FIDE Candidates Tournament ends in Yekaterinburg, Russia
The longest-ever chess tournament in history came to an end in Yekaterinburg on Tuesday, 27th April 2021, exactly 400 days after it kicked off. The Candidates Tournament began in March 2020, but was halted after the 7th round for more than a year due to the coronavirus pandemic. The winner of the event, Ian Nepomniachtchi, suffered a defeat in the last round. With the first place in the tournament already secured, he probably lacked the motivation required to overcome the difficulties he encountered in the game. Having the black pieces against Ding Liren, Nepomniachtchi mixed up his opening preparation, found himself in a difficult position, and resigned on move 35. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave defeated Wang Hao and won the silver medal in the tournament. The Chinese Grandmaster, who lost three last games in the Candidates, announced his retirement from professional competitive chess at the final interview. Anish Giri finished in third place, after losing to Kirill Alekseenko, in what is his second defeat in a row. The Dutch Grandmaster overestimated his chances, sacrificed a pawn without getting clear compensation, and eventually lost. Alexander Grischuk and Fabiano Caruana were the ones to make the last moves in this historical and unusual event. Their game was the last one to finish, as Grischuk had to defend a bad position stubbornly to save a draw. The participants receive a prize depending on their final place in the standings, but they also got a bonus for each point scored, so every half a point counts! Ding Liren – Ian Nepomniachtchi (1-0) Ian Nepomniachtchi, who won the FIDE Candidates tournament one round to spare, had some difficulties finding the right mindset before his last game in the tournament. “Yesterday I was very motivated, but today when I woke up I felt like my motivation significantly went down. I wasn’t very happy that I had yet one more game to play”, admitted Ian at the post-game press conference. The grandmasters tested the anti-Grünfeld variation with 3.f3, which has become popular lately. Nepomniachtchi chose a very sharp line, which leads to a complex position where Black allows White to create a strong centre, while trying to use his advantage in development. In such positions, the cost of each move increases significantly, and Ian thought he was playing according to his home preparation until a certain point. Ding Liren, who won two games in a row in 12 and 13 rounds, went for the most principled line against Ian. White sacrificed an exchange and a pawn but the black Knight was stuck and could not find its way out. On move 18, Nepomniachtchi made the mistake of allowing the queen exchange – an endgame with a huge advantage for Ding Liren emerged as a result. Black lost two pawns and resigned on the 35th move. “Such a blot at the end,” summed up the winner of the Candidates Tournament in Yekaterinburg. Ding Liren, who won the last three games, lamented with a smile: “What a pity that the tournament is over!” The Chinese star didn’t want to rate Nepomniachtchi’s chances in the match against Carlsen: “Ian has a different style than Magnus, so it will depend on if he can get the positions he likes and Magnus doesn’t.” Maxime Vachier-Lagrave – Wang Hao (1-0) The grandmasters had a theoretical discussion in the famous Berlin endgame, a common story at every high-level tournament. Both opponents had carefully studied at home the position which arose after White’s 19th move but, interestingly, they came to different conclusions. Wang Hao believed that the position was equal, but Maxim managed to find a way to cause some problems for White. Wang Hao, who had already lost three games in the second part of the Candidates, also defended poorly in the last round. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was increasing his advantage move by move and, on 29, the Chinese Grandmaster overlooked a simple tactical blow and immediately resigned. In an interview after the last round of the FIDE Candidates, Wang Hao announced his retirement from professional competitive chess. Anish Giri – Kirill Alekseenko (0-1) Anish Giri failed to evaluate the symmetrical position which emerged from the calm variation of the Catalan opening correctly, and Black seized the initiative. In time trouble, Anish acted too recklessly, weakened his king and, as a result of a miscalculation, found himself down a pawn, and without much compensation for it. White still had a chance to save the game, but Anish did not defend precisely, and Black scored a victory on move 56. Fabiano Caruana – Alexander Grischuk (½-½) In the Sicilian Defense, Grischuk repeated the same line which gave Giri a victory against Fabiano in this tournament. The American Grandmaster