World Cup: Ding Liren and Teimour Radjabov through to the semifinals
The return games of the FIDE World Cup Quarterfinals were played in the Ugra Chess Academy on September 24. Ding Liren and Alexander Grischuk opted for a complex maneuvering game in the English Opening. It seemed Black successfully solved his opening problems, but in the middlegame, the Russian accepted the exchange of the rooks, which proved wrong. White bishops and a queen developed dangerous activity, and Black started experiencing difficulties protecting his weaknesses on opposite wings, aggravated by time trouble. Eventually white won a pawn, and Black resigned on the 42nd move in a hopeless position. Ding Liren became the first participant to advance to the World Cup semifinals. Teimour Radjabov and Jeffrey Xiong played a mind-blowing game. White surprised his opponent in the Gruenfeld Defense and got an advantage with prospects of a crushing kingside attack. However, later in the game, Radjabov missed a strong reply from his opponent, and soon the entire board was on fire. In a complicated tactical battle spiced up by mutual time pressure, Xiong made the last mistake, and the white queen finished the black king off. Teimour Radjabov progressed to the World Cup Semifinals as well. Two other semifinalists will be determined on the tiebreaks. The game between Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Levon Aronian took less than an hour. The players discussed a popular line of the Giuoco Piano in the Italian with a pawn sacrifice on d3 and demonstrated deep opening knowledge. The opponents proceeded in a quiet manner and shook hands on the 31st move. Yu Yangyi and Nikita Vitiugov also made a draw. In the Nimzo-Indian Defense the Russian, who was playing Black, sacrificed a pawn and obtained certain compensation, keeping the white king in the center. After the Chinese GM traded the queens at the cost of his extra pawn a peaceful outcome became imminent. Tie-break pairings for Wednesday, September 25: Aronian – Vachier-Lagrave Yu Yangyi – Vitiugov Photo Video The competition is organized by the Government of Khanty-Mansiysk Autonomous Okrug – Ugra, International Chess Federation (FIDE), Ugra Chess Federation, and Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation. Official website: https://khantymansiysk2019.fide.com/en/ General partner – Gazpromneft-Khantos LCC.Official airline – Utair.Official partners of the competition: OJSC Rostelecom, Ugra Chess Academy, Russian Chess Federation, AB InBev Efes and PJSC Rosneft.FIDE official partner – JSCo “RZD”.General media partner – News Agency TASS.Media partners – Match TV, World of Chess social network, OTRC “Ugra”, Ugra-news.ru News of Ugra regional newspaper, AIF-Ugra newspaper.
Nana Dzagnidze wins Nino Khurtsidze Memorial
The chess world remembers the great Georgian chess player, Nino Khurtsidze, who untimely passed away last year. Ten chess players from Georgia, Azerbaijan, and Ukraine arrived to Kutaisi to honor the memory of IM Nino Khurtsidze and participate in a rapid chess tournament bearing her name. One of the most talented players of her generation, Nino Khurtsidze succumbed in 2018 to a terminal illness at the age of 42. Born in 1975 in Georgia, Nino learned to play chess at a very early age and became the Winner of the World Youth Chess Championship in 1991 (Girls Under 16). She repeated her success in 1993 and 1995 (Girls Under 20). Throughout her career, Khurtsidze had many accomplishments in various tournaments, including national Georgian events. As a member of the national team, she participated in five Chess Olympiads.The round-robin tournament was held in the picturesque town, Vani, not far away from Kutaisi. Although the event was played in a friendly and relaxed atmosphere, the participants fought really hard. Nino Batsiashvili pulled away from the start and entered the final round as the sole leader, a point ahead of her main competitor Nana Dzagnidze. It was an exciting end of the tournament as Nino and Nano faced each other in the last round. Batsiashvili, playing with White, got the upper hand in the opening, but after missing several strong continuations, she ventured upon an incorrect piece sacrifice, which was refuted by Dzagnidze in a clinical fashion. As a result, Nana Dzagnidze won the game, catching up with the former leader, and becoming the winner of the tournament thanks to a better tiebreak. Final standings: 1. Nana Dzagnidze – 6½2. Nino Batsiashvili – 6½3. Meri Arabidze – 5 4. Lela Javakhishvili – 55. Bela Khotenashvili – 4½6. Salome Melia – 47. Natalia Zhukova – 48. Ketino Kachiani-Gersinska – 3½9. Maia Lomineishvili – 3½10. Zeinab Mamedjarova – 2½