1553) – 1½12. Maria Pirvan (1529) – 1
Baptism of fire in New In Chess Classic
Azerbaijan’s Teimour Radjabov out in front First Englishman on Tour scores famous win World Champ Magnus Carlsen stays unbeaten Four tour debutants faced a baptism of fire at the top level on Saturday as the $100,000 New In Chess Classic got underway. The online chess event, the fifth leg of the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour, started with only one win among them in the first three rounds. But the standout newcomer was India’s 15-year-old prodigy Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, who scored that early win and went on to finish the day on 3/5. The youngster, who qualified from the junior Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour, appeared completely unphased by playing at the top tier of online chess. After his early win, Pragg recorded two draws before finishing with a flourish by capping his day with a win over Russia’s former world title challenger Sergey Karjakin. Out in the lead after Day 1 of the prelims is the Airthings Masters champ Teimour Radjabov who finished on an unbeaten 4/5. Radjabov drew his fifth-round against World Champion Magnus Carlsen. The Norwegian, who finished joint-second on 3.5/5, had declared he was feeling relaxed in the earlier rounds and it showed. Radjabov said afterward: “Quite happy about the start, but I know that in this tournament it doesn’t matter if you are 1st or 8th, it’s just the same.” For the first time, Magnus Carlsen was playing at a Tour venue – the Meltwater HQ in Oslo – along with fellow Norwegians Aryan Tari and Johan-Sebastian Christiansen. However, Carlsen’s younger compatriots both struggled in their first Tour event. Christiansen suffered the most. The 21-year-old was left with his head in his hands after losing his first five games on the trot. That was the first shut-out in a Meltwater Champions Chess Tour event. Tari fared better, picking up three draws before meeting Christiansen in the last round of the day. In the first game between two players in the same room, Tari won to pile on the misery for Christiansen. Englishman Gawain Jones, the other debutant, also suffered early on but pulled off a famous win in Round 4. The reigning European Blitz Champion took down the overall Tour leader Wesley So in 22 moves after the American fell into a well-known opening trap. Jones, ranked world number 69, had beaten the world number 9. With the first five rounds of the three-day prelim stage completed, play will resume today at 19:00 CEST. When 15 rounds have been completed the field will be halved with eight going forward to the knockout stage. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Play Magnus Groupleon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770
FIDE Women’s Grand Prix Gibraltar: New dates announced
The Women’s FIDE Grand Prix Gibraltar postponed due to COVID-19 restrictions in the British Oversea Territory will take place from May 22 to June 2, 2021. Hosting this prestigious event opens a new chapter in Gibraltar’s continued tradition of supporting chess, in general, and the best female chess players, in particular. Since the inception of the Gibraltar Chess Festival in 2003, almost all the world’s top female players have taken part, including the greatest woman player of all time, Judit Polgar, as well as a total of seven Women’s World Champions. The fourth and final leg of the FIDE Women’s Grand Prix will be hosted by Caleta Hotel. As usual, twelve players will compete in a round-robin tournament. The list of participants: 1 IM Gunay Mammadzada 2443 AZE 2 IM Irina Bulmaga 2440 ROU 3 IM Zhansaya Abdumalik 2472 KAZ 4 GM Mariya Muzychuk 2544 UKR 5 GM Nana Dzagnidze 2524 GEO 6 IM Alina Kashlinskaya 2494 RUS 7 GM Valentina Gunina 2421 RUS 8 GM Kateryna Lagno 2546 RUS 9 GM Anna Muzychuk 2535 UKR 10 IM Dinara Saduakassova 2500 KAZ 11 IM Elisabeth Paehtz 2467 GER 12 GM Antoaneta Stefanova 2470 BUL FULL PAIRINGS: Round 1 on 2021/05/22 IM Gunay Mammadzada (2443) – GM Antoaneta Stefanova (2470)IM Irina Bulmaga (2440) – IM Elisabeth Paehtz (2467)IM Zhansaya Abdumalik (2472) – IM Dinara Saduakassova (2500)GM Mariya Muzychuk (2544) – GM Anna Muzychuk (2535)GM Nana Dzagnidze (2524) – GM Kateryna Lagno (2546)IM Alina Kashlinskaya (2494) – GM Valentina Gunina (2421) Round 2 on 2021/05/23 GM Antoaneta Stefanova (2470) – GM Valentina Gunina (2421) GM Kateryna Lagno (2546) – IM Alina Kashlinskaya (2494) GM Anna Muzychuk (2535) – GM Nana Dzagnidze (2524) IM Dinara Saduakassova (2500) – GM Mariya Muzychuk 2544 IM Elisabeth Paehtz (2467) – IM Zhansaya Abdumalik (2472) IM Gunay