Wang Hao and Andreikin join the Jerusalem Grand Prix
Following the withdrawal Teymour Radjabov and Levon Aronian for medical reasons, the field for the Jerusalem Grand Prix has been completed with the inclusion of Wang Hao (CHN, 2756) and Dmitry Andreikin (RUS, 2724). Wang Hao is the first player from the list of reserve players published in February who was available and ready to take part in the tournament. As for Andreikin, he is the strongest player who was available following the rating list. 1 – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA, 2780)2 – Shakriyar Mamedyarov (AZE, 2772)3 – Anish Giri (NED, 2769)4 – Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS, 2767)5 – Wesley So (USA, 2760)6 – Wang Hao (CHN, 2756)7 – Sergey Karjakin (2754)8 – Yu Yangyi (CHN, 2738)9 – Veselin Topalov (BUL, 2737)10 – Radoslav Wojtaszek (POL, 2725)11 – Wei Yi (CHN, 2725)12 – Pentala Harikrishna (IND, 2724)13 – Dmitry Andreikin (RUS, 2724)14 – David Navara (CZH, 2707)15 – Dmitry Jakovenko (RUS, 2698)16 – Boris Gelfand (2684) This is the official website to the FIDE Grand Prix in Jerusalem organized by World Chess: https://worldchess.com/news/guide-to-jerusalem-grand-prix-2019
Call for Bids: FIDE World School Chess Championship 2020
FIDE Presidential Board decided to transfer Peru’s right to organize the World School Chess Championships from 2020 to 2022 due to the unstable situation in the leadership of Peruvian Chess Federation. Peru’s right to organize the 2022 World School Chess Championships comes into force if, no later than March 10, 2020, the Peruvian Federation presents guarantees of state support for the World School Chess Championships 2022 and the Presidential Board recognizes them as satisfactory at 1st quarter 2020 meeting. Presidential Board also decided to re-open bidding procedure for the World School Chess Championships 2020 with the bidding deadline no later than December 13, 2019. Call for Bid World School Championships 2020 reopened again with the deadline 13th December 2019. · A bid for any FIDE Competitions onwards shall include the name of a FIDE licensed International Organizer. · All bids should be submitted by the due date in sealed envelope or scanned documents to the FIDE Secretariat, postal address: Avenue de Rhodanie 54, 1007 Lausanne, Switzerland, Tel: + (41) 21 6010039, email office@fide.com by 13th December 2019, 16:00 local time · Each bid should be accompanied with a bid fee 500 euro · Bid Fees are not refundable. Bid fees should be paid the latest by 20th December 2019 to the FIDE bank account (free of charges) or to be enclosed in the bid envelope. · All bidders must fill the bid form and the new bid from annex completely. · Price of hotels, details about the accommodation and tournament hall must be written in the bid. · FIDE EVE will make first bid inspections and send his report together with a bid evaluation form. There will be a second inspection prior 2 to 4 months to awarded organization. Accommodation costs of the inspections must be paid by organizers. · FIDE Officials – Appeals Committee, Chief Arbiter, Deputy Arbiter(s) – will be decided and appointed by FIDE by taking proposal of organizers. The bid form and new added annex can be downloaded here. BID FORM BID FORM ANNEX
FIDE Ethics Commission announces the sanctions against Igor Rausis
Lausanne, December 5, 2019 The FIDE Ethics Commission (ETH), composed of Yolander Persaud, Ravindra Dongre, Rajesh Hari Joshi, and Francois Strydom as a Chairman, held a meeting in Lausanne, Switzerland, during November 23-24. During this meeting, among other matters, the ETH Commission studied the allegations of cheating against GM Igor Rausis at the 2019 Strasbourg tournament, and various other tournaments in the period 2015-2019. An oral hearing was held at which were present, apart from the ETH members, the respondent Igor Rausis, Mr. Yuri Garrett of the FIDE Fair Play Commission, and Prof. Kenneth Regan. Mr Rausis confessed to cheating on four different occasions, in three instances by using his mobile phone and in the other instance by pre-arranging the result of a game, and was found guilty as such on the basis of his own version. Taking into account Mr Rausis’ acknowledgment of guilt, his co-operation at the hearing and remorse displayed, as well