FIDE Grand Prix Hamburg: Big win for Alexander Grischuk
Alexander Grischuk celebrated a great victory at the FIDE Grand Prix in Hamburg on Wednesday evening. He won the second game of the semi-final against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and advanced into the final. At the same time, he collected valuable points for the overall standings of the Grand Prix Series. The other encounter of the day ended in a draw. Daniil Dubov was pressing throughout the whole game against Jan-Krzysztof Duda but had to split the point after the Polish grandmaster defended well in a slightly inferior endgame. These two players will meet again in the tiebreak of the semi-final to determine the second finalist. Alexander Grischuk opened his game against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave with the non-committal 1.Nf3, but after just five moves, the players reached a position of the English Opening which the French grandmaster has played 18 times within the past two years! In his first game, played in 2017, he had beaten none other than Magnus Carlsen at the Sinquefield Cup. Later, however, he had experienced some problems. The last time Maxim played this line, he suffered a loss at the hands of Teimour Radjabov at the World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk about a month and a half ago. This time around, ‘MVL’ clearly had some improvements prepared. Grischuk, however, was not surprised and continued quickly until move twelve. He created a strong centre and pushed the h-pawn attempting to create some weaknesses on the kingside. The game sharpened soon, as Vachier-Lagrave started an attack of his own by advancing his b-pawn on the other side of the board. This lead to a liquidation of the pawn centre but the French grandmaster committed an error by allowing White to continue the fight with a strong bishop pair in an open position. Additionally, he had to deal with a knight stranded at the rim of the board. Grischuk developed a dangerous initiative and after finding a convincing sequence of moves, reached a winning position. His rook had entered the seventh rank, and he could have placed his queen in the middle of the board, dominating his opponent. With time running short, he chose to threaten a mate in one instead, which Vachier-Lagrave parried easily and got back in the game. Nevertheless, he was still the defending party as Grischuk had a bishop vs. knight in an open position and a passed pawn on the a-file. As the technical part of the game began, Vachier-Lagrave had a sidelined knight blocking the white passed pawn. Grischuk now had to find a way to break black’s defence. He did so by exchanging queens and penetrating with his king into black’s camp. By this time, Grischuk’s time trouble was the last straw Vachier-Lagrave was grasping on, but the experienced Russian grandmaster managed to navigate through the remaining obstacles with fantastic precision and scored a well-deserved victory. Jan-Krzysztof Duda chose the solid Slav Defence against Dubov’s 1.d4. The players followed theory until move thirteen and reached an endgame after an early queen exchange. Over the next few moves, the Polish grandmaster stabilized his position and kept a sound pawn structure. Dubov, on the other hand, had an active dark-squared bishop and slightly better prospects in the centre. Duda handled the position a bit carelessly and permitted White to gain better control of important squares and lines. Both sides had only a rook and two minor pieces left, but the young Russian was the one exerting some pressure. He attacked a weak pawn on f6, but Duda activated a knight and counterattacked one of white’s weak pawns as well. This counterplay turned out to be enough for Duda to save a half-point after three hours of play. Semi-final, game 2 results: Alexander Grischuk – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 1-0 Daniil Dubov – Jan-Krzysztof Duda 1/2-1/2 Official website and LIVE broadcast: https://worldchess.com FIDE Press officer for the event: Georgios Souleidis Official Photographer: Valeria Gordienko World Chess contact: media@worldchess.com Photos are available for the press via the following link to Dropbox. Leading partners supporting the FIDE World Chess Grand Prix Series 2019 include: Algorand as the Exclusive Blockchain PartnerPhosAgro as the Official Strategic PartnerKaspersky as the Official Cybersecurity PartnerPella Sietas Shipyard as Official PartnerPrytek as the Technology Transfer Partner
World Senior Championship kicks off in Bucharest
