Levan Pantsulaia wins 81st Georgian Championship
GM Levan Pantsulaia claimed his back-to-back national titles after winning the 81st Georgian Championship. The 12-player round-robin with classical time control took place in Tbilisi from January 25 to February 05, 2022. The event brought together the best Georgian players except for Baadur Jobava. Playing in his home town just like a year ago, Levan Pantsulaia grabbed the lead early and convincingly won the title with a round to spare, scoring 8 points out of 11. Now he has four victories in Georgian Championship under his belt (2008, 2015, 2021 and 2022). Despite losing to the champion, GM Merab Gagunashvili and IM Noe Tutisani had a good tournament and finished just a half-point behind Pantsulaia. Kudos to the lowest-rated Noe Tutisani (pictured below), who earned bronze, completed his second GM norm and picked 30 rating points along the way. The rating Mikheil Mchedlishvili became the only participant to defeat the champion in the last-round encounter, but it was his only consolation as he did not get into the top-3. Final standings: 1 GM Pantsulaia, Levan 2579 8 2 GM Gagunashvili, Merab 2573 7½ 3 IM Tutisani, Noe 2412 7½ 4 GM Mchedlishvili, Mikheil 2587 7 5 GM Paichadze, Luka 2566 7 6 IM Kacharava, Nikolozi 2480 6½ 7 GM Quparadze, Giga 2477 6 8 IM Lortkipanidze, Nodar 2414 5 9 FM Akhvlediani, Irakli 2433 4 10 FM Chkhaidze, Nikoloz 2288 4 11 GM Sanikidze, Tornike 2464 3 12 IM Petriashvili, Nikoloz 2418 ½ Photo: Georgian Chess Federation Facebook page
Aronian leads the pack in the Berlin Grand Prix
Fedoseev and Wojtaszek also score their first victories. Berlin, February 4th, 2022 – The first round of the group stage began at exactly 3 pm at the City Centre on Unter den Linden with the opening call from Ivan Syrovy, Chief Arbiter of the event. By that time, and according to the rules of the tournament, all the players had been PCR-tested and were firmly seated at their boards. For one of them, American GM Hikaru Nakamura, who enjoys a wild card invitation for the series, today was the first classical chess game for him in more than two years. In fact, he had even been dropped from the FIDE classical rating list due to inactivity! Although some of the games ended in uneventful draws, the 30-move rule proved to be a good sports decision, as the players had to battle it out for most of the afternoon, offering a great show for all the attending spectators and thousands of online viewers. The Spanish audience was in for double enjoyment: the variation of the round was without any doubt the Catalan opening, three of the eight games paying homage to Barcelona. At the end of the day, Polish GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek, along with Russian GM Vladimir Fedoseev and USA GM Levon Aronian, scored the first decisive points of the tournament, leaving Aronian as the only leader in Pool C. Pool A The first game to finish was a solid draw between French GM Etienne Bacrot and American GM Hikaru Nakamura. Although Bacrot tried to prove an edge in a symmetrical Berlin position (a nice twist for the first game), Hikaru showcased his defensive skills and kept the advantage to a minimum. In their postgame interview with tournament Press Officer IM Michael Rahal, Nakamura said, “I think at the end of the game I was playing too quickly, maybe because I haven’t played classical chess for so long and it felt too boring!” The second game of this pool was a classic. Russian GM Alexander Grischuk, a three-time qualifier to the Candidates via the Gran Prix series, brightened up the afternoon with one of his forty-five-minute, out-of-the-opening deep thoughts, in a position that most mortals would have dedicated less than three. But apparently, the time spent was worth the while: his 19-years-old opponent, Russian GM Andrey Esipenko, couldn’t capitalize on the huge time gap on the clock, and both of them ended up in time trouble. When all seemed to be doomed for Esipenko, he found a great three-move repetition drawing resource after Grischuk missed the winning 28…Nc3! Online commentator GM Evgeny Miroshnichenko was impressed, declaring, “I am amazed at Esipenko finding all that. Well calculated.” Pool B Both games in this group ended with a decisive result. In the first one between the two Russians (players from the same federation must resolve their games in the first and fourth rounds) GM Vladimir Fedoseev outplayed his young opponent GM Grigory Oparin in a double-edged isolated pawn middlegame. Oparin understood after the game that his position was