FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss: Round 2 Recap
After just two days of play, only three players have a maximum score at the Open Grand Swiss. In the Women’s event, two duos of Georgians and Chinese lead the group of altogether seven players with a maximum performance after the second round. Croatian player Ivan Saric cruised to the top of the scoreboard after winning in the second game in a row. Kirill Alekseenko’s choice of a rare line in the Marshall Attack backfired as Saric managed to neutralize Black’s initiative and emerged with an extra pawn. In an opposite-colour bishops were no help for the Russian as the Croatian promptly won a second pawn forcing Alekseenko’s resignation. Ivan Saric will play Fabiano Caruana in Round 3. In a fantastic game on board eight, Alexandr Predke of Russia introduced an amazing novelty in the King’s Indian Defence sacrificing his queen for two minor pieces a pawn against Nodirbek Yakubboev: Alexandr Predke – Nodirbek Yakubboev 12.hxg4!! Bxd4 13.Bxd4 – White got sufficient positional compensation and even a certain edge but stunned Yakubboev failed to put up resistance and crumbled after 13…Kh7 14.Be2 f5? 15.exf5 gxf5 16.Rh5 +- | 1-0, 34 moves. The Russian is on two points and he will be playing Alireza Firouzja who had some serious problems with Black against Dariusz Swiercz of the US at some point, but eventually his knights proved stronger than a rook and two connected passers of his opponent: Alireza Firouzja – Dariusz Swiercz 58…Nxh2! was a killer blow as 59.Qxh2 fails to 59…Ng3+ 60. Kg1 Ne2+ 61.Kh1 Qxh2+ 62.Kxh2 Rh4# | 0-1, 61 moves On board one 17-year-old Nihal Sarin managed to hold world number two Fabiano Caruana to a draw, despite later saying that he considered his own position to be “completely lost”. “I thought there was like 20% chance that I could save this game,” Sarin said. After a draw in the first round, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave secured a speedy victory as White against Amin M. Tabatabaei, after the Iranian made a mistake in the opening. In an interview following the game Vachier-Lagrave said he feels in his element and is in high hopes for the rest of the tournament. The last game to finish in the second round was that of Latvian Grandmaster Arturs Neiksans who played against England’s David Howell. In the Queen’s Indian Defence Neiksans made use of the opponent’s flub (17.Nd4? instead of a natural 17.e3) and achieved an absolutely won position. For a long time Howell was teetering the brink of defeat but his grit and determination paid off in the end as the Englishman held his ground and, in the late hours of the evening, forced his opponent to concede to a draw. In the Women’s event, Nana Dzagnidze demonstrated resourcefulness in an unbalanced position and defeated Iulija Osmak to maintain her lead in the tournament. On board two Alexandra Kosteniuk – dressed in a black and white squared dress – drew with Lela Javakhishvili, as did Polina Shuvalova against Olga Badelka. The second top game to end with a decisive outcome was between Lei Tingjie and Ekaterina Atalik. The Chinese prevailed in what might be the wildest game in the women’s tournament with advantage changing hands several times, and now will be facing Elisabeth Paehtz in Round 3 after the German was victorious against Leya Garifullina. Alongside Dzagnidze and Lei Tingjie, five more female players have a maximum score after the first two rounds. Round 3 Round 3 starts at 2 PM on the 29th of October. The pairings for Round 3 of the Open event can be found here:https://grandswiss.fide.com/open/ The pairings for Round 3 of the Women’s event can be found here:https://grandswiss.fide.com/grand-swiss-women/ For more information about the tournament, please visit:https://grandswiss.fide.com/ Press enquiries: press@fide.com Text: Milan Dinic Photo: Mark Livshitz and Anna Shtourman
Arkady Dvorkovich: “Chess life can continue even at a difficult time”
The First Round of the 2021 FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss started yesterday with FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich making the first move on Board one, in the game between top-seed Fabiano Caruana and Maksim Chigaev of Russia. Later on, Mr Dvorkovich spoke about the event and the issues surrounding it – from the health and safety of players to the plans and ambitions of FIDE in the coming period, both in the Baltics and globally. – How difficult was it to organize this event in light of the current circumstances in Latvia? – Any event that we have been organizing in the course of the pandemic is a tough one at this one is not an exemption. I really appreciate the efforts of everyone in our team and our partners that help us to keep our calendar and our chess life intact and organize the Grand Swiss tournaments, the part of the World Championship