Grand Prix Jerusalem : Nepomniachtchi beats MVL, Wei Yi and Navara draw
Ian Nepomniachtchi outplayed Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the first game of the match that will determine the holder of a spot in the Candidates tournament 2020. To level the score, the French grandmaster has to win the second classical game with White. The first game of the second semifinal, Wei Yi vs David Navara, ended in a draw. Ian Nepomniachtchi came well-prepared for Maxime Vachier-Lagrave‘s Grünfeld and surprised his opponent with a rare move 8.Be3. “It’s nothing serious but it worked out pretty well. He chose an interesting way but strategically it’s very dangerous,” commented Ian after the game. Maxime spent 20 minutes and decided to grab the bishop on e3, letting his opponent get a very strong center. Initially, the French grandmaster was going for a long defense, but remained true to himself and preferred to complicate matters with 14…b5. According to Ian, a tense battle would have continued had Maxime played 19…c5, sacrificing another pawn to open the position. It turned out that Vachier-Lagrave was tempted by a forced line starting with 21…Be5 but missed a very strong 24.Ne4 at the end of the variation. If Maxime fails to level the score tomorrow, he is out of the tournament and Nepomniachtchi will have the qualification for the Candidates in his own hands. The Russian will also need to win the final to overtake Vachier-Lagrave in overall Grand Prix standings. A funny accident happened in the encounter Wei Yi – David Navara. The Chinese grandmaster came to the game, thinking he was playing with Black – a real nightmare for any chess player! Playing without preparation, he spent a lot of time in the opening but came out with some original ideas. David Navara managed to equalize the position and even got some chances in the rook endgame. However, Wei Yi was defending precisely and achieved a draw after the opponents mutually eliminated all the pieces except kings. The second games of the semifinals start on December 18 at 3 pm (GMT+2): Vachier-Lagrave – NepomniachtchiNavara – Wei Yi 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
Master Class for participants of the FIDE Confederation Cup
A master class by FIDE Executive Director GM Victor Bologan came as a nice bonus for 31 players from 24 countries who traveled to Ankara, Turkey to participate in the first edition of the FIDE Confederation Cup for the Disabled. GM Bologan gave a lecture covering many aspects of top-level chess such as tactical weaknesses, critical moments, strategy, training and much more. The master class was wrapped up with a Q & A session – the participants had an opportunity to ask GM Bologan various questions. Here are a few of the most interesting ones: Q: “Why is it important for you to support players with disabilities in this event?” GM Victor Bologan: “I believe we have to share the knowledge. This is very important and it’s my first point. Second, I have a personal motivation for this. My elder daughter has very serious cerebral palsy; she cannot move, she cannot talk, she cannot do many things. We take her places we go and she is really a part of society. The same thing with chess, it can be a tool to be part of the world of chess, competition, travel, seeing other people, discussing. Through chess, we don’t see limits, this is why I think it’s good to share the knowledge. In addition, I do not see a difference. When I was growing up in Moldova, I used to see chess players with disabilities and one player even managed to get a Ph.D., he’s a very good chess coach now. Also, we discussed in the DIS Commission, that we see the inclusion of players with disabilities not only as players but as arbiters, trainers, etc.” Another player asked GM Bologan for advice on how to teach his daughter, who has the same disability, to deal with losses in her own games. Q: “I have two daughters, and my second daughter, who is 7 years old, has the same disability as me. She is interested in chess because it is the only sport that we can practice. However, she has problems handling defeat. How can I advise her on how to deal with defeat in chess — she only wants to win.” GM Bologan’s: “This is not related to a disability, this applies to all of us, no one likes to lose, not even the big boys. Take my advice about self-confidence — you should not be afraid of losing. Every decision you make is something you get for yourself, you mature, you grow, and you get stronger. If you connect it with the analysis of every mistake, it is a way to improve. Then, psychologically, she will put it together. But it is important that she senses this improvement and doesn’t repeat her mistakes. Once she sees this works, then she will make the adjustment. If you simply tell her to be confident, don’t lose a game, this doesn’t work. On the other hand, if you say, look you made this mistake, try to avoid it by doing this or that. If she does this — that will be her victory. This is the way we progress. Then, victories will come by themselves because you grow and it is natural — you turn the defeat into a win.” Following the conclusion of the Master Class, the audience took a group photo and used this opportunity for selfies and individual photos with GM Bologan. The players were very happy to participate in the master class and, if they were not already, quickly became big fans of GM Bologan, expressing their appreciation at the conclusion of the class with a round of enthusiastic applause. Text: Dora L Martinez Photos: Dora L Martinez