The strongest-ever World Senior Championship took off in Bucharest, with the participation of 366 players from 58 countries in four different categories: +50 Open, +50 Women, +65 Open and +65 Women. The current World Champion in the main category, the Armenian Karen Movsziszian, won’t have an easy task defending his title: he is now 13th in the starting list, which is headed by Kiril Georgiev (MKD, 2582) Darcy Lima (BRA, 2540), Zurab Sturua (GEO, 2540), Alexander Shabalov (USA, 2528). Fifth in the ranking list is the local star Mihail Marin (ROU, 2521), who not only makes his debut in a senior event but is also playing his first World Championship ever. The +65 Open category, with 192 players, is the largest event. The field includes legendary players like Rafael Vaganian (ARM, 2514), Anatoli Vaisser (FRA, 2497), Evgeny Sveshnikov (RUS, 2485), Yuri Balashov (RUS, 2457) and Vlastimil Jansa CZE, 2436). Elvira Berend, of Luxemburg (2349) and Zoya Schleining, of Germany (2344) top the list in the +50 Women section, while in the +65W the absolute star is the defending champion Nona Gaprindashvili: she already has six senior titles under her belt, having been the only female World Chess Champion to obtain the World Senior title as well. The playing conditions for this event have dramatically improved, reaching a total prize fund of €46,000, further to the FIDE decision to increase the prizes by €30,000. The venue for the event is the main ballroom of RIN Grand Hotel Bucharest, a four-star hotel placed right next to the Vacaresti Natural Park, also known as “the Bucharest Delta”. The opening ceremony was conducted by the tournament director, Elena Cristian, the director of the Senior Center of the Municipality of Bucharest, Alexandra Dobre, the president of FR Chess, Sorin Iacoban, and the Grandmaster Florin Gheorghiu. FIDE was represented by the Belgian Jan Rooze, Senior Chess Director, and the Jamaican Ian Wilkinson, Honorary Vice President; both of them are taking part in the tournament. The honorary first move was made by the legendary Florin Gheorghiu, the first Romanian player to achieve the Grandmaster title and winner of the Junior World Champion in 1963 at Vrnjacka Banja. A participant in four interzonal tournaments, he won the Romanian Championship a total of nine times, being at the same time a university lecturer in foreign languages. Now, at 75, he is still a very active person and his passion for chess remains intact – as it does for every and each of the 366 players who gathered in Bucharest for this event. Official website: https://worldseniors2019.com/ LIVE games: https://worldseniors2019.com/live-games/ Contact: worldseniors2019@gmail.com Schedule: Round 1 – Tuesday 12 November, 15:00Round 2 – Wednesday 13 November, 15:00Round 3 – Thursday 14 November, 15:00Round 4 – Friday 15 November, 15:00Round 5 – Saturday 16 November, 15:00Round 6 – Monday 18 November, 15:00Round 7 – Tuesday 19 November, 15:00Round 8 – Wednesday 20 November, 15:00Round 9 – Thursday 21 November, 15:00Round 10 – Friday 22 November, 15:00Round 11 – Saturday 23 November, 14:00
Dates for the Candidates and the 44th Chess Olympiad announced
Moscow, November 11, 2019 The Russian Chess Federation called for a press conference today, at their headquarters in the historic building at Gogolevsky boulevard, to announce the exact dates and details of two of the highest-level events that this country will host along 2020: the Candidates Tournament and the Chess Olympiad. The speakers were the former World Champion Anatoly Karpov, the FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich, the President of the Chess Federation of Russia Andrey Filatov, and the Head of Sverdlovsk Region Chess Federation, Andrey Simanovsky. Also present were FIDE’s Director-General Emil Sutovsky, and Chief Executive Officer of RCF, Mark Glukhovsky, who conducted the press conference. Andrey Simanovsky started by thanking FIDE and the RCF for choosing Yekaterinburg as a host city for the 2020 Candidates tournament. “We have everything to make it a great event and will try our best to deliver”. The exact dates were confirmed: the event will take place from March 15 till April 5. Arkady Dvorkovich expressed his satisfaction with this bid: “We are happy to continue our cooperation with the Chess Federation of Russia and are thankful to them and to Sverdlovsk Region Chess Federation for their bid. Today, on behalf of the FIDE Presidential Board I’m glad to sign an official agreement to host this key event in Yekaterinburg. This tournament will decide who will face WC Magnus Carlsen in the World Championship match that will take place in November 2020.” Andrey Filatov also thanked the Sverdlovsk Region Chess Federation “for their interest and constant support of chess in Russia”. He continued: “It’s a pleasure that we have trust from FIDE to organize such an important event. The decision to host this event in Russia guarantees that there will be a Russian player participating. We’re still considering different options on how we’ll choose a Russian wild-card, but it will probably be a match or match-tournament with Kirill Alekseenko, third-place finisher in the Grand Swiss, taking part in it.” As a member of the Organizing Committee, Anatoly Karpov added: “I’m regularly visiting Yekaterinburg and I admire how the city has recently flourished. Yekaterinburg has all the needed infrastructure to organize the best Candidates’ tournament in chess history. I’ll be there myself taking part in the event’s cultural program”. Regarding the Chess Olympiad, the most important novelty is that this competition, one of FIDE’s flagship events, will grow even further with the inclusion of the first Chess Olympiad 2020, Competition for disabled in its program. The idea, championed by Nigel Short during the presidential campaign last year, received appreciation by Arkady Dvorkovich and all the FIDE team, and is now becoming a