King Salman Rapid and Blitz Championships: Accommodation and dress code
The respective section is open in the registration system. The Accommodation section is open in the Registration system of the King Salman World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2019 https://wrbc2019registration.fide.com. The players may choose the hotel, make the reservation and acquaint themselves with the instruction. The official hotel of the King Salman World Rapid and Blitz Championships 2019 is Radisson Collection Hotel Moscow 5*. Address: 2/1 bld.1 Kutuzovsky Avenue, Dorogomilovo district (around 7 km driving distance to the venue). Free accommodation with full board in a standard room from December 25 to December 31 is offered by the Organiser to the invited players. According to the Regulations, the invited players are the players rated at least 2750 in the open section and 2500 in the women’s section in any of the FIDE rating lists (Standard, Rapid or Blitz) from January to December 2019 as well as gold, silver, and bronze medallists of the WRBC-2018. For all other players, the Organizing Committee offers the following accommodation options: the official hotel Radisson Collection Hotel Moscow 5* and recommended hotels with special prices (special prices are available for participants via links in the registration system; price includes breakfast in Recommended hotels). Recommended hotels: 1. Korston Club Hotel Moscow 4*. Address: 15 Kosygina street, Gagarinsky district (2 km walking distance, around 8 km driving distance to the venue). 1 metro stop to Sportivnaya Metro Station (the nearest metro station to the Venue – around 1 km). 2. Radisson Slavyanskaya Hotel & Business Center 4*. Address: 2 Square of Europe, Dorogomilovo district. (around 6 km driving distance to the venue). Kiyevskaya Metro Station is about 0.2 km. The metro route from Kievskaya to Sportivnaya includes one change on the ring line and 3 stops altogether and takes about 12 minutes. It is also possible to use the 132 bus. 3. Crowne Plaza Moscow World Trade Centre 5*. Address: 12 Krasnopresnenskaya embankment, Presnensky district (around 8 km to the venue). Vystavochnaya Metro Station is about 1 km. Moscow central circle station “Business center” is located 1 km away. There are only two stops to the station MCC “Luzhniki”. Transfer: A transfer airport-hotel-airport will be provided only to invited players in accordance with their travel requests. A free shuttle service Hotel-Venue-Hotel will be organized only from the official hotel (departure is approximately one hour before the start of the games). Additional information: Should you make your own accommodation arrangements, please skip the Accommodation request option in the Registration System. The accommodation request and request for lunch and dinner option at the official hotel deadline is on 22nd of December, 2019. Accommodation request can be submitted only after accreditation confirmation for invited players and their accompanying persons. Accreditation is confirmed after receipt of the e-mail from Registration and Accreditation Manager. By submitting your accommodation request, you are applying for a certain hotel, type of room and period of staying with the agreed price lists. In case of any questions regarding the accommodation, please contact the accommodation support team of the Organizing Committee: pugachev@ruchess.ru Artem Pugachev. During the King Salman World Rapid and Blitz Championships the following dress code that will apply: Men: Shoes: Oxfords, loafers, leather shoes or boots, classic suit shoes; Pants: Solid darks: black, navy, grey, beige, brown, in any case unicolourous; Shirt: Long-sleeved shirts in light shades (white, light blue, beige, brown, etc.), as well as blue and black. No bright colours, in any case unicolourous. Jacket: solid darks: black, navy, grey, beige, brown. No bright colours, in any case unicolourous. With or without a tie. The jacket or cardigan with buttons is mandatory. Women: classic shoes, formal trouser or skirt, suit or dress, preferably unicolour, but not mandatory. No players wearing t-shirts, jeans, shorts, sneakers, baseball caps or inappropriate dress are allowed in the playing area. Any requests to wear national or traditional dress must be approved by GSC. Registration https://wrbc2019registration.fide.com Official website https://wrbc2019.com
Alexandra Kosteniuk wins the Monaco Women’s Grand Prix