Mammadzada (2443) – IM Irina Bulmaga (2440) Round 3 on 2021/05/24 IM Irina Bulmaga (2440) – GM Antoaneta Stefanova (2470) IM Zhansaya Abdumalik (2472) – IM Gunay Mammadzada (2443) GM Mariya Muzychuk 2544 – IM Elisabeth Paehtz (2467) GM Nana Dzagnidze (2524) – IM Dinara Saduakassova (2500) IM Alina Kashlinskaya (2494) – GM Anna Muzychuk (2535) GM Valentina Gunina (2421) – GM Kateryna Lagno (2546) Round 4 on 2021/05/25 GM Antoaneta Stefanova (2470) – GM Kateryna Lagno (2546) GM Anna Muzychuk (2535) – GM Valentina Gunina (2421) IM Dinara Saduakassova (2500) – IM Alina Kashlinskaya (2494) IM Elisabeth Paehtz (2467) – GM Nana Dzagnidze (2524) IM Gunay Mammadzada (2443) – GM Mariya Muzychuk 2544 IM Irina Bulmaga (2440) – IM Zhansaya Abdumalik (2472) Round 5 on 2021/05/26 IM Zhansaya Abdumalik (2472) – GM Antoaneta Stefanova (2470) GM Mariya Muzychuk 2544 – IM Irina Bulmaga (2440) GM Nana Dzagnidze (2524) – IM Gunay Mammadzada (2443) IM Alina Kashlinskaya (2494) – IM Elisabeth Paehtz (2467) GM Valentina Gunina (2421) – IM Dinara Saduakassova (2500) GM Kateryna Lagno (2546) – GM Anna Muzychuk (2535) Round 6 on 2021/05/27 GM Antoaneta Stefanova (2470) – GM Anna Muzychuk (2535) IM Dinara Saduakassova (2500) – GM Kateryna Lagno (2546) IM Elisabeth Paehtz (2467) – GM Valentina Gunina (2421) IM Gunay Mammadzada (2443) – IM Alina Kashlinskaya (2494) IM Irina Bulmaga (2440) – GM Nana Dzagnidze (2524) IM Zhansaya Abdumalik (2472) – GM Mariya Muzychuk (2544) Round 7 on 2021/05/29 GM Mariya Muzychuk 2544 – GM Antoaneta Stefanova (2470) GM Nana Dzagnidze (2524) – IM Zhansaya Abdumalik (2472) IM Alina Kashlinskaya (2494) – IM Irina Bulmaga (2440) GM Valentina Gunina (2421) – IM Gunay Mammadzada (2443) GM Kateryna Lagno (2546) – IM Elisabeth Paehtz (2467) GM Anna Muzychuk (2535) – IM Dinara Saduakassova (2500) Round 8 on 2021/05/30 GM Antoaneta Stefanova (2470) – IM Dinara Saduakassova (2500) IM Elisabeth Paehtz (2467) – GM Anna Muzychuk (2535) IM Gunay Mammadzada (2443) – GM Kateryna Lagno (2546) IM Irina Bulmaga (2440) – GM Valentina Gunina (2421) IM Zhansaya Abdumalik (2472) – IM Alina Kashlinskaya (2494) GM Mariya Muzychuk 2544 – GM Nana Dzagnidze (2524) Round 9 on 2021/05/31 GM Nana Dzagnidze (2524) – GM Antoaneta Stefanova (2470) IM Alina Kashlinskaya (2494) – GM Mariya Muzychuk 2544 GM Valentina Gunina (2421) – IM Zhansaya Abdumalik (2472) GM Kateryna Lagno (2546) – IM Irina Bulmaga (2440) GM Anna Muzychuk (2535) – IM Gunay Mammadzada (2443) IM Dinara Saduakassova (2500) – IM Elisabeth Paehtz (2467) Round 10 on 2021/06/01 GM Antoaneta Stefanova (2470) – IM Elisabeth Paehtz (2467) IM Gunay Mammadzada (2443) – IM Dinara Saduakassova (2500) IM Irina Bulmaga (2440) – GM Anna Muzychuk (2535) IM Zhansaya Abdumalik (2472) – GM Kateryna Lagno (2546) GM Mariya Muzychuk 2544 – GM Valentina Gunina (2421) GM Nana Dzagnidze (2524) – IM Alina Kashlinskaya (2494) Round 11 on 2021/06/02 IM Alina Kashlinskaya (2494) – GM Antoaneta Stefanova (2470) GM Valentina Gunina (2421) – GM Nana Dzagnidze (2524) GM Kateryna Lagno (2546) – GM Mariya Muzychuk 2544 GM Anna Muzychuk (2535) – IM Zhansaya Abdumalik (2472) IM Dinara Saduakassova (2500) – IM Irina Bulmaga (2440) IM Elisabeth Paehtz (2467) – IM Gunay Mammadzada (2443)
Anish Giri defeats Ding Liren in pursuit of Nepomniachtchi
Anish Giri scores his second victory in the second part of the FIDE Candidates Tournament and narrows the gap to half a point with the leader Ian Nepomniachtchi. A complicated battle between Anish Giri and Ding Liren saw a very spectacular finale. The Chinese grandmaster seized the initiative in the middlegame, but then miscalculated at the critical moment and fell under a crushing attack. The leader of the tournament, Ian Nepomniachtchi, chose a “safe mode” in the game against one of his main rivals Fabiano Caruana. After passing the first time control players signed an expected peace. In the most exciting game of the round, Alexander Grischuk sacrificed a pawn and then a whole rook to launch an attack along the open h-file. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave missed several opportunities to escape – the last one right after passing the time control – and suffered his second defeat in the tournament. Wang Hao’s position in his game with Kirill Alekseenko looked quite promising at some point but the Russian grandmaster managed to hold a draw. After Round 11 Ian Nepomniachtchi is leading with 7 points out of 11 (+3); Anish Giri is trailing the leader by a half-point (6½). Fabiano Caruana is sitting on 6 points (+1). Ian Nepomniachtchi – Fabiano Caruana (½ : ½) The leader of the competition, Ian Nepomniachtchi, playing with white against one of his closest pursuers, opted for the line 4.d4 in the Four Knights Opening known for its drawing tendencies. The tournament commentator Daniil Dubov predicted such a scenario: “Mathematically speaking, it’s a very simple decision for both. Ian has to play something drawish and that’s what he does. But I think also for Fabi it is not time yet to go into the kamikaze mood.” Fabiano Caruana tried to complicate things, but objectively Black did not have many opportunities to do it. In a balanced, approximately equal position, the American Grandmaster rushed to exchange queens, which caused some problems for him. However, he managed to keep the balance with an accurate play, and immediately after passing the first time control a draw, the opponents split the point. Fabiano Caruana: “I thought Ian might have two approaches – one to get a complicated fight and another to play a more or less safe position with some minor chances that I mess this position up, but like 99% of the time this line will turn into a draw.” “It’s still three rounds to go, I thought why I would burn my bridges,” said Fabiano Caruana, answering the question of whether he could go for something more double-edged in the opening. Anish Giri – Ding Liren (1 : 0) The grandmasters tested one of the lines of the exchange variation in the Ruy Lopez, where White trades his light-squared bishop for the c6-knight only after Black develops his other knight to f6. It is believed that with this sort of pawn structure the knight is not very well positioned on f6, but the subsequent game did uphold this theory. In a position with opposite-side castling (the white king went to the kingside, the black one to the queenside), Anish placed his knight on a5, trying to exert some pressure on the queenside. According to Giri, he did not expect the idea of Black with c7-c6 followed by the bishop transfer to c7, but most likely, it was a very strong plan. White’s attack temporarily came to a standstill as he had to retreat his advanced knight. The f7-f5 breakthrough was also unpleasant for White. But then Black got carried away with a pawn thrust (20…g4) but missed the moves 21.Ng5 and 22.h4. After regaining the initiative, the Dutch grandmaster played with inspiration: he sacrificed his dark-squared bishop and pounced on the opponent’s king. Black’s barricades collapsed unexpectedly quickly and on move 29 Ding Liren threw in the towel. Anish Giri: “A few people have already told me it was a great game but I don’t think it was that great as it looked in the end. At some point, he was the one who had all the play, he was dictating the course of the game.” Alexander Grischuk – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (1 : 0) In response to Maxime’s pet Sicilian Defence, Alexander played an original system introduced by the world champion Magnus Carlsen. Already on the 4th move, the white queen jumped out to the center and then retreated to d2, blocking the way for its bishop. However, pretty soon White’s pieces achieved harmony: his dark-squared bishop moved to the big diagonal and the king hid on the queenside. Black, on the other hand, castled in the opposite direction which meant a sharp battle with all three possible outcomes. On move 9, Grischuk introduced the new line and soon sacrificed a pawn to open the h-file. “9.Nge2 is a novelty. The computer is laughing, there are ten good ways but also he has twenty bad ways. So I thought I will give it a try,” Alexander Grischuk explained his preparation. “I spent the whole morning and yesterday trying to remember all the lines and still filed.” Black responded by putting pressure on the opposite side wing but did it belatedly. On move 19, the French grandmaster faced a difficult choice – where to move his attacked knight. He chose a seemingly reliable continuation which helped him to block the dangerous file but ended up in an inferior passive position with paralyzed dark-squared bishop. “ Later Grischuk sacrificed a whole rook to create mating threats to the opponent’s king, however, by his own admission, he overlooked two strong defensive ideas. In the mutual time scramble Vachier-Lagrave fought off all the direct threats and leveled the position, but immediately faltered. Right after passing the time control, Black had an unexpected chance to make a draw but Maxime immediately made a losing move. According to Aleksander Grischuk, he didn’t go to smoke at move 40 as he usually does, to try and induce MVL to play fast 42…Rc2 and not play 42…Ba3! “It was my trick!” added Sasha at the
Nepomniachtchi beats Alekseenko to stretch his lead