reality. This growth will imply that the Olympiad will have two host cities instead of just one, as it was initially planned. “The main host city will be Khanty-Mansiysk, that will host the FIDE Congress, the first-ever Chess Olympiad, Competition for disabled, and other official events. The dates are moved a little bit, and the official opening will take place in Khanty on July 29”, explained the FIDE President, Arkady Dvorkovich. “To make this great event more visible and accessible for the spectators, the joint decision made by RCF and FIDE is to hold the main tournament in Moscow, from August 5 to August 17”, he added. Khanty-Mansiysk has a long tradition hosting sports events for the disabled, having organized in recent years the IPC world championships 2011, the 2011 IPC Biathlon and Cross-Country Skiing World Championships, the Deaflympics 2015, and the International sledge-hockey tournaments “Ugra Cup” 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018. The FIDE Commission for the Disabled and the Ugra Chess Federation will work together in this new and exciting project. This will be the 44th men’s Chess Olympiad (the first one took place back in 1927 in London) and the 29th women’s Chess Olympiad. Moscow has hosted the Chess Olympiad twice, in 1956 and 1994 and Khanty-Mansiysk once, in 2010. The schedule for the Chess Olympiad will be as follows: July 29 (Khanty-Mansiysk) The opening ceremony of the Chess Olympiad July 30 – August 4 (Khanty-Mansiysk) Chess Olympiad 2020, Competition for disabled, FIDE Congress and General Assembly August 5 (Moscow) The opening ceremony of the Moscow leg of the Chess Olympiad August 6-17 (Moscow) Main competition August 17 (Moscow) The closing ceremony of the Chess Olympiad About the Candidates tournament: The Candidates tournament, in which eight top grandmasters will contest for the right to challenge the current World Champion Magnus Carlsen (Norway), will take place in Yekaterinburg from March 15 till April 5. Four participants are already known: Fabiano Caruana (USA), Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan), Ding Liren and Wang Hao (both China). Two other participants will be determined following the results of the Grand Prix Series; one slot will be granted to the player with the best average rating in 2019. The eighth participant will be nominated by the organizers. About the Chess Federation of Russia: The Chess Federation of Russia (CFR) is a public nonprofit organization that brings together individuals and the chess federations of republics, districts, regions, cities of federal significance, autonomous regions and autonomous districts of the Russian Federation. The activities of the CFR are aimed at developing and popularizing chess in the Russian Federation. The CFR was founded on February 15, 1992. The management bodies of the CFR are its Congress and Supervisory Board. The Board of Trustees of the CFR is a collegiate, consultative and advisory body acting on a pro-bono basis. The CFR is the organizer of the annual All-Russian Children’s Championship, the tournament “Belaya Ladya” involving school teams from all over Russia, the Championship of Russia, and other chess competitions. Since 2012, the program “Chess in Museums” has been taken place in Russia at the initiative of the CFR together with the Charitable Foundation of Elena and Gennady Timchenko. The CFR develops and implements programs for the development of chess, including chess for children, and assists in expanding the network of chess clubs and leagues in the regions of the Russian Federation. It acts as the organizer of individual and team competitions in Russia and the participation of Russian chess players in international competitions. It assists in strengthening the positions of Russian chess players in the international arena and develops connections with international chess federations, national and international organizations, including FIDE. Official site: http://ruchess.ru/
FIDE Grand Prix Hamburg semifinals: Peaceful outcomes in the first games
Today, FIDE published the dates for the next Candidates Tournament. It will take place from March 15 till April 5, 2020, in Yekaterinburg (Russia). Two spots are reserved for the top finishers of the FIDE Grand Prix, and only a few grandmasters remain who can qualify via this tournament series. Two of the aspirants are facing off in the semi-final of the third leg in Hamburg. So far, Alexander Grischuk has collected 14 points, but Hamburg is the last stop on his Grand Prix journey. His opponent, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave has 13 points under his belt but he will have an additional opportunity to earn more points in December during the fourth leg of FIDE Grand Prix in Jerusalem. Considering these circumstances, the Russian player is under more pressure to win their encounter. In the first game, Grischuk chose the Modern Arkhangelsk Defense with Black, which is considered to be a highly theoretical line of the Ruy Lopez. The last time he played this line was in 2007. After some thought, Vachier-Lagrave reacted with a sideline to avoid a theoretical battle. Alexander had no problems equalizing and around move 20 the pawn structure was nearly symmetrical with