Grand Prix Jerusalem: Navara secures his place in semis
David Navara became the first semifinalist of the Jerusalem Grand Prix, after defeating Dmitry Jakovenko with white pieces in the second classical game. His next opponent will be the winner of the match Karjakin – Wei Yi. The Head of the Administration of the Ministry of Sports of Israel, Mr. Ofer Bustan, was the special guest today at the Jerusalem Grand Prix, organized by World Chess. Mr. Bustan made the first symbolic move in the game Navara – Jakovenko, which produced the only victory today. David Navara got an advantage right out of the opening and slowly but surely was increasing the pressure on his opponent’s position. A well-played game by the Czech grandmaster, where the final result was never in doubt. Wesley So chose to play the classical Ruy Lopez, which is the main opening weapon of the Grand Chess Tour champion Ding Liren. “I decided why not to copy him while he also defended very comfortably against Maxime in London”, said Wesley So with a smile. Wesley was still on his home preparation when Ian Nepomniachtchi offered a draw. Both players believed the final position was close to equality. “This line is all about 16…Qc8 move, if black knows it, he is equalizing. It’s difficult to play on this position, it simplifies very quickly,” added the Russian grandmaster. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave pointed out that the line that occurred in his game today was usually played between Russian and French grandmasters. He was obviously referring to the encounter Kasparov – Lautier from Tilburg 1997, which followed the same path until the 20th move. With 20.Rc7, Joel Lautier blundered a pawn but Garry Kasparov missed his chance and accepted a draw without thinking much. Dmitry Andreikin chose a better continuation 20.Kf1, but it didn’t affect the final result as a peace treaty was signed a few moves later. Wei Yi and Karjakin played a very complicated tactical game rife with sacrifices. For those who were wondering how far the preparation of Karjakin went today, the Russian Grandmaster gave a surprising answer: “I had some notes after 9.Ne5 but didn’t remember them well. I just played some natural moves. Later on, he played 12.Ng4 and I answered with 12…Nd7 which looked interesting as I want to continue with h5 or f5. I saw this line after 13.Nh6 but I stopped calculation after 18…Nf3 and 19…Rg8, thinking I’m just crashing my opponent. I was shocked when I realized he has 20.Ng4 with an idea Bc3! Fortunately, I found 20…Be5.” Wei Yi could have posed more problems for his opponent in the endgame which emerged after massive exchanges. According to Wei Yi, he could have had more chances if he kept his h-pawn by playing 28. Kg2. After 28.Kf1 Sergey Karjakin found a precise way to keep the game in balance. Three matches will continue on tiebreaks on December 16: Vachier-Lagrave vs AndreikinSo vs NepomniachtchiKarjakin vs Wei Yi 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
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