Russian Ian Nepomniachtchi increased his lead at the 2020 Candidates to a full point after defeating his compatriot Kirill Alekseenko. It turned out, Nepomniachtchi made a wise opening choice since Kirill Alekseenko seems to be unfamiliar with the subtleties of the position. After Black went astray on move 8 White grabbed the initiative with the most natural moves and scored a well-deserved victory. Before the rest day, Nepomniachtchi has 6,5 points after 10 rounds and with 4 rounds to go the Russian GM is a strong favourite to win the tournament. “He’s someone who can outplay me… it’s always been an interesting clash of styles!” said the Wordl Champion Magnus Carlsen on Ian Nepomniachtchi today. As three other games were drawn the gap between the leader and the runner-ups has increased. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Fabiano Caruana, and Anish Giri are still tied for second place with 5,5 points out of 10. The most remarkable of three draws was an incredibly sharp duel Wang Hao – Grischuk, where at first Black spent on one of the opening moves 72 (!) minutes, and then White sacrificed the queen for two minor pieces. Ian Nepomniachtchi – Kirill Alekseenko (1-0) 1.c4 was played for the first time in the second stage of the Candidates Tournament, but it hardly came as a surprise for Alekseenko, since this is one of Nepomniachtchi’s favourite moves. Soon, one of the lines of the English opening appeared on the board, which is informally called “semi-Catalan”. White fianchettoed his king’s bishop, but his d-pawn remained in its original position, keeping both options d2-d4 and d2-d3. As Kirill admitted, he did not remember that line very well and made a serious inaccuracy already on the 8th move, and later on, did not play his best chess. “It’s quite a common mistake that you prepare all the main lines and you kind of spend less time looking at some sidelines and tricky move orders. So 1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 is not exactly what worries you most.” expressed his opinion commentator Daniil Dubov. Ian confirmed that instead of 8… Be7, Black should have played 8… Qc7 with the idea of placing the pawn on b6 and bringing the bishop to b7, as his main task in this line is to develop his queenside. Ian Nepomniachtchi: “It was optically very easy, but in fact, I think it was not. I guess I was lucky that in the opening Kirill quickly got into some position he’s not familiar with.” White seized the opportunity and with 10. d4 got a very good version of the Catalan opening. Ian quickly developed his pieces increasing the pressure on the black’s queenside. To complete development, Black had to exchange his c8-bishop for his opponent’s knight but seriously weakened the white squares in his camp. Alekseenko tried to muddle the waters, but Nepomniachtchi was merciless and finished off his opponent on move 31. Ian Nepomnaichtchi: “The point is that everyone has like seven finals here. Seven finals in a row, that’s my take on this. It’s better to have +3 than +1 or something, but it’s too early to make any conclusions.” Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – Anish Giri (½ : ½) For the second time in three days, Anish had to defend in Sveshnikov variation of the Sicilian. Maxim opted for a popular 7.Nd5 plan, which was extensively tested in the last world championship match between Fabiano Caruana and Magnus Carlsen (London 2018). After the exchange on d5, the world champion retreated his knight to e7, which leads to double-edged positions. Giri, on the other hand, opted for a calmer move 8… Nb8. Of course, the French grandmaster did not come to the game empty-handed: he immediately made a breakthrough c2-c4-c5, which was considered innocuous five years ago. Anish Giri could not recall all the details of his analysis and faced some problems as a result. By sacrificing a pawn, Anish blocked the opponent’s dangerous passer and got a good counterplay. Soon Black cleared a big diagonal for his bishop and forced massive exchanges. White’s initiative petered out and after reaching the 40th move, the opponents shook hands. Fabiano Caruana – Ding Liren (½ : ½) Fabiano Caruana used a positional pawn sacrifice in the so-called “anti-Marshall” variation of the Ruy Lopez and put some pressure on Black’s queenside. White’s position looked very promising, but a pawn clash in the center, the American grandmaster did not play optimally and found himself on the defending side: Ding Liren had an extra pawn, albeit a doubled one. To avoid passive defence, Caruana bravely pushed his pawns from the king to prompt a crisis. After massive