equal material. After the exchange of two minor pieces, there was little play left in the position and the players agreed to a draw after 27 moves. The game between Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Daniil Dubov started as an English Opening but soon transposed into a line of the Tarrasch Defense which Dubov has played several times this year against high-rated opponents. Duda did not show up empty-handed and introduced a new idea by developing the bishop on g5 on move eleven. The 23-year-old Russian seemed to be surprised. Dubov had some reservations about a key tactical sequence and spent over half an hour in thought. However, Duda avoided the sharpest variations and steered the game towards a double rook and opposite-colored bishops endgame. The position became completely equal and the players agreed to a draw after nearly two hours of play. Semi-final, game 1 results: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – Alexander Grischuk 1/2-1/2Jan-Krzysztof Duda – Daniil Dubov 1/2-1/2 Official website and LIVE broadcast: https://worldchess.com FIDE Press officer for the event: Georgios Souleidis Official Photographer: Valeria Gordienko World Chess contact: media@worldchess.com Photos are available for the press via the following link to Dropbox. Leading partners supporting the FIDE World Chess Grand Prix Series 2019 include: Algorand as the Exclusive Blockchain PartnerPhosAgro as the Official Strategic PartnerKaspersky as the Official Cybersecurity PartnerPella Sietas Shipyard as Official PartnerPrytek as the Technology Transfer Partner
Carlsen, Caruana and young guns in Tata Steel 2020
The World Champion Magnus Carlsen will once again participate in the Tata Steel Chess Tournament in January. This event is one of his favorite tournaments: it will be Magnus’ 16th visit to Wijk aan Zee and the Norwegian GM will do his best to win his eighth title there. The list of participants includes three other players of the world’s top ten: Fabiano Caruana (2), Anish Giri (5) and Ian Nepomniachtchi (6). Former tournament winners Viswanathan Anand (5 times) and Wesley So also return to Wijk aan Zee. The 82nd edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament will take place in Wijk aan Zee January 10 – 26, 2020. The fifth found of the event will be played in the Philips Stadium in Eindhoven on Thursday, January 16. All rounds are open to the public and free of charge. Theo Henrar, chairman of Tata Steel Nederland: “One of this year’s themes will be the linking pin character of chess. In cooperation with the municipality of Eindhoven, PSV, Brainport and local chess clubs we will organize tournaments and seminars. In doing so, we will link professional sports, talent development and physical and mental fitness. For children, we will organize a special Chess Festival weekend and a big tournament in Eindhoven.” Tournament director Jeroen van den Berg: “The 82nd edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament has a very special mix of participants. With six grandmasters making their debut, the Tata Steel Chess Tournament 2020 will be a clash between the establishment and talented young players. Jorden van Foreest, Vladislav Artemiev, Jeffery Xiong, Alireza Firouzja and Jan-Krzysztof Duda are all 21 years old or younger. The Tata Steel Masters group has an average rating of 2743. I only see the world’s absolute top players facing off in many tournaments, but I personally prefer a more mixed playing field. That is reflected in the 2020 field of participants. It will be very interesting to see how young talented players perform against the world’s best players. That is what makes the 82nd edition of the Tata Steel Chess Tournament already very fascinating long before the first moves are made.” Tata Steel Masters 2020 lineup: Magnus Carlsen (2870)Fabiano Caruana (2822)Anish Giri (2776)Ian Nepomniachtchi (2773)Wesley So (2760) Viswanathan Anand (2757)Yu Yangyi (2753)Jan-Krzysztof Duda (2748)Vladislav Artemiev (2731)Alireza Firouzja (2720) Jeffery Xiong (2712) Daniil Dubov (2676) Vladislav Kovalev (2674)Jorden van Foreest (2632) The lineup of the Tata Steel Challengers will be announced on November 25. Photo: Tata Steel Chess Official site
FIDE Grand Prix: Dubov squeezes into semi-finals
For the tiebreaks of the second round, the stage of the Kehrwieder theatre was set for two players and a high-ranking visitor. As Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Alexander Grischuk and Jan-Krzysztof Duda qualified through the classical portion of the knockout round, the remaining spot of the semi-final would either go to Daniil Dubov or Peter Svidler based on the results of the tiebreaks played with shorter time control. Mr. Darion Akins, the Consul General of the United States of America, ceremonially opened the first rapid game between the two Russian grandmasters. Mr. Akins showed a great understanding of the royal game, which he used to play in college. Afterwards, fascinated by the two grandmasters, he stayed for half an hour to follow the moves. The players repeated the same line from their first classical game until Svidler deviated on move ten by pushing his pawn to b6. Dubov reacted with a rarely played advance of the h-pawn. Svidler