The final day of the Women’s FIDE Grand Prix could not be more thrilling. Humpy Koneru beats the leader Aleksandra Goryachkina in the top game of the round and allows Alexandra Kosteniuk to clinch the title thanks to better tiebreaks, as the former World Champion defeats Elisabeth Paehtz. The Women’s FIDE Grand Prix at the Yacht Club de Monaco witnessed a scenario worthy of the most exciting Hitchcock movies. Aleksandra Goryachkina went into the last round with a full-point advantage over Humpy Koneru and Alexandra Kosteniuk. However, the Indian had her fate in her hands, as she played against the leader with the white pieces. Koneru uncorked a fine opening idea against the Semi-Slav opening, which took Goryachkina by surprise. The Russian did not react precisely by sacrificing a pawn, as her only prospect was a difficult defense with opposite-colored bishops. The presence of heavy pieces made her task too arduous, and Koneru won a neat technical game. As a matter of fact, the Indian would have earned the trophy if Kosteniuk had not won her encounter with Elisabeth Paehtz. But the former World Champion produced a fine performance and won convincingly. Koneru and Goryachkina had been taking turns leading the event, but the trophy eventually went to Kosteniuk thanks to the better tiebreak – direct encounter, followed by the number of wins. The Russian had an incredibly successful fortnight in Monaco, as FIDE Vice-President Lukasz Turlej pointed out in his speech at the closing ceremony: “Alexandra Kosteniuk took it all! She brings home from Monaco the title of the Women’s Grand Prix, as well as both titles of European Rapid and Blitz Champion”. In a final interview, the Monaco winner said: “After my ups and downs in the first half of the tournament, I have never expected to even be able to fight for the first place. Only before the last round did I realize that I still had a small chance”. Kosteniuk takes home the trophy, but the Grand Prix points and prize money are shared among the three players. Thus, Humpy Koneru remains in the lead of the Grand Prix race, ahead of Aleksandra Goryachkina. Kateryna Lagno finished fourth in Monaco thanks to her last-round victory over Pia Cramling, whereas Anna Muzychuk took the fifth place after a draw against the tail-ender Valentina Gunina. The next stage of the Women’s FIDE Grand Prix will take place in Lausanne between March 1st and 14th 2020. Results of Round 11:Humpy Koneru (Ind) – Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus): 1-0Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rus) – Elisabeth Paehtz (Ger): 1-0Mariya Muzychuk (Ukr) – Nana Dzagnidze (Geo): ½-½Zhao Xue (China) – Harika Dronavalli (Ind): 1-0Kateryna Lagno (Rus) – Pia Cramling (Swe): 1-0Anna Muzychuk (Ukr) – Valentina Gunina (Rus): ½-½ Final standings:1-3. Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rus), Humpy Koneru (Ind) et Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus) – 7 points4. Kateryna Lagno (Rus) – 6½5. Anna Muzychuk (Ukr) – 66-8. Harika Dronavalli (Ind), Pia Cramling (Swe) et Mariya Muzychuk (Ukr) – 5½9-10. Zhao Xue (China) et Nana Dzagnidze (Geo) – 511. Elisabeth Paehtz (Ger) – 412. Valentina Gunina (Rus) – 2 Official website: https://wgp2019.fide.comPictures are available at FIDE’s official Flickr account. Text: Yannick PelletierPictures: Karol Bartnik
Grand Prix Jerusalem: Four quick draws
It was one of the shortest rounds at the FIDE Grand Prix in Jerusalem, organized by World Chess. Very much in the spirit of Shabbat in this holy city, all the second-round games were over within 90 minutes after the start. Tomorrow, on December 15, the grandmasters will face each other again with colors reversed. Sergey Karjakin went for a quick draw that he gave to two reasons for this decision: he was tired after the longest tie-break match, and also felt uncomfortable to play the opening without any preparation after rare move 6…g5 by Wei Yi. “My opponent was very well prepared for a side line which is not very popular and I realized it only over the board. It was tested by Anish Giri a few times before and since Wei Yi just played the match with him, he knew this variation and obviously looked though it” explained Sergei in the post-game interview. An interesting theoretical discussion in Gruenfeld Defence took place in the game Wesley So vs Ian Nepomniachtchi. Ian has played all correct moves of his home preparation to equalize the position but according to him, he had to make some decisions over the board as he was not sure if he remembered the line correctly. Wesley So preparation was interrupted as his computer went dead on the previous day and the internet was slow. Recalling their previous match against Ian in Fisher Random, he noted it would not be a problem to prepare without a computer in Norway, while here it was a different story. David Navara chose a line in the Italian Game, where black spends an extra tempo for playing a6-a5. Dmitry Jakovenko didn’t manage to get any advantage out of the opening, traded a few pieces and the draw was agreed on move 18. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave had some hopes of getting a slight advantage in the Exchange French thanks to his pair of bishops versus bishop and knight, but Dmitry Andreikin ruined them with 18… Ne4. Maxim was about to play 19.Rad1 when he noticed 19…Rf2! with unnecessary complications for white. After a precise 19.Be4 and subsequent exchanges the opponents shook hands. Round 2, game 2 pairings: Andreikin – Vachier-Lagrave Nepomniachtchi – So Wei – Karjakin Navara – Jakovenko Official website and LIVE broadcast: https://worldchess.com Text: Anastasiya Karlovich Photos: Niki Riga 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 PartnerUsetech as the partner of the Jerusalem Grand PrixPrytek as the Technology Transfer Partner