exchanges, the opponents eliminated the weak pawns and ended up in an endgame with rooks and knights. It seemed that Black still had some chances to play for a win, but Ding Liren, evidently, considered them insufficient and immediately agreed to a draw. Speaking about his chances to catch up with the leader, Fabiano Caruana was not overly pessimistic: “A one-point lead isn’t insurmountable.” Wang Hao (China) – Alexander Grischuk (½ : ½) It was the most exciting game of the day that kept the audience on the edge of their seat until the very end. The opponents had a discussion in an old system of the French Defence, which was used by the first world champion Wilhelm Steinitz at the end of the 19th century. White’s idea is to firmly “cement” his pawn chain in the center at the cost of falling slightly behind in development. The first critical position arose after White’s 11th move. Black had to go for complications, otherwise White, having completed development, would have achieved a stable advantage. Grischuk knew that the move 11.Qd2 (instead of the main theoretical continuation 11.Qb3) was not dangerous for Black forgot his analysis. Wang Hao admitted that he simply mixed things up and was preparing a completely different line. As a result, Alexander spent 72 minutes (“This is not a record to be proud of,” the Russian grandmaster admitted) to calculate all the variations. During the
Anish Giri defeats Wang Hao, tied for second in Candidates
Anish Giri scores an all-important win in the 9th round against Wang Hao, keeping chances to fight for the victory in the tournament alive. Alexander Grischuk “plays roulette”, takes some risks but can not beat the tournament leader Ian Nepomniachtchi. As a result, Ian preserves his pole position in the Candidates Tournament a half-point ahead of three competitors. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave miraculously saves an extremely tough position against Ding Liren, Fabiano Caruana fights to the bare kings, but his game with Kirill Alekseenko also ends in a draw. Three players: Fabiano Caruana, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, and Anish Giri share second place after the nine games, ready to chase the leader in the next rounds. Alexander Grischuk – Ian Nepomniachtchi (½ – ½) In the Russian derby between Alexander Grischuk and Ian Nepomniachtchi, the leader used his main weapon, the Grunfeld Defense, in response to 1.d4. Alexander has prepared a surprise – a seemingly modest but poisonous continuation 9.h3!?, which has never been seen at a high level. On the next move, White sacrificed a pawn, giving his opponent a wide range of options. It was clear that Grischuk analyzed the emerging complications at home, while Ian had to sort them out over the board. Ian accepted the sacrifice but immediately offered to restore material balance at the cost of simplifying the position. Alexander did not like this scenario – after yesterday’s defeat, he was eager to complicate matters. However, Ian played solidly and soon a roughly equal ending emerged on the board. Grischuk tried to use a small space advantage and was in no hurry to win back the sacrificed pawn. Nepomniachtchi, in his turn, completed his development and even attempted to grab the initiative. Grischuk could have reached equality in different ways, but, as Alexander said at a press conference, he decided that it was a moment to “play roulette” and went for an exchange sacrifice. Ian thought for a long time and refused to accept this “gift”. A series of exchanges followed and after White’s 41st move the grandmasters agreed to a draw. According to the FIDE Candidates regulations, players have no right to start peace negotiations before the 40th move. Anish Giri – Wang Hao (1-0) In the game between Anish Giri and Wang Hao saw a classic version of the Catalan. White put some pressure on the opponent’s position, but Wang Hao was defending creatively sending his queen to the a8-square. Nevertheless, Black did not manage to engineer a real counterplay. At a press conference right after the game, it became clear that the grandmasters differed in their evaluation of the position that emerged after the opening: Giri believed that he had only a minimal advantage, while Wang Hao did not see good continuations for himself. According to chess engines, the truth was somewhere in between, but pessimism played a cruel joke on the Chinese grandmaster. He carelessly weakened his kingside and soon found himself under an extremely unpleasant pin on the long diagonal. In the final portion of the game, the Dutch grandmaster made a series of precise moves, shattered