GP Jerusalem: Vachier-Lagrave and Nepomniachtchi to clash in semifinals
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Ian Nepomniachtchi defeated Dmitry Andreikin and Wesley So respectively and both advanced to the semifinals of the FIDE Grand Prix organized by World Chess. Sergey Karjakin was knocked out by Wei Yi in an eventful four-game match that could have gone either way. The moment of truth has come: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Ian Nepomniachtchi will finally cross swords in the decisive clash for a spot in the Candidates tournament. If Maxime Vachier-Lagrave wins this match he will immediately qualify for the Candidates. For the Russian, things are a bit more difficult: to get his ticket to Ekaterinburg 2020 he has to not only eliminate Maxime but also win the event. Israeli grandmaster Alik Gershon, who is also famous for setting the Guinness World Record for simultaneous games after playing 523 opponents, made a first symbolic move in the game Wei Yi – Karjakin. It turned out to be the longest match of the second round playoffs. After losing the first rapid game Sergey Karjakin took revenge and leveled the score in the second encounter. The Russian grandmaster had a pleasant advantage in the third game but missed a few opportunities in the middlegame and then misplayed the endgame, allowing his opponent to take the lead in the match. Sergey, who is known for his ability to fight back in any situation, tried to stage one more comeback, but Wei Yi didn’t give him a second chance. Dmitry Andreikin found an interesting idea to avoid the classical Naidorf in the first rapid game against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and confused his opponent. The French grandmaster didn’t react optimally and after f4-f5 found himself in a difficult position. According to Maxime, he still managed to create a mess on the board then turned the table and even won the game. Dmitry had to win the second encounter to level the score and was able to get a complicated position with black pieces. Since the match situation required to take extra risks, the Russian grandmaster sacrificed some material to stir up action, but Maxime found the most precise moves and transposed into the winning ending. The Frenchman preferred not to take any chances and offered a draw to seal his 1.5:0,5 victory. Ian Nepomniachtchi was taken by surprise in the opening of the first game and could not recall his preparation clearly. According to Ian, he got into the position where black had positional disadvantages but his defense was still hard to break. Wesley So did not find a way to do it and the game was drawn. In the second encounter, the American fell into his opponent’s preparation. “Once in a blue moon, I managed to get something out of the opening! Actually, this idea of 21…Bf3 22.Rf3 Re5 is a trap. I was lucky to remember all moves until it was better for white but it would not be me if I didn’t make some mistakes later in the game”, commented Nepomniachtchi. After 37…Rd4 38.Re8 the players entered the rook ending which clearly favored White. Wesley questioned his decision to go for this rook ending and assumed that he would probably have had better chances to defend the ending with queens on the board. The first games of the semifinals will be played tomorrow, December 17, at 3 pm local time: Ian Nepomniachtchi – Maxime Vachier-Lagrave Wei Yi – David Navara 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
Team Europe wins FIDE Confederation Cup for Players with Disabilities
The FIDE Confederation Cup for Players with Disabilities in Ankara is in the books. Team Europe won all four matches and deservedly took the title. Although the top two places were determined before the fourth and final round the race for the third place behind Europe and Asia was on. Two contenders, Russia-Turkey and Americas, were facing each other with the winner of the match taking third place. This hard-fought battle full of exciting twists ended in a tie 3-3. This meant Team Americas secured third place with 4 points, one point behind Team Asia that played the tournament without a rest day only to finish one day earlier than others did. In the other match of the day the champion, Team Europe, beat Africa 3.5:2.5 to finish the tournament with a perfect score. African players put up a good fight again and came close to getting their first point but it was not meant to be in the end. Final standings: 1. EUROPE – 8 (15½)2. ASIA – 5 (12)3. AMERICAS – 4 (11½)4. RUSSIA-TURKEY – 3 (12)5. AFRICA – 0 (9) This wasn’t the only chess-related activity of the day, however. FIDE Executive Director and famous grandmaster Victor Bologan found time to give a masterclass to players in which he explained some principles in chess to an enthusiastic audience. It is extremely important to combine chess events with instructional seminars or lessons and FIDE Confederation Cup for Players with Disabilities proved to be a good example. Also the Events Commission (EVE) and Commission for the Disabled (DIS) meetings were held in course of the event. After five days of chess, it was time to award prizes. The closing ceremony was attended by all players and officials such as Ayse Kardas Ergezen (Deputy Minister of Family, Labor and Social Security of Turkish Republic), Akaki Iashvili, Gulkiz Tulay (FIDE Vice Presidents; the latter is also President of TCF), Victor Bologan (FIDE Executive Director), Ozgur Solakoglu (Chairman of FIDE Events Commission and the tournament director), GM Thomas Luther (Chairman of FIDE DIS Commission), Kema Goryaeva (Councillor of FIDE DIS Commission and Event Manager), Dora Martinez (Councillor of FIDE DIS Commission) and Turgay Seçkin Serpil (FIDE DIS Commission Member), Assoc. Prof. Veli Ozan Cakir (Deputy Director General of Sports) as well as Mr. Yaroslav Mozdakov (ROSATOM’s Head of International Communications) representing the financial partner of the event. In her opening speech, TCF President and FIDE Vice President Mrs. Gulkiz Tulay mentioned that it was a great joy seeing the happiness of players with disabilities coming from all over the world to play chess in Ankara and thanked FIDE and ROSATOM who made it happen. Deputy Minister of Family, Labor and Social Security and TCF Vice President Ayse Kardas Ergezen expressed the support by her ministry for events improving the conditions of people with disabilities and her wish to see more of such events hosted by Turkey in future. FIDE Vice President Akaki Iashvili welcomed everyone in the name of FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich and thanked all who made this fantastic event possible and emphasized that chess for players with disabilities was one of FIDE’s priorities. Mr. Iashvili also expressed his gratitude to ROSATOM for their support and said that the cooperation between ROSATOM and FIDE will be a long-lasting one. Head of International Communications of ROSATOM Mr. Mozdakov reiterated that ROSATOM’s support of mind sports competitions worldwide will continue in the future. Finally, it was time to award prizes! The teams taking the first three places, Europe, Asia, and Americas, received their cups and medals. There were also separate prizes in three categories for the hearing impaired, visually impaired and physically disabled participants with the top three players in each category receiving medals. Griffin McConnell from the USA earned a special award as the youngest and most successful player in the competition. The players have also received special gifts in bags from ROSATOM and participation certificates. Much more important than the prizes and titles were invaluable experience and friendship built among the participants of the FIDE Confederation Cup. The next event for people with disabilities, World Chess Paralympics in 2020 in Khanty-Mansiysk will be even bigger. Hope to see you all there!