reacted perfectly by bringing his queen to h4. The crisis erupted on the 21st move when Dubov allowed an excellent tactical shot by Svidler to force an endgame with a bishop and two pawns against a rook. The older of the two Russian grandmasters pushed for a win, but Dubov was able to save a half-point. Svidler opened the second encounter with 1.c4, but the game transposed into a sharp line of the Queen’s Gambit Declined. Dubov opted for a risky setup that involved weakening his kingside and castling queenside. After both players finished their development, Svidler had the upper hand due to better control over the center. Peter managed to win a pawn, but Dubov, who was playing much faster, started to bother the white king on f2. Svidler was controlling the course of the game. He exchanged pieces and even threatened mate in one with his queen. Dubov parried the mate and Svidler could have gone for a second pawn. Instead, he preferred to continue the attack, but Dubov found a tactical way to complicate matters. The players reached a queen and rook endgame with White being a pawn up. Svidler had a weak king and Dubov created enough counterplay to hold the balance. In the end, it was a question of nerves. The game turned in favor of Svidler, but in severe time trouble, he allowed a perpetual after having a winning position for several moves. After starting the day with two draws, the tiebreak rules required two further rapid games with a time control of 10 minutes + 10 seconds per move. Svidler avoided theory by playing a rare line of the Queen’s Pawn Opening but soon found himself in a worse position. After finishing his development, Dubov was in total control of the game. He won a central pawn and was ahead on the clock with four minutes against three minutes. Daniil forced a rook endgame that was winning due to his four vs two pawn majority on the queenside. White could not salvage his position and soon threw in the towel. In a must-win-situation, Svidler chose the Dutch Defense with Black. Dubov offered the chance to simplify the position in the opening, but this was not Svidler’s intention. Instead, he undertook some risky maneuvers. but did not get closer to achieving his goal. Dubov was on the verge of winning this game as well but offered a draw after 18 moves that Svidler accepted. Round 2, tiebreak results: Daniil Dubov – Peter Svidler 2,5-1,5 The pairings for the semi-finals: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – Alexander GrischukJan-Krzysztof Duda – Daniil Dubov Time control tiebreak: 25‘+10‘‘ in the first two games. The next game will always start ten minutes after the end of the session. If the scores are level after the match (i.e. the overall result is 1:1), the colors are drawn for the first game of the next match immediately after the game. The match will continue with two games 10‘+10‘‘ if needed. Further stages will be two games 5‘+3‘‘ and finally a sudden death game 5‘ against 4‘ with 2‘‘ increment from move 61, if needed. The player who draws white for the armageddon game immediately chooses his color. Official website and LIVE broadcast: https://worldchess.com FIDE Press officer for the event: Georgios Souleidis Official Photographer: Valeria Gordienko World Chess contact: media@worldchess.com Photos are available for the press from the following link to Dropbox. Leading partners supporting the FIDE World Chess Grand Prix Series 2019 include: Algorand as the Exclusive Blockchain PartnerPhosAgro as the Official Strategic PartnerKaspersky as the Official Cybersecurity PartnerPella Sietas Shipyard as Official PartnerPrytek as the Technology Transfer Partner
FIDE and ROSATOM festivals in Bangladesh and Turkey
As part of the agreement between FIDE and ROSATOM, two more chess festivals will be held during the last two months of 2019, with support from this company. International Chess Festival in Bangladesh The International Chess Festival in Bangladesh will take place between November 24 and December 4 in Dhaka. The main event will be the 1st SAARC Countries Chess Championships 2019, a Swiss system competition in Open and Women categories (9 rounds), with a total prize fund of $18.000. There is also a number of side events: – Blitz tournament, with an additional prize fund of $2.000. – Master class and simul exhibition by GM Nigel Short for SAARC chess players (28-29 November). – The 1st SAARC Chess Congress (29 November), which will be organized with the aim to establish a new organization, the SAARC Chess Federation. Its purpose will be to unite chess players and officials from this region to further develop chess in joint endeavors. – FIDE Trainers Seminar (30 November – 2 December), with GM Nigel Short as one of the lecturers. – FIDE Arbiters seminar (26-28 November), with Mehrdad Pahlevanzadeh of Iran as one of the lecturers. Read full regulations International Chess Festival in Turkey The International Chess Festival in Turkey is to be organized from 7-14 December in the Turkish capital, Ankara. The festival consists of two main events: – The 1st Confederation Cup for disabled people 2019, organized by FIDE as a premier event on the eve of the 1st World Chess Paralympiad 2020. The teams, consisting of 6 players with different groups