Black’s defence, and scored a full point on move 39. “A very, very good game. He managed to showcase all his strengths here, both in terms of planning and a little idea in the opening with h3”, said the world champion Magnus Carlsen, who is doing live commentary of the games on his own online platform. Kirill Alekseenko – Fabiano Caruana (½ – ½) Young Russian Grandmaster Kirill Alekseenko started the second part of the Candidates Tournament having white pieces in two straight games. As in the victorious game versus Grischuk, he opened with the same move e4. Soon a calm position, typical for the Italian, appeared on the board. In the old days, this variation was called Giuoco Piano, meaning a “calm play”. However, Alekseenko did not agree with such an assessment of the situation and introduced an interesting idea, ready the sacrifice of two pawns. The 2018 world championship challenger proceeded with reasonable caution as he took only one of the pawns, and even returned it two moves later. Later at the press conference, Kirill admitted that he underestimated the move 14…c2. Fabiano was not even considering the capture on b2 – the position that arises in this case, similar to the Northern Gambit, seemed too dangerous for him. “I tried to stabilize the position; it looked dangerous for black, but white also had his own problems,” Fabiano noted. Alekseenko rushed to restore material balance but overlooked some tactics, which helped Caruana to successfully regroup his pieces. The American seized the initiative, but Kirill once again proved that he has a perfect feeling of dynamical resources of the position. He gave up both pawns on the queenside while activating his pieces. Caruana refused to repeat the moves first but eventually went for an equal rook endgame. The grandmasters played almost to bare kings and agreed to a draw on move 59. Ding Liren – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (½ – ½) The most exciting opening duel happened in the game between Ding Liren and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The French Grandmaster had to play two games with Black at the start of the second half of the event, and in both of them, he faced powerful home preparation of his opponents. Maxim is known for his love for the Grunfeld Defense in response to 1.d4, but it didn’t come to that this time – as soon as Black played g6, White’s h-pawn darted to an assault: 3.h2-h4!? This opening does not have an official name yet, but it has become quite trendy in recent years, influenced by AlphaZero neural network. Vachier-Lagrave chose a rather ambitious plan: he exchanged his g7-bishop bishop for the c3-knight and placed his pawns on the dark squares, creating a powerful outpost for his knights on the central e5-square. Judging by the speed Ding Liren made his opening moves, it did not surprise him. He spent only two minutes before sacrificing a knight, placing it under a direct attack of the enemy’s pawn. Maxim accepted the sacrifice and immediately returned
Caruana takes down MVL, Nepomniachtchi emerges as a sole leader
The Candidates Tournament resumed with a “bang”, as the latest challenger to the world championship title, Fabiano Caruana from the US, took down the leader of the tournament, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. The American won in great style, sacrificing material in the opening to create a very sharp and double-edged position. The French Grandmaster fell in Caruana’s opening preparation, but he defended remarkably well in what seemed a minefield. “Horror. Pure horror”, is what a top player feels when he walks straight into his opponent’s preparation, according to Magnus Carlsen, who commentated the first round for Chess24. However, the effort took its toll: after six hours of play, and when the worst seemed to be already behind, the tournament leader bit the dust in a tricky ending. This was the most exciting game of the tournament so far, and one to be remembered for decades to come, where both players demonstrated an excellent level. This result allows Ian Nepomniachtchi to emerge as the sole leader since his game against Anish Giri was drawn. Kirill Alekseenko beat his compatriot Alexander Grischuk, while the Chinese derby between Ding Liren and Wang Hao ended in a draw. Caruana – Vachier-Lagrave Fabiano Caruana and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave played the so-called “Poisoned Pawn Variation” in the Najdorf variation in Sicilian Defense (7…Qb6), favoured by the legendary world champion Robert Fischer. At the very beginning of the game, Black bravely takes the b2-pawn (8…Qxb2) but falls