UN adopts July 20 as World Chess Day
World Chess Day, celebrated worldwide, is now recognized as well by the United Nations. The General Assembly unanimously adopted the relevant resolution on December 12. The resolution was tabled by Armenia and co-sponsored by 52 other countries. It confirms 20 July as World Chess Day, marking the date in 1924 when the International Chess Federation was established in Paris. The idea to celebrate this day as the international chess day was proposed by UNESCO, and it has been marked as such since 1966, after it was established by FIDE. The day is already celebrated by many of regular chess players around the world. According to the polls, “a surprisingly stable 70% of the adult population has played chess at some point during their lives”. This number holds at approximately the same level in countries as diverse as the US, UK, Germany, Russia, and India. When introducing the draft of the resolution, Armenia’s delegate Mher Margaryan observed that the game can transcend national boundaries and break down racial, political and social barriers. Armenia, he added, embraced chess as an academic subject in schools and currently has one of the highest numbers of chess grandmasters per capita in the world. “One of the most important and enduring lessons that chess can offer is teaching respect,” he said. One of the oldest and most popular mental games in history, chess is an established part of modern‑day culture. The resolution draft reflects on the transformative power of chess in helping transcend national boundaries and break down racial, political and social barriers. The text also recognizes the important opportunities offered by chess in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, including in strengthening education and health, promoting empowerment of women and girls, fostering solidarity, cooperation and peace. Oficial United Nations meeting report Photos: “Armenia Mission to UN” Twitter, @ArmeniaUN
Goryachkina goes into the last round one point clear of Koneru
Alexandra Kosteniuk, the only player to score a full point in the 10th round of the Women’s Grand Prix in Monaco, joined Humpy Koneru in the second place. Aleksandra Goryachkina drew and keeps her one-point margin. It is all set at the Yacht Club de Monaco for a thrilling final on Saturday. Humpy Koneru still trails Aleksandra Goryachkina by one point, but tomorrow the Indian will have the white pieces in their showdown. The leader came out unscathed from her two encounters with the Muzychuk sisters. After escaping defeat against Mariya on Thursday, Goryachkina suffered again on Friday but made a draw. Anna Muzychuk got a very attractive position from the opening but did not manage to find the best way in complications. In the end, the Russian simplified into a drawn endgame and earned a half-point. Could Humpy Koneru reduce the gap with the leader from Russia? With the black pieces against Pia Cramling, she tried to unbalance the game early on by giving her opponent space advantage. The Swede, who was the number one woman player in the world some 35 years ago, reacted well to the challenge. She seemed to get control over the situation on the board thanks to a better pawn structure, but Koneru actually achieved sufficient activity to keep the balance. At some point, Cramling hastily exchanged rooks and found herself in real danger. Nevertheless, she held the draw making several precise defensive moves. In her short post-game interview, the Indian indicated that all players were very tired and that her last-round clash with Goryachkina might well be a battle of nerves. In the game between Harika Dronavalli and Alexandra Kosteniuk, the Indian was expected to try her chance to join the lead, or at least to get closer to Goryachkina. She did not play the most aggressive opening, hoping to outplay her opponent at later stages. The fight was balanced until Dronavalli missed Nf6-g4 which gave Kosteniuk a longlasting initiative. The Russian used her chance perfectly, clinched victory in the endgame and jumped to shared second with Koneru. Both Nana Dzagnidze and Zhao Xue had chances to prevail in their encounter. The Georgian was better at first but found herself on the defending side after making a few mistakes. In a titanic fight that lasted 99 moves and five and a half hours, the longest so far in Monaco, the two champions eventually shared the point. It looked as if Valentina Gunina was going to suffer yet another defeat in round 10 but it did not happen. Mariya Muzychuk reached an advantageous position with the black pieces but hesitated for a while and allowed the Russian to get back into the game. Gunina