as his personal circumstances, but keeping in mind the precedent established by the ETH’s decision in case no. 7/2015, the ETH unanimously decided to sanction Mr. Igor Rausis with a worldwide ban of 6 (six) years to take effect from 31 July 2019 and to end on 30 July 2025. During this period Mr. Rausis is prohibited from participating as a player in any FIDE rated over-the-board chess competition (whether classical, rapid, blitz or Fischer-random chess), and from any chess-related activity as an arbiter, organizer or representative of a chess federation. In addition, Mr. Rausis’ grandmaster title is revoked effective from the date of publishing this decision. For the sake of clarity, the sanction does not seek to prevent Mr. Rausis’ participation in FIDE correspondence or online chess games, or to restrain Mr. Rausis from earning income during the period of the ban as a private chess trainer, teacher or coach, provided that he shall not act as captain or assist any player or team during any official FIDE event or Continental championship at the physical site of the tournament. Remote coaching is permitted. The ETH decision does not affect Mr. Rausis’ rating or any other titles he holds, such as FIDE International Master, FIDE Trainer, and National Arbiter. This decision was communicated this morning to Mr. Igor Rausis, the European Chess Union, the Czech and Latvian Chess Federations, the Fair Play Commission and the Investigatory Chamber (per IA Klaus Deventer). Full decision (PDF) [All the other decisions recently taken by the ETH will be published on the Ethics Commission Website in approximately two weeks]
GCT Finals: Ding Liren and Vachier-Lagrave meet in the final
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Ding Liren will meet in the finals after defeating Magnus Carlsen and Levon Aronian respectively. While Ding was dominant in his match, Vachier-Lagrave had to go all the way to tiebreaks to secure his spot. Ding and Vachier-Lagrave will be competing for the $150,000 first-place prize and the title of Grand Chess Tour Champion, while Carlsen and Aronian will battle it out for the third-place qualifying spot to the 2020 GCT in addition to a $60,000 prize. Tomorrow the players will take a break from the action to partake in the corporate day, where they will be paired with entrepreneurs in friendly games to raise money for the UK charity Chess in Schools and Communities. Action will resume on December 6. Ding Liren vs Levon Aronian The Chinese player was completely dominant in his match, advancing to the finals with three blitz games to spare. Aronian was unable to deal with the complications arising from his opponent’s piece sacrifices in both rapid games, collapsing at the crucial moments. The two wins in the rapid gave Ding a 6 point lead, and he only needed 1 draw in the remaining 4 blitz games. He secured his spot in the finals by locking up the position in the first blitz game, forcing a draw and reaching 15 points. Aronian suffered two more losses but did manage to end the day with a win. The Armenian star felt “ashamed” about his play today, whereas Ding felt lucky to win the first game. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs Magnus Carlsen Unlike the smooth sailing by Ding, the match between Carlsen and Vachier-Lagrave was a complete roller coaster ride and was decided on the tiebreak. Carlsen later explained to Maurice that he felt sluggish and “not good enough in the critical moments.” After two tame rapid games, the World Champion escaped unscathed in the first blitz game only to go on to lose the next one. In his typical fashion, he bounced back immediately in the very next game with a win in a rook endgame. After a draw in the final blitz game, the match moved on to tiebreaks. The first tiebreak game was a wild affair with the evaluation of the position changing drastically several times. Carlsen had a crushing attack, but let the advantage slip with inaccurate play. After another blunder, he found himself in a difficult position, then ultimately in a lost knight endgame, which Vachier-Lagrave converted masterfully with seconds on his clock. The Frenchman sealed the deal with a draw in the second game. This marks the World Champion’s second tiebreak loss this year, a blemish on his otherwise flawless tiebreak record. Photo: Grand Chess Tour Official site
