2021 Superbet Chess Classic – Day 5 Recap
World No. 9 GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov scored the only victory of the day today as he defeated GM Constantin Lupulescu with the Black pieces, catching up to the leaders with a score of 3.0/5. With all four other games drawn, Mamedyarov, So, and Grischuk lead the event heading into the first and only rest day. Deac – So A theoretical pawn sacrifice in the QGD Vienna left Deac with a microscopic edge in a known rook endgame, but So was well-prepared and was able to equalize without any difficulties. The game soon simplified and the players drew after about 90 minutes of play. Radjabov – Grischuk This game also took place in a highly theoretical variation of the Queen’s Gambit Declined, where deep preparation by Grischuk allowed him to neutralize Radjabov’s efforts to play for an advantage. Despite White’s extra exchange, Radjabov could not make any progress, and the game quickly simplified into a dead-drawn position. Caruana – Giri Facing the ultra-solid Berlin Variation, Caruana opted for the rare move 9.Qe2, which is not considered dangerous for Black but does come with some surprise value. With a pawn majority on the kingside for White, Giri had to be careful not to allow too many exchanges and end up in a losing king and pawn endgame. Despite going into a somewhat tricky rook ending, Giri managed to defend accurately and eventually held a draw thanks to his precise play. Aronian – Vachier-Lagrave The players started out with a Symmetrical English, though the game quickly became imbalanced as Aronian took on an isolated queen pawn in exchange for active piece play in the middlegame. Although MVL was able to win the weak pawn almost immediately, White had full compensation for the sacrifice, and soon Black was forced to give the pawn back in order to equalize. Aronian kept some pressure all the way into the endgame, and eventually even won an extra pawn of his own, but the position was too simplified to provide any real chances, and MVL held the draw without huge difficulty. Lupulescu – Mamedyarov In the only decisive game of the day, an enterprising approach to the opening paid off for Mamedyarov, as he was able to reach a fresh and unbalanced position with chances for both sides. After quite a bit of strategic maneuvering in the middlegame, the players started running low on time as they approached the first time control, with Mamedyarov beginning to outplay Lupulescu. On move 33 Mamedyarov found his chance to open up the position, seizing an opportunity to triple his heavy pieces on the g-file. With little time Lupulescu missed a devious tactical detail, and his kingside simply collapsed just a few moves later. After 33…e5! Black opened up his rook on d6 to access the g-file With a rest day tomorrow, June 10, Round 6 will take place on Friday, June 11. The coverage of the 2021 Superbet Chess Classic continues Friday, June 11, at 6:50 AM CDT with live coverage from GMs Alejandro Ramirez, Yasser Seirawan, and Maurice Ashley on grandchesstour.org/live. Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy Photo: Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes Official website: grandchesstour.org/
PhosAgro and FIDE sign strategic partnership
Moscow, June 09, 2021 PhosAgro, one of the world’s leading vertically integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers, and the International Chess Federation (FIDE) have signed a strategic partnership. The contract was signed by the President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), chairman of the Skolkovo Foundation Arkady Dvorkovich and PhosAgro CEO Andrey Guryev in the Mikhail Botvinnik Central Chess Club in Moscow. Photo credits: Eteri Kublashvili, Chess Federation of Russia President of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), chairman of the Skolkovo Foundation Arkady Dvorkovich thanked PhosAgro for the long-term partnership, stressing that the company uses an integrated approach to popularizing chess as a sport: “First of all, I would like to once again congratulate PhosAgro on its 20th anniversary. We can no longer imagine the World Championship Match without such a partner as PhosAgro, and I am glad that this year the company is again a partner of the World Championship Match and, no less important, FIDE World Cups, which will be held in July-August in Sochi. I believe that this is another proof of the company’s commitment to chess, its support of the Russian school and the development of chess in the world. The partnership promises to be fruitful in terms of supporting the younger generation of chess players, both in Russia and around the world. This time, the World Championship Match will be held in Dubai as a part of the World EXPO, which will bring together the best minds not only of the chess world but also of politics, business, and technology. I think this is fully consistent with the values and the expertise that the International Chess Federation and PhosAgro both possess.” The partnership between International Chess Federation (FIDE) and PhosAgro includes such major FIDE events as the WorldChampionship Match in Dubai and FIDE World Cups in Sochi. Photo credits: Eteri Kublashvili, Chess Federation of Russia “Chess has become a traditional corporate game for us, a part of our corporate culture. This year the company celebrates its 20th anniversary, and for 11 years we have been supporting the Chess Federation of Russia. We are also sponsoring the World Chess Championships