of disabilities from 4 Continents (plus 1 team designated by the sponsor) will take part in a round-robin to determine a Continental Team Champion and individual inners in all three disability groups, per gender as well. This is an invitational tournament and all participants will have their expenses covered. – The FIDE Cadet Blitz Festival 2019 (7 December), with the participation of the 12th World Chess Champion GM Anatoly Karpov, who will offer a seminar and a simul exhibitions for kids. Along with the Cup, there will be also a master class by GM Victor Bologan (13 December), and meetings of the FIDE DIS and Event Commissions (12 December). A round table with disabled chess players and members of the World project “Sales of Spirit” sponsored by Rosatom (will be held on December 11). “Sales of Spirit” is an inclusive project which united sales sportsmen with disabilities, who develop themselves through the sport as through an active adaptation and to achieve high sport results. Read full regulations These two chess festivals supported by Rosatom follow the ones already held earlier this year in Finland (August) and Uzbekistan (September). [Link to the respective reports from these two festivals] About Rosatom Rosatom is a global actor on the world’s nuclear technology market. Its leading-edge stems from a number of competitive strengths, one of which is assets and competences at hand in all nuclear segments. Rosatom incorporates companies from all stages of the technological chain, such as uranium mining and enrichment, nuclear fuel fabrication, equipment manufacture and engineering, operation of nuclear power plants, and management of spent nuclear fuel and nuclear waste. Nowadays, Rosatom brings together about 400 enterprises and organizations with the workforce above 250 K. https://rosatom.ru/en/about-us/
Superbet Rapid & Blitz: Korobov still ahead
The two wildcards ruled day one of the blitz in Romania. Le Quang Liem struggled to find his form during the rapid portion but ravaged through the field in blitz with a fantastic score of 7/9. Anton Korobov’s 50% score was enough to keep him on top of the leaderboard, but with a narrower gap. The tournament is still wide open as Levon Aronian, Le Quang Liem and Sergey Karjakin are within striking distance from the current leader, with Anish Giri, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Viswanathan Anand still keeping their hopes alive. Tomorrow, after another exciting 9 rounds of blitz, a champion will be crowned for GCT Superbet Rapid & Bitz. Anton Korobov had a shaky start to his day with two losses in the first three games against Le Quang Liem and Viswanathan Anand. His game against Anand was particularly exciting as the position was absolutely wild with both sides attacking and the evaluation changing constantly. Korobov’s results improved in the second half of the day, with back to back wins against Fabiano Caruana and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. In the postgame interview, Korobov declared that he is full of power going into the final day. Levon Aronian, on the other hand, was moving up quietly but surely. The Armenian star won only two games and drew the rest, but it was enough for leapfrogging in the standings. His wins came against Vladislav Artemiev and Wesley So. The game against Artemiev was a perfect example of how tricky rook endgames can be when the players get low on time, as Artemiev lost in a theoretically drawn endgame after a careless check. In the game against So, he sacrificed a pawn early in the Najdorf, then went on to unleash an attack using his better placed knight against his opponent’s bad bishop. If Levon can repeat this result tomorrow, he will be in an optimal position to qualify for the London finals in December. Le Quang Liem’s performance today was a reminder as to why he is a former World Blitz Champion. After starting the day with a win over Korobov and a draw against Karjakin, he went on a winning streak defeating Anand, Artemiev, So and Giri. The win against So was reminiscent of Caruana vs Karjakin from round 4 of rapid, as both Karjakin and So relaxed too early in a down a pawn endgame thinking it’s an easy draw and lost. His win against Giri was an extremely one-sided affair where he simply blew his opponent off the board. Due to his tame performance in the rapid, this result puts the Vietnamese star in third place, but it’s possible that another result like this tomorrow could possibly mean his winning the tournament. Another former World Blitz Champion is no stranger to showing strong performances in the Grand Chess Tour, having scored 7.5/9 in previous editions of the blitz. Sergey Karjakin had the third best performance of the day but only scored 5 points, which unfortunately did not improve his standings by much. The Russian player is in a must-win situation here as he needs those 13 GCT points to qualify for London. After a tumultuous start, he ended the day with +2, defeating Anand in a rook endgame and demolishing Mamedyarov in 22 moves with the black pieces. Anish Giri, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Viswanathan Anand ended the day with 13.5 points, three full points behind the leader. Giri was the long-time