eventually secured her first draw in this event and avoided her seventh consecutive loss. Elisabeth Paehtz mixed up some moves in her opening against Kateryna Lagno but found a way to repeat the position around move 20 to secure a draw. The Peace and Sport Forum 2019 is taking place at the Hotel de Paris during the FIDE Grand Prix. Former World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk has been one the champions for Peace since 2010 and was therefore invited to the evening activities on Thursday. On this occasion, she exchanged a few words with H.S.H. Prince Albert II and contributed to making chess more popular worldwide. The eleventh and final round will begin a bit earlier than usual on Saturday. Joël Bouzou, President of Peace and Sports and adviser of H.S.H. Prince Albert II, will launch the games at 1 pm at the Yacht Club. The closing ceremony will be held at the same place at 8 pm. Results of round 10:Nana Dzagnidze (Geo) – Zhao Xue (China) ½-½Harika Dronavalli (Ind) – Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rus) 0-1Elisabeth Paehtz (Ger) – Kateryna Lagno (Rus): ½-½Pia Cramling (Swe) – Humpy Koneru (Ind) ½-½Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus) – Anna Muzychuk (Ukr) ½-½Valentina Gunina (Rus) – Mariya Muzychuk (Ukr): ½-½ Standings after round 10:1. Aleksandra Goryachkina – 7 points2-3. Humpy Koneru and Alexandra Kosteniuk – 64-7. Anna Muzychuk, Harika Dronavalli, Kateryna Lagno and Pia Cramling – 5½8. Mariya Muzychuk – 59. Nana Dzagnidze – 4½10-11. Elisabeth Paehtz and Zhao Xue – 412. Valentina Gunina – 1½ 11th and the last round, December 14 at 1 pm:Humpy Koneru (Ind) – Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus)Mariya Muzychuk (Ukr) – Nana Dzagnidze (Geo)Zhao Xue (China) – Harika Dronavalli (Ind) Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rus) – Elisabeth Paehtz (Ger)Kateryna Lagno (Rus) – Pia Cramling (Swe)Anna Muzychuk (Ukr) – Valentina Gunina (Rus) Official website with live games and commentary by WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili, IM Almira Skripchenko and GM Josif Dorfman: https://wgp2019.fide.com Pictures are available on our official Flickr account. Text: Yannick PelletierPictures: Karol Bartnik
Grand Prix Jerusalem: MVL and Nepomniachtchi still in the hunt
Seven quarter-finalists were determined on tiebreaks today. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Dmitry Andreikin, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Wei Yi, Dmitry Jakovenko, David Navara and Sergey Karjakin advanced to the quarterfinals where they joined Wesley So who had already qualified for the second round one day earlier. The local hero, Boris Gelfand, fell in the play-off against one of the favorites, Ian Nepomniachtchi. After losing a tiebreaker to Dmitry Jakovenko, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov has been knocked out from the competition and lost his chance to fight for the place in the Candidates Tournament 2020. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Ian Nepomniachtchi are still in the hunt. Four matches were decided in two rapid games. Dmitry Andreikin found a nice way to force a draw in the first game against Radoslaw Wojtaszek. After getting a serious advantage in the opening of the second encounter, Andreikin misplayed later on and lost control over the situation. Wojtaszek had good chances to win the battle but made a few mistakes in the time trouble, allowing his opponent to score a victory in the game and the match. Things went smoothly for Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who convincingly won his rapid match against Veselin Topalov. The French grandmaster managed to get an advantage in Ruy Lopez Berlin after inaccurate 20…g5 and started the day with the victory. The former FIDE World Champion was pressing hard in the second game but Maxime defended well then turned the tables and whitewashed his opponent. Boris Gelfand and Ian Nepomniachtchi had a breath-taking battle full of interesting ideas in the openings, unpredictable twists, and tactical motifs. After losing the first game the Israeli Grandmaster had good chances to level the score but could not find the precise way to finish his attack on the opponent’s king. Nepomniachtchi also won the match 2:0 and continues his quest for the place in the Candidates. Similarly to the previous Grand Prix stages, Anish Giri failed to get through the first round and has to go home after falling to Wei Yi. After the opponents split the point in the first encounter, the second game was in the balance until Anish ventured upon a tempting 30…Nf4. According to Anish, he simply missed 35.Qe8 at the end of the variation and had to resign one move later. He called his participation in the Grand Prix Series this year as his worst performance. Nevertheless, his qualification for the Candidates 2020 by rating can be considered as good compensation for his hardships. Dmitry Jakovenko was the only player, who managed to strike back