Competition heats up at the Women Grand Prix in Monaco
All games of the second round of the Women’s FIDE Grand Prix were hard-fought and exciting. Humpy Koneru leads with a perfect score. After a rather uneventful first round on Tuesday, where five our of six games ended in a draw, all the players arrived today to the Yacht Club de Monaco in a very fighting mood. Indeed, four encounters were decided in favor of the white pieces. Thanks to a flawless technical performance, Humpy Koneru clinched her second victory in this event. She chose a rather aggressive line against Mariya Muzychuk’s Grunfeld, to which the Ukrainian did not react accurately. A key concept in this opening consists in not being scared of sacrificing material for the sake of activity. With this in mind, Black should have refrained from the passive move 23…Ra8, going instead for 23…Ne7 24.Qxa6 Nd5. After being given this opportunity the Indian exerted relentless pressure on Black’s position until she reached a favorable endgame before the first time control, which she converted confidently. The other Indian representative Harika Dronavalli was equally successful, as she outplayed Elisabeth Paehtz in the Slav Defense. The German chose a timid 5…Nbd7 and ended up in the kind of passive position on the queenside which Black usually tries to avoid in this variation. Paehtz tried to get counter-play on the other side with 18…g5, but Dronavalli reacted perfectly by allowing the exchange of her Bishop on g3. She even got attacking chances against the open black king, but when given a chance, she opted for converting her positional advantage in an endgame. The four Russian players were pitted against each other on this second day. Alexandra Kosteniuk achieved what White dreams of in this line of the Caro-Kann: a long-lasting edge thanks to the pair of Bishops. On move 20, her opponent Aleksandra Goryachkina strangely decided to bring her strong Nb4 all the way back to e8, instead of developing her rook to d8. Kosteniuk later managed to break through with the thematic 30.d5. She won a pawn and reached a highly favorable endgame. However, Kosteniuk criticized her own technique in the post-game interview: she indeed allowed her opponent to escape towards the end. But the future challenger for the World Championship missed the saving move 61…Kg6 and lost. The other Russian duel was very lively. Valentina Gunina took a lot of time in her Berlin opening and decided to offer a pawn with 15…Be6. Kateryna Lagno accepted the gift and got a clearly better position plus a 1-hour advantage on the clock. Down to her last minutes around move 20, Gunina started playing as actively as possible and managed to confuse her opponent. Lagno missed several ways to consolidate her advantage and eventually had to settle for a drawish endgame despite an extra pawn. But Gunina, who is suffering from a cold, did not have the energy to hold it. Her final mistake came when she decided to reject the prospect of defending the famous endgame a rook and bishop against a rook. Both draws of this round were very interesting games as well. Nana Dzagnidze could have obtained an opening advantage with 12.Bd6 but took the poisoned pawn on c6 instead. She admitted that she underestimated Anna Muzychuk’s reply 13…Qc8, after which she already had to be very careful. After 19…Qc4, it became clear that Black would not let her opponent castle. Being low on time, the Ukrainian erred with 21…Rc8 though. She refrained from the correct 21…Rad8 because of 22.Rd4, but the simple exchange on d4 would have given her a winning position. 