leader in the rapid but has since sunk in the standings. He did not manage to win any games today, drawing 7 and losing 2. Mamedyarov made a comeback on the last day of the rapid and was having a solid day today, but back to back losses against Korobov and Karjakin in rounds 7 and 8 respectively hurt his chances. Anand started and ended the day in a tie for the fifth place. The former World Champion played some of the wildest games in this event, scoring important victories against Korobov and Mamedyarov today. Neither American has been able to find his footing in this event. Wesley So was making a comeback scoring 4 points in the first 5 games but wasn’t able to maintain his form, losing two back to back games against Le Quang Liem and Levon Aronian. Fabiano Caruana started and ended the day in 8th place after missing many opportunities in multiple topsy turvy games. While the other two wildcards are thriving, Vladislav Artemiev is struggling in 9th place. The youngest participant of the tournament had a difficult day today scoring only 3 points with 6 draws and no wins. Combined rapid and day 1 blitz standings. In the rapid, a win is worth 2 points, a draw is 1 point and a loss is 0. In the blitz, a win is 1 point, a draw is .5 points and a loss is 0 Official site Livestream:GrandChessTour.org Photos:Courtesy of Grand Chess Tour and Spectrum StudiosCredits available on Flickr.
Levon Aronian wins Superbet Rapid & Blitz
The 2019 Superbet Rapid and Blitz concluded in a dramatic fashion. At the end of an exciting day of blitz, Levon Aronian and Sergey Karjakin were tied for first place. While the tour points and prize money were split, there was a playoff to crown the champion of the inaugural event. The tiebreak consisted of two 10-minute games. After drawing the first game, Levon Aronian won the second game in a 27-move tactical battle. This marked the second tour win of the year for the Armenian superstar and puts him in an optimal spot to qualify for the London finals. The newly crowned champion was greeted by the Armenian Ambassador to Romania Sergey Minasian and a member of the Romanian Parliament Varujan Pambuccian. The next and final stop of the tour is the Tata Steel Chess India Rapid and Blitz beginning November 22. The longtime leader of the tournament wildcard Anton Korobov completely collapsed today, losing his first five games. Former World Blitz Champion Le Quang Liem, who made waves yesterday with his phenomenal performance of 7/9, also showed a lackluster performance in day 2 of blitz by scoring only 4 points. The struggles of these players allowed for two new leaders to emerge. Levon Aronian climbed to the top by defeating both Korobov and Liem in the first two games, giving him a comfortable two-point lead over the field. The rest of his day, however, was tumultuous, to say the least. He lost three out of his next four games against Sergey Karjakin, Vladislav Artemiev, and Wesley So while drawing the rest. While Aronian was having a topsy-turvy day, Karjakin slowly crept up to the top with wins over Aronian himself, Le Quang Liem and Caruana. Going into the last round, both players were tied for first. Aronian drew his game, leaving the fate of the tournament in Karjakin’s hands. The fateful game between Karjakin and Korobov was a rollercoaster ride that could have sealed the deal for either Aronian or Karjakin. The Russian was winning for most of the game, but allowed a lot of counterplay and even blundered a checkmate closer to the end of the game. Luckily for him, Korobov failed to capitalize on his opportunities, and the game was eventually drawn. The first encounter of the Aronian-Karjakin playoff was a quiet Spanish which ended in a 20-move draw. The second game was a much sharper fight, but Armenian eventually triumphed after Karjakin failed to respond accurately in the tactical skirmish. Viswanathan Anand had the second-best score of the day along with Karjakin and Wesley So. After defeating Fabiano Caruana, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Anton Korobov in the first three games, the former World Champion went on to draw the rest of his games, most of them without a fight. It felt as though his strategy was to preserve energy and earn as many GCT points as possible to improve his qualifying chances to London. He finished in third place, earning 8 tour points and $20,000. The two wildcards were on top of the leaderboard throughout day one of blitz, but ultimately finished in the middle of the pack. Both Korobov and Liem struggled throughout the day and ended up scoring totals of 2 and 4 points respectively. Even so, the two players delighted the fans with their ferocious play and tenacity against the very best in the world. The third wildcard, Vladislav Artemiev, had the best result of the day. He scored an impressive 7/9, including an upset over Aronian. Unfortunately for him, his poor start prevented his impressive result on the final day from having a large impact on his final position in the standings. Anish Giri had dreams of qualifying to the London finals, but they ended with his 6th place finish. Wesley So had a strong performance with 6/9, while his countryman Fabiano Caruana never found his form, scoring only 2 points.