under a dangerous attack. At the same time, boundless complications arise on the board. There are so many options here that even with the help of powerful modern computers it has not yet been possible to determine an accurate assessment of the position. As chess players joke, the winner here is the one who makes the penultimate mistake. Caruana and Vachier-Lagrave are both famous for their extremely deep opening preparation, but the American grandmaster was better prepared for this game – his second, former FIDE world champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov, found a very dangerous idea. Already around the 15th move, Maxim began to spend a lot of time on every decision, while Fabiano was replying instantly. On the move 18, the American introduced a stunning novelty 18.Bc4 sacrificing a bishop in addition to tree pawns. Until the 25th move Black, according to the “electronic mind”, defended very well, but eventually, the Frenchman took a questionable decision to go for an endgame without an exchange for two pawns – White’s pieces sprang into action. After massive exchanges, the game transposed into the ending with pawn and rook vs pawn and knight and, to the surprise of most experts, an unbreakable fortress appeared on the board. However, the World Champion Magnus Carlsen, admitted that he was not sure of his ability to keep this position for Black – so difficult are the problems the weaker side is facing. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave also failed to cope with this task, although he was holding his ground for quite a long time. But then he didn’t find the precise setup, misplaced his knight and allowed the white king to break into his camp via h5-square. On move 74 Black had to resign. Alekseenko – Grischuk Alexander Grischuk seems to have surprised his opponent in the opening by choosing the French Defense, which is a rare guest in his long professional career. Ironically, in this game, just like in the encounter Caruana – Vachier-Lagrave, the black queen hunted out for the b2-pawn. By using an opened b-file, the white rook soon entered the opponent’s camp, but then Kirill Alekseenko chose not to go for the most principled line and steered the game into a calm, approximately equal ending. Around move 30, the grandmasters got into time trouble and White missed a small tactical blow. Even though Alexander won an exchange for a pawn, Kirill got enough compensation in form of active pieces and a strong passed pawn. Both grandmasters were quite optimistic about their positions; however, Kirill Alekseenko’s assessment turned out to be more accurate. Grischuk could have given his material back to get an equal rook endgame but avoided drawing variations and overpressed at the end. Black’s counterplay on the kingside turned out to be ineffective while White’s e-pawn triumphantly marched to the eighth rank. The debutant of the Candidates Tournament and the youngest participant of the event Alekseenko won his first game, also on move 74. Nepomniachtchi – Giri After the game, Ian said that he had prepared for many openings which Anish often uses, but yet he was surprised by the choice of his opponent. “Sometimes a whole year is not enough to prepare for seven games,” Ian smiled. Anish Giri: “I chose the Sveshnikov system which gives my opponent a choice: either to go for a double-edged fight with mutual chances or to play solidly, but then Black, in my opinion, has no problems.” The Russian grandmaster chose the first path but admitted that he had played inaccurately. As a result, Anish Giri quickly equalized and on move 25 White began to repeat moves, insistently proposing to trade the light-squared bishops. Black could not afford this exchange, as in this case his position worsened significantly, so a draw was soon agreed due to the threefold repetition. Ian Nepomniachtchi: “I got sick by the end of the first half of the tournament and lost the last game, so, of course, I was not upset that the tournament was interrupted… When you often travel to tournaments, the happiest time is in between trips, but usually, it’s only a week. When the pandemic hit, I realized that there is nothing wrong with having more rest and not going anywhere. Generally, like Hachiko, I have been waiting for the Candidates Tournament for the entire 2020”. Anish Giri: “Recently I played over the board in Wijk aan Zee, so I didn’t forget how to put on a suit for the game. But I completely forgot how to pack my suitcase, since I hadn’t flown anywhere for more than a year. And, of course, completely unusual sensations arose in the lounge in Moscow airport, when