slightly worse but defendable until he played 25…h3? (instead 25…hxg3 was better), leaving him to face very difficult endgame situations. Fedoseev started to coordinate his minor pieces, and soon the game was over. Meanwhile, in the other encounter, Polish GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek was able to get a slight edge from the opening, but his opponent Hungarian GM Richard Rapport, defended with great precision. At the critical moment, Rapport sacrificed a pawn, no doubt intending to hold a minor piece knight ending but then missed a nice king manoeuvre to penetrate in his position. An important win for Poland’s number two, seeking to emulate the success of his compatriot GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda, winner of the 2021 World Cup. Pool C Both of the games in this group were very exciting. USA GM Levon Aronian took the early lead in the pool with an excellent technical win over Indian GM Vidit Gujrathi. The game was more or less balanced during most of the opening and middlegame, but at some point, Vidit started playing slightly too passively. In his postgame interview, Aronian suggested precisely this: “It’s a very sharp opening where lots of things can go wrong. It was unpleasant for me, but maybe his approach was a bit too passive.” Levon added that “After 21.Bg3 I felt that I was out of danger, and it should be a draw, but it’s pleasant to push a little bit with White.” Vidit understood that “With hindsight allowing his f5 pawn thrust was a mistake”, but his position was already difficult to defend. In the second encounter of this pool, local GM Vincent Keymer and GM Danil Dubov played what would be the longest game of the round, in which the Russian demonstrated textbook technique defending a rook vs rook and bishop ending in a draw. Keymer had enjoyed a much better position during most of the game, maybe even winning at some point, but as Dubov correctly pointed out after the game: “The problem is choosing the best between several good moves”. Pool D Both games in this group ended in very solid draws with excellent opening preparation by the players handling the black pieces. Indian GM Pentala Harikrishna followed his top-notch Caro-Kan opening preparation for most of the game, reaching a position he had analyzed previously, a pawn up but with no real winning chances. “I analyzed this endgame quite deeply a few years back, and I thought White was much better, but maybe I made a mistake” was Spanish GM Alexei Shirov’s conclusion in the postgame interview. In the face-off between the two American GM’s , Wesley So and Leinier Dominguez, a peaceful outcome could be expected. Both players agreed that the game had been very equal and Wesley praised his opponent’s opening preparation. “Today wasn’t ideal. I think I’m still jetlagged” was So’s explanation in his interview. Both of the players are part of the American Olympic Team. Facing a question regarding this topic, Wesley declared his optimism: “Last time in Batumi, Hikaru and I were in bad shape, yet we still won silver. I think,
FIDE Grand Prix Day 2: No risk, no reward
Berlin’s Grand Prix second round leaves no stone unturned Berlin, February 5th 2022 – “I don’t understand why Svidler predicted that everyone will play very safe. In this format, you have to risk”. This statement by Alexander Grischuk after his game with Bacrot sums up the general feeling of the players in this new tournament format. With only one player of each group qualifying for the semifinals, cautious play is not to be recommended. Tired of boring 30-move draws, fans all over the world are having the time of their lives enjoying the exciting games delivered each afternoon from the playing venue in Berlin’s center. Surrounded by magnificent buildings and monuments (the Brandenburg Gate is within walking distance), players seem to be inspired by the historical events that have come to pass in this area. Thanks to the fighting spirit being displayed on the boards, after two of the six rounds, each group already has a sole leader: Hikaru Nakamura, Radoslaw Wojtaszek, Levon Aronian and Lenier Dominguez. All four are on 1½/2, but anything can happen as all games are played with great intensity. Pool A This group is clearly one of the toughest of the four, and today’s round proved to be no exception. In the first game to finish, French GM Etienne Bacrot missed a huge opportunity to score his first point in the tournament and punish his opponent’s risky opening strategy. Bacrot had a huge advantage after only fifteen moves. “15.d5 is