cycle here in Riga. It is a very important event in the annual chess calendar as it determines participants of the Candidates Tournaments – two in the open cycle and one in the women’s cycle. For many players, it’s the only chance to get qualified; that’s why it was critically important to have it. We are thankful to the Latvian Government, Latvian Chess Federation, all our partners here in Latvia and our financial partners – the Sheinberg Family, Chess.com and other providers like Coca-Cola for the opportunity to have this event during the difficult pandemic period. We have a very good composition of players. While some players were unable to come, most of them kept their schedules and came to Riga and it’s going to be a fantastic tournament, a very strong one with great players participating and fighting for a chance to compete for the world championship crown. I think we took all the necessary steps and measures to control the health situation and to provide safety of players and all the people involved. I think this is also a sign of respect to the people of Latvia, who are now keeping themselves safe during the lockdown. Nevertheless, I think the situation here at the tournament is more secure than even in some countries where there are no quarantines or lockdowns. We took all the measures to ensure the strongest possible safety. – Let’ just take a step back. How did it come that this event was transferred from the Isle of Man to Riga? – Originally, this tournament had to take place at the Isle of Man; it was a tradition to hold these tournaments in partnership with the Scheinberg Family. We had this tournament two years ago, just an open one, as a part of our world championship cycle, and we were planning to repeat it this year, now with also women’s Grand Swiss tournament, but the restrictions that the Isle of Man still has would not allow the players to come without lengthy quarantines and many obstacles prohibitive for holding such events. So we were thinking about plan B, and in consultations with our partners – the Scheinberg Family and Chess.com – we came to the conclusion that Latvia could be the right place. The decision was based on many reasons like chess traditions in Latvia, a very good team of organizers, including Dana Reizniece-Ozola, FIDE Managing Director, and also the desire of our partners to do this in the beautiful European country. At that point, Latvia was one of the safe places in terms of the pandemic. It is not now, but I think that the conditions here that we established, based on the medical protocol and all safety requirements, are even more secure for players and everyone involved than in many countries where formal rates of the pandemic are lower. I truly believe we made the right decision. If Riga was not the only best choice, then it was one of the best choices we could have for this tournament. Even with all the difficulties we have right now because of the covid, I think the whole team is very much capable of organizing this. I know that all players enjoy the hospitality and beauty of Riga and Latvia right now. – There are many people asking why this event haven’t been postponed or moved online. What is the position of FIDE? – We do believe that while the pandemic is still not over, chess life shall continue. It’s about profession; chess players want to compete and do their best to get the titles and continue their careers. Online is not a perfect substitute. It’s a good compliment to over-the-board chess but not a perfect substitute. We are talking about the world championship cycle, the classic one, where players qualify for major events like Candidates Tournaments through other major over-the-board events, and we decided to keep it, based on the evaluation of risks and our trust in the safety measures we take. Otherwise, the whole calendar would be destroyed, and we would end up with the world championship cycle postponed altogether. That would not make anyone better. It’s a balance of risks and benefits that we are looking at. It is an excellent opportunity to show that chess life can continue even at a difficult time. – FIDE has established a very strict health and safety protocol. How hard will that be to implement? – Every time there is a rule and common sense as well. Logic and common sense should also work. We insist that every player follows the rules. If anyone violates rules in a way that will create risks for other players and people around, for a person herself or himself, we will not tolerate it. – During the World Cup in Sochi, one of the players tested positive for Covid-19. What are you going to do in case it happens here in Riga? – We have a certain procedure that we will follow. Any unlikely case like that – I would put it this way as everyone
FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss Riga: Round 1 Recap