23.cxd4 is met with Rc8, while after 23.exd4 Qd3 Black is crushing too. In the game, Dzagnidze eventually managed to simplify and achieve a draw. Pia Cramling played almost a perfect game against Zhao Xue’s English Opening. As she explained afterward, she felt that Black had to play actively in order to avoid getting slightly worse in the long run. Her moves 15…b5 and 16…d5 were brilliant and gave her the initiative. The Swedish legend is known to be a very restrained and modest person. She probably did not fully believe that she had so skilfully outplayed her opponent and repeated moves to seal a draw. She actually missed two consecutive opportunities to win, namely 25…Nb4 and 26…Nc4. The leader of the Grand Prix race Koneru is the only player with two out of two in Monaco. She is followed by her compatriot Dronavalli and two Russians Kosteniuk and Lagno who are a half-point behind. Results of Round 2: Nana Dzagnidze (Geo) – Anna Muzychuk (Ukr): ½-½Humpy Koneru (Ind) – Mariya Muzychuk (Ukr): 1-0Kateryna Lagno (Rus) – Valentina Gunina (Rus): 1-0Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rus) – Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus): 1-0Zhao Xue (China) – Pia Cramling (Swe): ½-½Dronavalli Harika (Ind) – Elisabeth Paehtz (Ger): 1-0 Standings after round 2 :1. Humpy Koneru – 2 points2-4. Harika Dronavalli , Alexandra Kosteniuk, Kateryna Lagno – 1½5-8. Nana Dzagnidze, Anna Muzychuk, Zhao Xue, Pia Cramling – 19-11. Aleksandra Goryachkina, Elisabeth Paehtz, Mariya Muzychuk – ½12. Valentina Gunina – 0 Round 3, 5 December at 3 pm:Elisabeth Paehtz (Ger) – Nana Dzagnidze (Geo)Pia Cramling (Swe) – Dronavalli Harika (Ind)Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus) – Zhao Xue (China)Valentina Gunina (Rus) – Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rus)Mariya Muzychuk (Ukr) – Kateryna Lagno (Rus)Anna Muzychuk (Ukr) – Humpy Koneru (Ind) Official website with live games and commentary by WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili, GM Josif Dorfman and GM Bartlomiej Heberla: https://wgp2019.fide.com. Pictures are available on this Dropbox folder Text: Yannick PelletierPictures: Karol Bartnik
John Fawole Chess Awards 2019: Full list of winners
The John Fawole Chess Awards 2019 has come and gone with loads of surprises, fun, games, drama, and laughs. In course of the ceremony, held at Chevron Recreation Club, Gbagada, Lagos Nigeria, the awards were given to the most deserving chess players, chess contributors, organizers, and arbiters. Established back in 2016, the John Fawole Chess Awards also known as Nigeria Chess Awards is Nigeria’s most prestigious and anticipated chess awards. The key goal of the award is to celebrate excellence for chess players who have contributed immensely to the development of chess in Nigeria, either through an excellent representation of the country in chess events or via a deliberate and charitable promotion of chess among the citizens of Nigeria. The organizers and panel of judges announced the full list of awardees for the year 2018. The list below is what the panel of judges decided after votes were cast online: 1. Most outstanding chess player award (Male): Abdulrahman Abduraheem Akintoye2. Most outstanding chess player (Female): Perpetual Ogbiyoyo3. Arbiter of the year (Male): Olawale Peter Oyeleye4. Best organized chess tournament of the year: MGI5. Tournament director of the year: Olawale Peter Oyeleye6. Most outstanding senior award: Erhabor David7. Award of recognition for most outstanding in WAUG: Daniel Anwuli8. Award of Recognition for most outstanding in WAUG: Perpetual Ogbiyoyo9. Promoter of the year award: Salem Fly10. Award of recognition for the most outstanding grassroots development project – Chess in the slum: Tunde Onakoya11. Personality of the year award: Tajudeen Oyeneyin12. Award of recognition for the most outstanding all-time tournament director: Rotimi Dasaolu13. Team leader of the year: Ayokanmi Ajayi14. Most Outstanding u-10 player award (Male): Osadebe Emmanuel15. Most Outstanding u-10 player award (Female): Oluyisola Abiola Diamond16. Most outstanding u-20 player (Male): Kikosem Igwubor17. Most outstanding u-20 player (Female): Akintoye Deborah18. Most consistent online player award: Aikhoje Odion19. Best online tournament award: chess online Nigeria (CNO)20. Arbiter of the Year (Female): Alhaji Tayo Amisu 23 Awards of Recognition for people who have contributed immensely to the development of chess in Nigeria: 1. Bimbo Fajemirokun2. Ayo Tuase3. Nnamdi Nwoye4. Robert Asibor5. George Lolomari6. Femi Adebajo7. Lekan Adeyemi8. Rotimi Odunaiya9. Adewole Adeyinka10. DIG Rtd. Sani. Mohammed11. Ajibola Olanrewaju12. Rachael Dappa13. Aisha Jimoh Ibrahim14. Rabiu Olabisi15. Magnus Epkiken16. Bode Durotoye17. Dasaolu Rotimi18. Tolu Ogunwobi19. Kenneth Odeh20. Bayo Babalola21. Niyi Oriolowo22. Ikechukwu Igwunze23. The Executives – Chevron Recreation Club, Gbagada Lagos.