and the qualifying tournaments for them. This signing ceremony has become traditional: chess is gaining popularity in our country and around the world and requires proper support from business. Chess and PhosAgro have a lot in common: we always think one move ahead, or rather two or three moves, to outperform our competitors. It is important for PhosAgro to support Russian chess and Russian chess players, and our main goal is to bring the world chess crown back to Russia.” emphasized PhosAgro CEO Andrey Guryev. About PhosAgro: PhosAgro Group is the undisputed leader in the supply of fertilizers to the Russian market and is one of the three largest producers of phosphate-based fertilizers in the world. PhosAgro’s main products include phosphate rock, 39 grades of fertilizers, feed phosphates, ammonia and sodium tripolyphosphate, which are used by customers in 102 countries across all inhabited continents of the world. The Company’s priority markets outside of Russia and the CIS are Latin America, Europe and Asia. The Company has been the general partner of the Chess Federation of Russia (CFR) since 2010. PhosAgro CEO Andrey Guryev is a Vice-President of the CFR and a member of its Board of Trustees. PhosAgro is also a strategic partner of the International Chess Federation (FIDE) in the Grand Prix series of the World Chess Championship in 2019−2020. PhosAgro has sponsored the matches for the World Chess Champion title in Sochi, New York and London, as well as the qualifying stages of the world championship cycle – Candidates Tournament in Berlin (2018) and Yekaterinburg (2020-2021) and the Grand Prix in Moscow (2017). At the same time, PhosAgro continues to promote chess in the regions where it operates by opening chess classes in Company-supported schools and kindergartens and funding the training of specialised teachers. Official site: phosagro.com
2021 Superbet Chess Classic – Day 4 Recap
Round 4 of the 2021 Superbet Chess Classic saw two new leaders emerge, as Wesley So and Alexander Grischuk both won their games against the previous day’s leaders, Fabiano Caruana and Bogdan-Daniel Deac. With the three other games drawn, So and Grischuk now lead the field with 2.5/4, heading into the halfway mark of the tournament. Mamedyarov – Radjabov The first game of the round to finish, a quick draw in the Fianchetto Grunfeld, which was not much of a surprise as the two Olympic teammates have drawn almost all of their games at the top level. After the game, Radjabov expressed a lack of energy to come up with new ideas in the opening, citing his busy schedule and preference to minimize risk. Vachier-Lagrave – Lupulescu A critical variation of the French Defense put Lupulescu’s preparation to the test, but the Romanian No. 1 managed to defend accurately, reaching an equal endgame soon out of the opening. The Frenchman tried to press, even sacrificing a pawn for some play but was ultimately not able to pose real problems, and the game was drawn in an equal knight vs. bishop ending. Giri – Aronian After misplaying the Black side of a Catalan, Levon Aronian was under some serious pressure in a thematic endgame, with Giri’s pieces dominating Black’s queenside. But Giri was not able to maximize his advantage, allowing Aronian to equalize with passive but solid defense, eventually holding the draw. So – Caruana In one of the best games of the tournament thus far, Wesley So found a creative pawn sacrifice to greatly restrict several of Black’s pieces. While Caruana’s position was tenable, it was difficult to defend from a practical point of view, and the U.S. No. 1 quickly fell into a strategically lost position. Good technique by Wesley took matters into the endgame, with an extra pawn and overwhelming positional advantage, allowing So to win his first game of the event. Grischuk – Deac Also scoring his first win of the event was Grischuk, who nursed a small edge out of the opening against the talented Romanian junior. With both players in severe time trouble, Grischuk managed to win a pawn in a heavy-piece endgame and was able to convert in excellent technical style. After 59.Qf8! Rf4 60.Rxf4 gxf4 61.Qa8! Alexander secured a decisive advantage The coverage of the 2021 Superbet Chess Classic continues tomorrow, June 9, at 7:00 AM CDT with live coverage from GMs Alejandro Ramirez, Yasser Seirawan, and Maurice Ashley on grandchesstour.org/live. Text: IM Kostya Kavutskiy Photo: Grand Chess Tour, Lennart Ootes Official website: grandchesstour.org/
Ehsan Ghaem Maghami wins Zone 3.1 Championship
Ehsan Ghaem Maghami (pictured below) became the winner of Zone 3.1 Championship and secured his spot in FIDE World Cup 2021. Ehsan scored 6 out of 7 possible points and tied for first place with his countryman Aryan Gholami but came out on top thanks to better tiebreaks (higher average rating of his opponents). Photo: David Llada The 7-round Swiss tournament brought together 23 players from Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, Oman and Palestina and was played online on Tornelo platform. The competition was dominated by the representatives of Iran, who took three top spots in the final standings. Final standings: 1 GM Ghaem Maghami, Ehsan IRI 2547 6 2 GM Gholami, Aryan IRI 2513 6 3 GM Idani, Pouya IRI 2614 5½ 4 FM Salih Akar Ali, Salih IRQ 2274 4½ 5 FM Koniahli, Malek SYR 2255 4½ 6 IM Mansour, Sameer JOR 2308 4 7 FM Ahmed Ali Layth, Ahmed IRQ 2253 4 8 Chekh Adm Khedr, Aram SYR 2147 4 9 CM Ismael Namir Mohammed IRQ 2122 4 10 IM Al Hosani, Omran UAE 2197 4