FIDE Grand Prix Hamburg: Three players advance, one tiebreak to follow
The rematches of the second round at the FIDE Grand Prix brought several decisive outcomes. Three grandmasters qualified for the semi-finals whereas the fourth one will be determined on the tiebreak on Sunday. After his loss in the first game of the second round, Veselin Topalov needed a win to equal the score against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. He chose the French Defence, and after some thought, the French grandmaster opted for the Exchange Variation to avoid any theoretical battles. Nevertheless, the game became quite sharp with both sides installing strong knights in the center. As the game developed, White started an attack on the queenside, whereas Black had no realistic chances to attack the white king on the other side of the board. After some exchanges before move 30, Topalov realized that his position was worse and offered a draw. Vachier-Lagrave saw no reason to play on as a half-point was enough to promote him into the next round and enjoy another free day before the semi-finals. David Navara and Alexander Grischuk followed a critical line of the Queen’s Gambit Declined which the Czech grandmaster had used in the past year in the German Bundesliga. After Grischuk deviated on move 15, both players spent a lot of time evaluating a sharp position with kings castled on opposite sides of the board. Navara went astray when he prematurely pushed his h-pawn that allowed Grischuk to deliver a deadly counter punch on the other side of the board. The Russian grandmaster timely sacrificed an exchange and ripped big rewards. Navara had to choose between entering an inferior rook endgame or playing a piece down but having some threats to the black king. He picked the second option but the risk did not pay off. Navara fought on for several moves, but Grischuk confidently fended off all the threats and advanced to the semis. Blunder decides in favor of Duda Jan-Krzysztof Duda also qualified for the semi-finals. His game against Yu Yangyi was more or less decided by one terrible blunder. After an equal opening, the players exchanged queens on move 14 and soon reached an almost equal endgame. The encounter was heading towards a peaceful finish despite the Chinese grandmaster being down a pawn. However, Yu Yangyi went for a deadly walk with his king to the h3-square. Duda surprisingly captured the black pawn on g4 with a check and it turned out it was immune because of the pinned black bishop on c8 and a deadly checkmate threat. As a result, Yu Yangyi losing two pawns and resigned shortly afterward. Evgeny Miroshnichenko, who is commentating on the games in the official live coverage, said: “It’s one of those moves which are easy to calculate but hard to come up with.” The day started with a quick draw between Peter Svidler and Daniil Dubov in a game that only lasted an hour. Svidler chose the Rossolimo Variation against Dubov’s Sicilian Defence and regretted it afterwards. “It was not the wisest choice to play this, but these things happen,” he admitted. After the opening, the younger of the two Russian players gave a pawn to free up his light-squared bishop, which he then exchanged for the white knight on f3 and ruined white’s pawn structure. After 21 moves, the players reached an endgame in which Svidler was a pawn up, but Dubov had active pieces and was still in his preparation. Svidler had seen enough and offered a draw which his compatriot accepted. In the end, Dubov had gained five minutes on the clock compared to his starting time, whereas Svidler burned over 50 minutes. These two grandmasters will meet again in the tiebreak on Sunday to determine the fourth player of the semi-final. Round 2, game 2 results: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – Veselin Topalov 1/2-1/2David Navara – Alexander Grischuk 0-1Peter Svidler – Daniil Dubov 1/2-1/2Jan-Krzysztof Duda – Yu Yangyi 1-0 Official website and LIVE broadcast: https://worldchess.com FIDE Press officer for the event: Georgios Souleidis Official Photographer: Valeria Gordienko World Chess contact: media@worldchess.com Photos are available for the press from the following link to Dropbox. Leading partners supporting the FIDE World Chess Grand Prix Series 2019 include: Algorand as the Exclusive Blockchain PartnerPhosAgro as the Official Strategic PartnerKaspersky as the Official Cybersecurity PartnerPella Sietas Shipyard as Official PartnerPrytek as the Technology Transfer Partner