was the first to deviate to a sideline, using a very rare move 6.Qd3. Black quickly solved his opening problems and tried to seize the initiative, while destroying White’s pawn structure on the queenside. Nevertheless, active pieces and pressure along the open files ensured enough counterplay for Caruana to maintain balance. Grischuk made a few inaccuracies in the middle game and found himself in a difficult situation. However, Caruana did not exploit all his chances, and with a stubborn defence, Black saved half a point. The draw was agreed on move 65, after more than six hours of play. The final press conference with the winner of the tournament, FIDE officials, and organizers will take place at 2 PM local time. The closing ceremony will take place at 3 pm at the playing venue, and it will be broadcast live on the official website. Final standings: 1 Ian Nepomniachtchi (2774) 8½ 2 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2767) 8 3 Anish Giri (2763) 7½ 4 Fabiano Caruana (2842) 7½ 5 Ding Liren (2805) 7 6 Alexander Grischuk (2777) 7 7 Kirill Alekseenko (2698) 5½ 8 Hao Wang (2762) 5 Media accreditation for the FIDE Candidates Tournament in Yekaterinburg is carried out on the official website of the tournament: https://candidates-2020.com/accreditation and tel. +7 962 385-05-61. Contact: press@fide.com Official site: https://candidates-2020.com/ Photo: Lennart Ootes Partners supporting the FIDE Candidates Tournament: Sima-land, as the General Partner Algorand, as the Official Blockchain Partner Kaspersky, as
Magnus Carlsen rides into knockout stage
World Champ extends unbeaten streak to 15 games It comes as “Nepo” wins the right to challenge title Controversy over short “Grandmaster draws” KO stage starts at 19:00 CEST today Magnus Carlsen secured top seed status in the New In Chess Classic knockout stage on the day he found out who will challenge his world title. The World Champion showed he means business in the $100,000 event with a cool and calm display that stretched his unbeaten run to 15 games. It came immediately after the Russian rival Ian Nepomniachtchi secured his right to take on Carlsen in November’s World Chess Championship match. Nepomniachtchi beat a field of eight, including several Meltwater Champions Chess Tour regulars, to triumph in the FIDE Candidates tournament. Back in the New In Chess Classic, Carlsen started the day by wheeling into the Meltwater offices in Oslo on a push-bike. He arrived just a minute before the start of play but then he sat down and reeled off two wins and three draws to finish on 10.5/15. It was easily enough for safe passage into the knockout stage starting tomorrow. Carlsen remarked after: “I’m starting to perfect the art of getting the first seed without too much hassle.” Also safely into the quarter-finals are two big threats in the American pair Hikaru Nakamura and Wesley So plus fan favourite Levon Aronian. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov also sailed in the quarters. He is a super-strong player but has yet to make an impact on the Tour so far having competed in just one event. Teimour Radjabov, the Airthings Masters champion, was the last to qualify. He avoided crashing out with a final round draw against Vidit Gujrathi. Alireza Firouzja, the 17-year-old tipped as a future world champion, scored 8.5/15 to go through as did Vietnam’s former World Blitz Champ Liem Quang Le. Both will be names to look out for in the quarters. The other super-talented teenager in the field, India’s Rameshbabu Praggnanandhaa, battled hard but could not make it through. Pragg had Carlsen sweating in Round 12 but couldn’t force the win. The result all but ended his chance of progressing but it was still an impressive debut for the youngster who qualified from the Julius Baer Challengers Chess Tour. Norway’s number 2 and 3 Aryan Tari and Johan-Sebastian Christiansen both crashed out. The day was dogged by a series of quick games when players both combined to steer the game towards a draw by repetition and take a half-point each. The safety-first practice to conserve energy in a long tournament is controversial but not against the rules. Commentating on the action for chess24.com, Grandmaster David Howell said: “This is disappointing! It’s really testing our patience now. It is slightly disrespectful to our viewers.” But if some of the games were too short, England’s Gawain Jones and Leinier Dominguez of the US played out the longest game yet on the tour. The pair slugged it out for 80 minutes in Round 12 and ended with a draw. Neither made the cut. With the field down to eight, the quarter-finals start tomorrow at 19:00 CEST and are broadcast live on chess.com. For further information, please contact: Leon Watson, PR for Play Magnus Group leon@chessable.com+44 7786 078 770