on the board and I don’t see the move for Black. I think it was a disastrous opening experience for Alexander Grischuk,” affirmed online commentator GM Evgeny Miroshnichenko. However, under huge pressure both on the board and on the clock, Grischuk once again demonstrated why he is one of the best players in the world as he defended tenaciously in a very difficult position until the draw was unavoidable. “Bacrot has all the reasons to be disappointed” was Mironischenko’s final conclusion after Grischuk’s narrow escape. But as Grischuk pointed out after the game, “Only one player qualifies from each group, so you need to take risks”. In the other game, USA’s representative Hikaru Nakamura, conducting the white pieces, scored a very important win against Russia’s GM Andrey Esipenko. The opening was classical English, and Hikaru seemed to achieve a small edge. Episenko was defending well until move 23 when he blundered big with …Qe6? allowing Hikaru to win a pawn and the game. In a postgame conversation with IM Michael Rahal, Press Officer for the event, Nakamura mentioned that Esipenko had missed 25.Re4! (he had probably only considered 25.Rxc7, which also looks slightly better for White). The American finished off the game with a display of excellent queen and pawn ending technique and now leads this group after two rounds. Pool B Poland’s GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek vs Russia’s GM Grigory Oparin was a tough technical battle. After losing yesterday, the 24-year-old winner of the 2016 Higher League was eager to score his first point in the tournament, but the in-form Polish number two had other plans. “Radek” was ahead for most of the game, nursing an extra pawn and the bishop pair, but Oparin was continuously on the lookout for “tricks” with his knight and was finally able to force a drawn rook ending. “I missed one move and then I couldn’t see how I could win. It felt really close, but I’m not sure where it went wrong” was Wojtaszek’s feeling after the game. Oparin said: “Obviously, a half-point out of two was not what I was looking for but OK, with two Black’s, things could have gone worse! The game of the afternoon was the incredible fight between GM Richard Rapport from Hungary and GM Vladimir Fedoseev (Russia). Rapport bounced back from his loss yesterday, defeating Fedoseev in an exciting and complicated game. With 22. Ng4! Rapport initiated a so-called “king-walk” plus a piece sacrifice, completely unclear but intuitively interesting. His plan was to create a mating net around his opponent’s king. Maybe Fedoseev was holding at some point, but it was always very complicated, and both players agreed in the postgame interview that it had been very interesting. Thanks to this win, Richard has caught his opponent in the Pool B standings, and both of them are now only half a point behind the leader, Radoslaw Wojtaszek. Pool C Both games in this group finished in a draw at about the same time, just under the 2.5 hours mark. The first two players to exit the playing venue were Russian GM Danil Dubov and USA GM Levon Aronian. Their game ended in a perpetual check just after the 30-move limit, leaving Aronian as the group’s sole leader with 1.5/2. Although his opponent is one of the world’s leading experts in the London System with White, Dubov tried his hand in this setup. Aronian defended with the precise 5…Nh5 continuation and secured the bishop pair. “Daniil is always a surprising player with an exciting style, so I was trying to predict during my preparation what he would play!” were the kind words to his opponent in his postgame interview. However, Dubov managed to keep the balance thanks to his excellent piece coordination coupled with the symmetrical pawn structure that didn’t offer any chances to play for a win. In the other game, Indian GM Vidit Gujrathi, playing with Black, demonstrated excellent opening preparation in a popular line that goes into a minor piece ending very fast. Facing the question by Press Officer IM Michael Rahal in the postgame interview, Vidit explained that “As Black, I have a limited choice. I thought I’d just play, and it’s up to my opponent if he wants to play more ambitiously. The endgame is well-known to be slightly worse, but more often than not, it ends in a draw”. His opponent, German GM Vincent Keymer, knew that this line was very solid for Black, but he “decided to try something different but my opponent defended very well, and I didn’t really get a chance”. Faced with the prospect of two consecutive games with Black in the next two