Humpy Koneru, early leader in Women’s Grand Prix Monaco
Humpy Koneru, the champion in Skolkovo and the leader of the Women Grand Prix, continues her streak by becoming the only winner of the first round in Monaco. The second leg of the Women’s Grand Prix started at a slow pace at the Yacht Club de Monaco. Five games were drawn and only Humpy Koneru managed to clinch a win after over 5 hours play, despite being on the defensive side for most of the game. Her opponent Valentina Gunina got an advantage out of the opening, as she forced the black Knight to the awkward square b7. The Russian steadily increased her domination but failed to find winning continuations after move 30. Black’s position remained unpleasant after the time-control, but the Indian GM managed to keep the balance. Probably unhappy with the turn of events and with the clock ticking, the Russian lost her objectivity and overpressed. Koneru reacted perfectly and timely switched to a “winning mode”. After several mistakes by Gunina, Humpy converted her advantage and took the whole point. Pia Cramling and Alexandra Kosteniuk delivered a fascinating fight. It looked as if Black could hope to gain some advantage around move 20, but the Swedish legend unleashed the great move 22.d5. Kosteniuk was clearly confused and did not assess the consequences of this pawn sacrifice accurately. Instead of 22…Bxd5, taking the pawn with the Knight would have led to a draw. The classical double sacrifice of bishops on h7 and g7 admittedly looks dangerous, but it turns out that White would have had to make a draw by perpetual check. As a result, a few moves down the road the former World Champion found herself in a losing position. However, Pia missed the winning 30.Qd4 and later simplified into an equal rook ending. The all-Russian game between Aleksandra Goryachkina and Kateryna Lagno was rather tense. Lagno said afterward that she had been under pressure throughout, with the depressing perspective of having no counter-play. Goryachkina certainly failed to put more pressure at critical moments, and both players agreed to a draw by repetition. The game between Elizabeth Paehtz and Zhao Xue was a quiet affair. Following a fashionable line of the Sveshnikov Variation, none managed to create any chances for an advantage. The draw was signed on move 31, just after the limit of 30 moves stipulated in the regulations. The first game to finish was actually the encounter between Mariya and Anna Muzychuk. It is well-known that both sisters do not fight against each other in classical chess, and Monaco was no exception to the rule. Harika Dronavalli and Nana Dzagnidze played a balanced game. The Georgian felt that she was under slight pressure in the endgame but was happy to decide on a pawn sacrifice to activate her rook. The draw was signed shortly after. In other news, during his speech at the opening ceremony, FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich announced a new partnership between the International Chess Federation and Total SA, a French multinational founded in 1924, and considered one of the seven “Supermajor” gas and oil companies in the world. Results of the first round: Harika Dronavalli (Ind) – Nana Dzagnidze (Geo): ½-½Elisabeth Paehtz (Ger) – Zhao Xue (China): ½-½Pia Cramling (Swe) – Alexandra Kosteniuk Alexandra (Rus): ½-½Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus) – Kateryna Lagno (Rus): ½-½Valentina Gunina (Rus) – Humpy Koneru (Ind): 0-1Mariya Muzychuk (Ukr) – Anna Muzychuk (Ukr): ½-½ Round 2, 4 December at 3 pm: Nana Dzagnidze (Geo) – Anna Muzychuk (Ukr)Humpy Koneru (Ind) – Mariya Muzychuk (Ukr)Kateryna Lagno (Rus) – Valentina Gunina (Rus)Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rus) – Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus)Zhao Xue (China) – Pia Cramling (Swe)Harika Dronavalli (Ind) – Elisabeth Paehtz (Ger) Official website, with live games and commentary by WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili, GM Josif Dorfman & GM Bartlomiej Heberla: https://wgp2019.fide.com FIDE YouTube channel Pictures are available on this Dropbox folder Text: Yannick Pelletier Photos: Karol Bartnik
GCT Finals: Rapid and blitz to determine the finalists
The finalists of the 2019 Grand Chess Tour will be determined in rapid and blitz as both classical games ended in a draw. The matches tomorrow will consist of two rapid and four blitz games, where a win in rapid is worth four points while a victory in blitz is equal to two points. Tomorrow promises to be an exciting day as faster time controls bring out the fireworks on the chessboard. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave vs Magnus Carlsen: ½ – ½ Magnus Carlsen wanted to surprise his opponent in the opening again, opting for a rare line in the Open Spanish that he played in Zagreb GCT against Caruana earlier this year. Maxim Vachier-Lagrave decided to take a cautious route, probably keeping in mind the loss Aronian suffered against Mamedyarov at the 2018 Olympiad in the same line. The Frenchman had a better pawn structure but this advantage was offset by his misplaced minor piece. Although both opponents felt that the resources to continue the battle were petering out, they played it out until only the lone kings were left on the board. 9-year-old Amoako Selikem from Ghana makes the ceremonial first move in Vachier-Lagrave vs Carlsen Ding Liren vs Levon Aronian: ½ – ½ Ding Liren escaped unscathed after finding himself in a worse position with the white pieces. An uncommon line in the Nimzo Indian Defense lead to a symmetrical position which the Chinese star thought would be better for him. However, he was unable to find a way to deal with the Bg4-pin and started playing “bad and unnatural” moves. Levon Aronian had a comfortable edge but still feeling unwell decided to end the day early with a repetition. Photo: Grand Chess Tour Official site