after losing the first game in the match with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. In the second game, Shakhriyar played too aggressively, even though he needed just a draw, and allowed his opponent to get a decisive material advantage. In both games with Black, the Azerbaijani grandmaster didn’t get enough compensation and lost the match – 1.5:2.5. David Navara and Wang Hao deserve praise for their fighting spirit, despite drawing the first five games today. The match was decided in the sixth encounter, in which Navara had white pieces and obtained an advantage right after the opening. David was steering his ship with a firm hand and gave his opponent no chance to survive. Pentala Harikrishna and Sergey Karjakin played the longest match of the day. None of the opponents managed to win a game, even though they both had their chances in blitz. Karjakin made a decisive draw with Black in the last Armaggeddon encounter and claimed a victory in the match. The quarterfinal matches will begin on December 14. Round 2 pairings:Vachier-Lagrave – AndreikinSo – NepomniachtchiKarjakin – WeiJakovenko – Navara Official website and LIVE broadcast: https://worldchess.com FIDE Press officer for the event: Anastasiya Karlovich Official Photographer: Niki Riga 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 PartnerUsetech as the partner of the Jerusalem Grand PrixPrytek as the Technology Transfer Partner
Goryachkina is a step closer to winning the Monaco Grand Prix
Just three weeks before challenging Ju Wenjunt for the world title, Goryachkina demonstrates that she is in top shape. The Russian increases her lead, as Koneru loses her first game since the Batumi Chess Olympiad. It is all set for a very exciting last round, where Humpy and Aleksandra will finally cross swords. The ninth round of the FIDE Grand Prix in Monaco could possibly be labeled the decisive one. Aleksandra Goryachkina was hanging by a thread but escaped defeat, while Humpy Koneru lost her first game in this event. Elisabeth Paehtz has clearly been out of form in Monaco, having lost four games so far, but in her encounter with Koneru, she raised to the occasion and caused the biggest upset in the tournament so far. The German reached a typical Maroczy structure from her King’s-Indian opening and Koneru did not handle it well. Being under pressure, the Indian lost a pawn without getting enough counter chances. After White’s second pawn fell, Koneru’s position became hopeless and she resigned shortly after. At the same time, Goryachkina chose a solid but passive line of the French Defense in her game with Mariya Muzychuk. Mariya played some unusual moves at first, but her pieces suddenly sprang into action. She managed to put pressure in all areas of the board and Goryachkina clearly seemed uncomfortable. Yet, the Russian would not be the World Championship challenger if she could not handle tough positions. She defended with resilience and wisely gave up a pawn in order to exchange some pieces. It is hard to point out exactly where the advantage slipped through Muzychuk’s fingers. The game simplified into a drawish endgame after the time control, which Goryachkina held confidently. The Russian is now a full point ahead of an Indian, as Harika Dronavalli made a draw against Kateryna Lagno and caught up with her compatriot Koneru. The opening of that game was quite interesting, but as sometimes happens early simplifications resulted in a draw by repetition. Anna Muzychuk obtained a clear advantage in the opening against Pia Cramling, but later missed an important defensive resource by the Swedish champion. The final position was very unclear, as Black had no choice but sacrificing her queen, but the Ukrainian preferred not to take any risk and offered a draw. This is definitely not the tournament for Valentina Gunina, who suffered yet one more defeat, and has only one point out after nine rounds. In her game with Nana Dzagnidze, her opening turned into a disaster as she was already lost after 15 moves without any chance to put up a fight. The Russian, who started the year with a sound victory at the Cairns Cup in Saint Louis, has had some health problems since she arrived in Monaco and that cast a pall over her performance. Alexandra Kosteniuk won a pawn right after the opening against Zhao Xue but the Chinese did not have to worry much because of her overall activity. The game was always in balance and ended in a draw on move 42. Even though Goryachkina is a clear leader now, one point clear of Koneru, it is highly possible that the last-round encounter between the two of them will be decisive to determine the winner of the Monaco Grand Prix. Results of round 9:Valentina Gunina (Rus) – Nana Dzagnidze (Geo): 0-1Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rus) – Zhao Xue (China): ½-½Kateryna Lagno (Rus) – Harika Dronavalli (Ind): ½-½Humpy Koneru (Ind) – Elisabeth Paehtz (Ger): 0-1Anna Muzychuk (Ukr) – Pia Cramling (Swe): ½-½Mariya Muzychuk (Ukr) – Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus): ½-½ Standings after round 9:1. Aleksandra Goryachkina – 6½ points2-3. Humpy Koneru and Harika Dronavalli – 5½4-7. Anna Muzychuk, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Kateryna Lagno and Pia Cramling – 5 8. Mariya Muzychuk – 4½9. Nana Dzagnidze – 410-11. Elisabeth Paehtz and Zhao Xue – 3½12. Valentina Gunina – 1 Round 10, 13 December at 3 pm:Nana Dzagnidze (Geo) – Zhao Xue (China)Harika Dronavalli (Ind) – Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rus)Elisabeth Paehtz (Ger) – Kateryna Lagno (Rus)Pia Cramling (Swe) – Humpy Koneru (Ind)Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus) – Anna Muzychuk (Ukr)Valentina Gunina (Rus) – Mariya Muzychuk (Ukr) Official website with live games and commentary by WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili, IM Almira Skripchenko and GM Josif Dorfman: https://wgp2019.fide.com Pictures are available on our official Flickr account. Text: Yannick PelletierPictures: Karol Bartnik
Grand Prix Jerusalem: Wesley So advances to quarterfinals
The fourth leg of the FIDE Grand Prix Series organized by World Chess is ongoing at the Notre Dame Center Jerusalem. Yossi Gilad, Head of Engineering at Algorand, opened the round with the first symbolic move. All the return games of the first round at the Jerusalem Grand Prix were drawn with just one exception – Wesley So beat Yu Yangyi. The American became the first player to advance to the quarterfinals and was very happy to win his first match in the Grand Prix Series 2019 without playing a tiebreak. Yu Yangyi got into an unpleasant situation after sticking his bishop to e4. In order to relieve the pressure, Black temporarily sacrificed a central pawn, but then White’s pair of bishops became a dominant force. According to Yu Yangyi, he made a crucial mistake with 31…Qc4. The point is that the Chinese GM missed 35.e6 when choosing this line. Wesley managed to break through, won the game and secured his place in the second round. Ian Nepomniachtchi was on a verge of losing against Boris Gelfand, but the Israeli player did not find the precise way to convert his advantage in the middle game. Black’s 10…Bd7 was an inaccuracy, taking away an important square for the knight, which eventually retreated to g8. The correct way was 10…a5, as played long ago by the former FIDE World Champion Alexander Khalifman. Being under the time pressure Boris Gelfand missed his last chance to play for a win with 34.c6. Nepomniachtchi was clearly relieved after the game, admitting that he had to defend a really bad position. Wang Hao also was in a very dubious situation against David Navara but got out unscathed. This game went on for more than 80 moves and was the last to end. Wang Hao said afterward that he could not concentrate well and simply blundered a pawn. The Chinese grandmaster was even thinking about resigning in the endgame but after Navara’s king left the safe corner, he got some hopes to save the game. These hopes eventually materialized into a half-point. Dmitry Andreikin and Radek Wojtaszek took quite some time in the opening despite all the moves being well-known theory. Black’s 15…c5 was the key move to equalize but Andreikin believed White could still try to play for a win. A few inaccurate moves by Wojtaszek gave the Russian an advantage that he was unable to convert into a full point. Ironically, the second game of their match ended up with the same drawish endgame – two kings and a pawn. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov also felt fortunate to have avoided elimination. The Sicilian Four Knights, which is the Azeri’s specialty, developed into a normal position until Mamedyarov fell into temptation and snatched the g2-pawn. Dmitry Jakovenko missed a great opportunity to play 23.Rh2! holding onto the h4-pawn, with the idea of Rg1 coming in next. 24…g5 also seemed a bit too much but Dmitry probably was not precise enough and the game ended with repetition. Anish Giri and Wei Yi drew after only 10 moves and delayed their showdown until the tiebreak. Their first game was the longest of the first day though. “My biggest chess hero is Magnus Carlsen and I’m slowly learning his tricks. This time I borrowed his tricks from the world championship match and just decided to go for tie-break” Anish Giri commented after the game. The encounter between Sergey Karjakin and Pentala Harikrishna featured the line of the Italian game, which has been always favored by Sveshnikov and also came into fashion lately. After massive exchanges, the position became roughly equal and the game ended in a draw by repetition. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave did not find a way to crack Veselin Topalov’s Berlin Ruy Lopez. With an exchange sacrifice, Black created some sort of a fortress, which turned out to be unassailable. All that means that there will be a record amount of tiebreaks (7!) on December 13:Topalov vs Vachier-LagraveWojtaszek vs AndreikinNepomniachtchi vs GelfandWei vs GiriHarikrishna vs KarjakinNavara vs WangMamedyarov vs Jakovenko Official website and LIVE broadcast: https://worldchess.com FIDE Press officer for the event: Anastasiya Karlovich Official Photographer: Niki Riga 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 PartnerUsetech as the partner of the Jerusalem Grand PrixPrytek as the Technology Transfer Partner
