FIDE Grand Prix Hamburg: Grischuk pushes but Duda holds
Once again, the spectators at the FIDE Grand Prix in Hamburg – and of course around the world – will be treated to one final day full of nailbiting rapid and blitz chess. The finalists, Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Alexander Grischuk put up an intense fight in the second round of the mini-match today, with the Russian player pushing for a win with the black pieces, but Duda defending like a lion and finally saving the half point. The Consul General of the Russian Federation in Hamburg, Andrei Sharashkin, ceremonially opened the second game of the final between Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Alexander Grischuk. Duda started the fight with 1.d4 but was obviously not prepared for the line of the Queen´s Gambit Declined which appeared on the board. Already after Grischuk’s 6th move, he had spent 18 minutes. And despite the long think, he only managed to slide into a position which is considered to be harmless for Black. Ten moves later, the players had reached a position with an isolated pawn on d5. As for white, he was still to develop his kingside and bring his king to safety by castling. Grischuk used about 30 minutes to find the critical continuation and lashed out with a pawn sacrifice at the end of it. Soon, he planted his light-squared bishop on d7, with the idea of exploiting White’s weak light squares on the queenside. The 21-year-old Polish grandmaster realized that he was in trouble and sank into deep thought. He took the pawn on d5 and, one move later, found the only defense to stay in the game. And then it was Grischuk’s turn to go into the think tank. He spent as many as 30 minutes in order to find the best continuation to keep the initiative going. As the game heated up, both players were down to 20 minutes after 13 moves. It was clear that time trouble might be a decisive factor. In a highly tactical position, Grischuk continued the attack with a piece sacrifice. Duda stood on the edge of the precipice but showed amazing defensive skills, despite being short on time. Grischuk was unable to find anything better than getting his piece back and transposing into a slightly better endgame. Both grandmasters played on with a queen and a rook. Grischuk had a passed pawn on the ‘b’-file to boast of. But in the end, this proved to be only a symbolical advantage. Duda fought his way out and drew the game. Even after the game, both players were still absorbed by this dramatic battle. Grischuk gave his impression of it in his trademark style: “Maybe a better calculator like Maxime Vachier-Lagrave would have found something, but he would not get this position because he doesn’t play the Queen’s Gambit, which is the most aggressive opening”. Final, game 2 result: Jan-Krzysztof Duda – Alexander Grischuk 1/2-1/2 The tiebreak of the final will start on Sunday at 15:00 (CET) with Duda having the white pieces in the first rapid game. Modus for the tiebreak:Two 25+10 rapid games are played. If still tied, there are two 10+10 games, then two 5+3. Finally, a single Armageddon game is played, where White has 5 minutes to Black’s 4 (with a 2-second increment from move 61), but Black wins the match with a draw. 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 Grand Prix Hamburg: Final starts with a draw
The FIDE Grand Prix in Hamburg has reached the home stretch. After starting the event with 16 grandmasters, only Alexander Grischuk and Jan-Krzysztof Duda have remained to determine the winner and runner-up of the third leg of the series. Grischuk would like to increase his lead in the Grand Prix by as much as possible since this Hamburg leg will be his last one in the series. The 36-year-old grandmaster has collected 17 points so far, but with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (13 points), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (10 points) and Ian Nepomniachtchi (9 points), there are three players left who could theoretically surpass him in the last instalment of the series in Jerusalem. In the first game of the final, the German champion under 10 Alissa Wartenberg made the first move. For the first encounter in classical chess between these two players, Grischuk decided to open the game with 1.d4. Duda responded with the Queen’s Indian Defence, which is one of his favourite openings. The opponents followed one of the main lines where Grischuk seemed better prepared. By moving his rook to c2 on move 13, he adopted an idea of Ivan Cheparinov which the Bulgarian grandmaster played three weeks ago at the Chess.com FIDE Grand Swiss on the Isle of Man. This, clearly, came as a surprise for the 21-year-old Polish player who thought for more than 50 minutes for his next two moves. Grischuk returned the favour and sank into deep thought. He used 47 minutes for his next two moves to find a forced sequence that yielded him a better position. He managed to resolve the situation in the centre and ruin black’s kingside pawn structure. At this point, it was clear that both players would suffer severe clock pressure. Time trouble became more evident when less than four minutes remained and the time control mark was still 13 moves away. White still held an advantage due to a better pawn structure and a strong knight, but Black activated all of his heavy pieces on the open e-file. Duda’s counterplay seemed to be sufficient to distract Grischuk. Shortly before time control on move 40, Alexander had the chance to get a clear advantage with a strong knight move 35.Ne5. Instead, he exchanged the queens and forced an endgame where Black was a pawn down but had enough counterplay thanks to his active rooks. After the time control, Grischuk spent 25 minutes evaluating the situation on the board. As there was no advantage on the horizon, he forced matters by exchanging a rook and simplifying the position. Duda also didn’t see a path leading to advantage, so the players agreed to a draw after 46 moves in an equal rook endgame. Final, game 1 result:Alexander Grischuk – Jan-Krzysztof Duda 1/2-1/2 Game 2 of the final will start on Saturday at 15:00 (CET). 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