The second leg of the Women’s FIDE Grand Prix is officially launched
The second leg of the Women’s FIDE Grand Prix is officially launched. Monaco is hosting the best women chess players in the world for the next two weeks. Following the European Women’s Rapid and Blitz Championships which ended last weekend, Monaco is ready to stage another great event on the chess calendar. The second leg of the Women’s FIDE Grand Prix takes place December 2-15 at the Yacht Club de Monaco. Twelve of the best women players in the world participate in this prestigious round-robin tournament. There is a lot at stake. Besides a hefty prize fund, the participants of Grand Prix Series are fighting for two top places in order to qualify for the Candidates Tournament and get a chance to face the reigning World Champion in a final match in 2021. The Yacht Club de Monaco also hosted a glittering ceremony that opened the event tonight. FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich expressed his delight with the collaboration of the International Chess Federation and the Mediterranean Principality in the organization of an official tournament in Monaco: “This is the continuation of the brilliant history of chess events in the Principality”. The opening ceremony was attended by numerous important guests, such as Joël Bouzou, President of Peace and Sport and adviser of His Serene Highness Albert II, Sovereign Prince of Monaco. He noted that “Monaco holds sport at a very high place, as it conveys the idea of neutrality. A chess game starts and unfolds with absolutely equal chances, and chess players are therefore fantastic ambassadors for peace”. Jean-Michel Rapaire, resourceful and tireless president of the Monaco Chess Club thanked all who contributed to making this tournament possible. “The event is under the patronage of His Serene Highness Prince Albert II, and I am particularly grateful for this honor.” The Yacht Club de Monaco is built in the shape of a majestic ship – certainly a suitable place for a chess tournament of this magnitude. This historic venue is used to host sports and cultural events so we can be sure of the highest level of organization. The first round starts on December 3rd at 3 pm. Pairings for the first round: Harika Dronavalli – Nana DzagnidzeElisabeth Paehtz – Zhao XuePia Cramling – Alexandra KosteniukAleksandra Goryachkina – Kateryna LagnoValentina Gunina – Humpy KoneruMariya Muzychuk – Anna Muzychuk The games can be followed live with expert commentary on the tournament website & FIDE YouTube channel. Text: Yannick PelletierPhotos: Karol Bartnik
Grand Chess Tour Finals Day 1: Two eventful draws
The semi-finals of 2019 Grand Chess Tour Finals kicked off in Hammersmith London. Magnus Carlsen and Ding Liren are competing against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian respectively in a series of classical, rapid and blitz matches to determine the two finalists. Whilst both classical games ended in a draw, there was no lack of action on the board. Tomorrow, the two pairs will meet again with the opposite colors before moving on to the rapid and blitz portion. Magnus Carlsen vs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave: ½ – ½ The fascinating Sicilian Najdorf ended in a hard-fought draw in 32 moves. Magnus Carlsen deviated in the opening with an unusual combination of ideas, taking the game into unknown territory from move 7. With the kings castled on the opposite sides, Carlsen was attempting to build an attack on the kingside, while Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was mobilizing his pieces on the queenside. During his interview with Maurice Ashley, Levon Aronian predicted that “feathers would fly” and they did when the center opened up and Vachier-Lagrave sacrificed a piece for an attack. But as is the case with all perfectly played games, this battle ended in a draw after Carlsen realized that avoiding a repetition would result in a disaster. After the game, the Frenchman promised another fighting encounter tomorrow. Levon Aronian vs Ding Liren: ½ – ½ Levon Aronian explained that he had a poor night of sleep due to jet lag following the Tata Steel Rapid and Blitz and simply wanted a quiet game. He essayed a sideline with 6.g3 in the Semi Tarrasch variation, which his opponent was well prepared for. Once Aronian spotted a tactical sequence where he sacrificed his rook for a perpetual, the game ended in a draw. Ding Liren was satisfied with the draw with Blacks, while Aronian was not disappointed wasting his white pieces, reasoning that as in the World Cup, he will get his chances. Photo: Grand Chess Tour Official site