FIDE Grand Prix Jerusalem: All draws on the first day
The fourth leg of the FIDE Grand Prix Series organized by World Chess started in the Notre Dame Center Jerusalem on December, 11. Since all eight games ended in a draw all sixteen players keep chances to advance in the next round. After three major tournaments in Moscow, Riga, and Hamburg earlier this year, the grandmasters arrived in Jerusalem to compete in the final leg of FIDE Grand Prix. This part of the series will draw the line under the season 2019 and designate two participants for the following Candidates Tournament 2020. The prize fund in each leg of the Grand Prix amounts to €130,000, with an additional €280,000 for the top 10 finishers in the overall standings. Thus, the total prize fund of the FIDE Grand Prix amounts to a total of €800,000. The major goal for the 21 participants, however, is to finish in the top two at the end of the Series and earn a spot in the Candidates Tournament. This event will then determine the challenger of Magnus Carlsen in the World Championship match. The official Opening Ceremony was held at the Notre Dame Center Jerusalem. State officials, FIDE representatives, key members of the local community and, of course, and all participants assembled in a hall together with other chess devotees to share the moment of the start. Chief Arbiter Almog Burstein drew lots at the technical meeting. The games Nepomniachtchi – Gelfand and Harikrishna – Karjakin finished after less than one hour of play with Karjakin and Gelfand, who had Black pieces expressing their satisfaction with the outcome. Ian Nepomniachtchi went for a well-known theoretical line in Sicilian Anti-Sveshnikov but according to Gelfand, his opponent misplayed it, so the final position was very dry and none of the sides had real chances to play for a win. “First of all, I’m happy to play in Jerusalem Grand Prix tournament as Grand Prix events are one of my favorite tournaments. I had so many memorable games there. It’s also especially nice to play in Jerusalem in front of the local public” said Boris Gelfand after the game. Pentala Harikrishna opted for a solid Ruy Lopez Berlin against Sergey Karjakin, and after grandmasters traded most of the pieces, the draw was agreed on move 21. Veselin Topalov chose to open with 1.c4 against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave after he had unsuccessfully tried 1.e4 and 1.d4 in their previous mini-matches. “It was a good choice, as at least I managed not to lose the game. It’s a good start, compared to my usual first matches” Veselin noted in the postgame interview. A symmetrical English was played and, in fact, the former FIDE World Champion got an advantage right after the opening. He put a lot of pressure on his opponent today and the French Grandmaster, who came directly from the Grand Chess Tour finals in London, had to defend “a very suspicious position”. However, Veselin missed his opponent’s counterplay with a piece sacrifice, which turned out to be good enough to maintain balance in the game. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov recalled the last stage of Grand Prix in 2017 when he was watching the last game between Jakovenko and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave at home. In case of victory, MVL would have qualified for the Candidates 2018 instead of Shakhriyar. Jakovenko won that game and helped Mamedyarov to advance to the Candidates 2018. Ironically, Shakhriyar was paired against Dmitry Jakovenko in the first match of the fourth leg of Grand Prix and needs to win the match to keep his chances to play in the Candidates 2020 alive. Shakhriyar had quite deep preparation in the opening today and remembered the line in the Nimzo-Indian till the endgame. In the post-game interview, he pointed out that 22.Kf1 was a bad move and he had to play Re1, Nf1-Ne3 instead, keeping good wining chances. Dmitry Jakovenko agreed that his position was quite unpleasant and was happy with the outcome. The Catalan Opening appeared in the game Yu Yangyi vs. Wesley So. The American grandmaster went for a pawn sacrifice and suddenly the position became very complex and tactical. According to Wesley Black had sufficient compensation for equality but he was not sure about pressing for more. Wang Hao misplayed the opening and let his opponent David Navara to obtain an advantage. David had more active pieces and was trying to use the weakness of the b7-pawn but Wang Hao was defending quite well and managed to hold a draw. Anish Giri mixed up the move order in the opening and