The first day of what is set to be one of the strongest Swiss tournaments ever held saw very tough games in the open section, with the majority of the encounters resulting in draws. The inaugural Women’s Grand Swiss delivered significantly more decisive outcomes. At about half-past one local time in Riga, most of the players taking part in the 2021 FIDE Chess.com Grand Swiss and Women’s Grand Swiss gathered at the Hansas Perons playing hall, eager for the round to begin. By two, the participants were at their designated tables, face to face with their opponents in the first round of what is promising to be one of the strongest Swiss tournaments ever held in the history of chess. The opening of the round was preceded by a minute of silence to honour the deceased Latvian chess coach and former director of the Riga Chess School Aivars Stašāns (1954 – 2021), who passed away on Tuesday evening. After a detailed address by the acting arbiter Ana Srebrnic, asking the players to carefully read and strictly follow the Health Protocol and the dress code, the clocks were allowed to start. The first move on the top board in the open event was made by FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich in the game Caruana vs Chigaev. Open tournament The first day did not bring many surprises, with most of the games on the top boards in the Open event ending in a draw. Out of the top ten players in that section, only three won their games: world number two and former contender for the title of World Champion Fabiano Caruana, the promising naturalised Frenchmen Alireza Firouzja and the rising Russian star Kirill Alekseenko. World number two, Fabiano Caruana played the Sicilian Keres Attack, gradually building up the pressure on his opponent before making a thematic knight sacrifice on d5. Maksim Chigaev maintained balance for a while but slipped with 27…Rg6? and had to resign seven moves down the road. Firouzja’s charge to victory over Nijat Abasov went via the Steinitz attack in the Petroff, which led to a sharp position with opposite-side castling. After energetic 17.g4! Nijat snatched a poisoned pawn, which was a poor choice – Alireza’s pieces jumped into action and quickly got to Black’s king. Kirill Alekseenko, who was the wild-card at the previous Candidates Tournament in Yekaterinburg, scored a convincing victory over his Ukrainian namesake, Kirill Shevchenko, setting the base for a promising start in the event. The other top-ten ranked players in the Open event – Levon Aronian (pictured below), Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Nikita Vitiugov, Andrey Esipenko, Pentala Harikrishna, Daniil Dubov, Vladimir Fedoseev – all finished their games with a draw. The only woman who decided to participate in the open event – Aleksandra Goryachkina – drew her game against the Peruvian chess prodigy, Jorge Cori. Goryachkina has already qualified for the Candidates as the runner-up of the World Championship match in 2020, so she has decided to take part in the Open event and see how high she can reach. Playing until the late hours of the evening, the former contender for the title of World Champion, Boris Gelfand, lost as White against Dmitrij Kollars of Germany. After the first round of the Grand Swiss, out of 103 players in the Open section, only 20 have started with a victory. Women’s Grand Swiss The first round of the inaugural Women’s Grand Swiss saw many more decisive outcomes than the open section. Former Women’s World Champion and top-seeded player in the Women’s Grand Swiss, Mariya Muzychuk, drew her game Aleksandra Maltsevskaya of Russia on board one. Not even the support of her sister Anna, who is a commentator with the Chess.com broadcast team of the event, could help her claim victory against an over hundred-points lower-rated opponent. Second-ranked Nana Dzagnidze of Georgia staged an unpleasant start for Olga Girya, defeating her in the Catalan. In a queen vs queen endgame, Dzagnidze’s conversion was not optimal, but eventually, she secured a free-running pawn on c-file, which gradually made its way forward, followed by her king pushed ahead by the desperate checks from Girya. Former Women’s World Champion and the winner of this year’s inaugural Women’s Chess World Cup, Alexandra Kosteniuk, also started with authority, winning as Black against Sophie Milliet of France. In Round 1, 18 of 50 players in the Women’s event have started the tournament with a victory. Round Two Round Two starts at 2 PM on the 28th of October. The pairings for the second round for the Open event can be found here:https://grandswiss.fide.com/open/ The pairings for the second round of the Women’s event can be found here:https://grandswiss.fide.com/grand-swiss-women/ For more information about the tournament, please visit:https://grandswiss.fide.com/ Press enquiries: press@fide.com Text: Milan Dinic Photo: Anna Shtourman