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