decided to give up an exchange by analogy with the same idea in a different line. Although Anish thought his position was lost after 20.c3 he nevertheless managed to hold it after a long and resilient defense. As Anish Giri and Wei Yi were the last to finish their encounter, the Dutchman was asked if he thought it would be unfair to lose since all other games were drawn. “That was the only thing that kept me going. I saw that everybody else made a draw. I thought maybe it`s today’s magic so I have to try to use it,” Anish confessed. The participants of the Jerusalem Grand Prix passed on their warm wishes to the former World Champion Viswanathan Anand, who turned 50 on December 11. Official website and LIVE broadcast: https://worldchess.com FIDE Press officer for the event: Anastasiya Karlovich Official Photographer: Niki Riga 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 PartnerUsetech as the partner of the Jerusalem Grand PrixPrytek as the Technology Transfer Partner
Goryachkina emerges as the sole leader in Monaco
Two victories by Alexandra Goryachkina and Alexandra Kosteniuk punctuate the eighth round of the Women’s Grand Prix in Monaco. Goryachkina overtakes Koneru in the standings. The eighth round of the FIDE Grand Prix in Monaco began under the cameras of Monaco TV Channel. The event held at the Yacht Club has an important status for the Principality and is duly covered by the local media. As a leading member of the women’s team of Monte-Carlo at the European Cup, Humpy Koneru was kind enough to agree to a short TV interview before the start of the round. The leader of the Grand Prix Series is used to concentrating deeply before her games, and this small interruption luckily did not disturb her. The Indian Koneru – Dronavalli remained very balanced. Humpy played solidly with black and made a draw in 31 moves. This allowed Aleksandra Goryachkina to grab the sole lead, as she earned the whole point against her compatriot Valentina Gunina thanks to a good preparation in the Catalan. Gunina finds herself in a terrible downward spiral in Monaco. This time she overlooked a trap right after the opening and found herself in a difficult position straight away. The World Championship challenger converted the advantage once again demonstrating her impeccable technique. Alexandra Kosteniuk won a very inspiring game against Nana Dzagnidze. She sacrificed a pawn early on with Black with the aim to obtain long-term chances against the enemy King. Being under serious pressure, the Georgian found nothing better than giving back the pawn back in order to exchange queens. However, the endgame was no safe haven for her as the Russian managed to win two pawns and later the game. Pia Cramling and Mariya Muzychuk drew their game after more than five hours. The Ukrainian tried hard to convert her two-pawn advantage in the endgame, but the task was very difficult. The Swedish legend was holding ground with her usual stamina and reached a draw 85 moves. Zhao Xue and Kateryna Lagno played a very balanced game, in which the Chinese exerted a slight pressure throughout. But Lagno defended confidently and the game sealed a draw. Elisabeth Paehtz did not challenge Anna Muzychuk in the Marshall Variation of the Ruy Lopez and quickly repeated moves to split the point. Thanks to her victory, Aleksandra Goryachkina is now leading the field alone. She has made an amazing comeback after her slow start, scoring 5,5 in the last 6 rounds. But her task in the last 3 rounds can be considered complicated, as she will face both Muzychuk sisters in the coming days. Humpy Koneru has a nominally easier home stretch and will also have the white pieces against Goryachkina herself in the last round. In short, the final sprint promises to be very exciting. Results of Round 8:Nana Dzagnidze (Geo) – Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rus): 0-1Zhao Xue (China) – Kateryna Lagno (Rus): ½-½Harika Dronavalli (Ind) – Humpy Koneru (Ind): ½-½Elisabeth Paehtz (Ger) – Anna Muzychuk (Ukr): ½-½Pia Cramling (Swe) – Mariya Muzychuk (Ukr): ½-½Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus) – Valentina Gunina (Rus): 1-0 Standings after Round 8:1. Aleksandra Goryachkina – 6 points2. Humpy Koneru – 5½3. Harika Dronavalli – 54-7. Anna Muzychuk, Alexandra Kosteniuk, Kateryna Lagno, and Pia Cramling – 4½ 8. Mariya Muzychuk – 49-10. Nana Dzagnidze and Zhao Xue – 3½11. Elisabeth Paehtz – 2½12. Valentina Gunina – 1 Round 9, 12 December at 3 pm:Valentina Gunina (Rus) – Nana Dzagnidze (Geo)Alexandra Kosteniuk (Rus) – Zhao Xue (China)Kateryna Lagno (Rus) – Harika Dronavalli (Ind)Humpy Koneru (Ind) – Elisabeth Paehtz (Ger)Anna Muzychuk (Ukr) – Pia Cramling (Swe)Mariya Muzychuk (Ukr) – Aleksandra Goryachkina (Rus) Official website with live games and commentary by WGM Keti Tsatsalashvili, IM Almira Skripchenko and GM Josif Dorfman: https://wgp2019.fide.com Pictures are available on our official Flickr account. Text: Yannick PelletierPictures: Karol Bartnik