Second leg of FIDE Grand Prix starts in Belgrade on February 28
The second leg of the FIDE Grand Prix is around the corner. The competition hosted by Belgrade (Serbia) runs from February 28 to March 14 and features 16 elite chess grandmasters vying for a prize fund of €150,000 and the last two spots in the Candidates Tournament. Previously the capital of the mighty chess nation, it has been decades since the region has been home to major chess events involving many of the world’s strongest players. The leaders after the first leg, Hikaru Nakamura and Levon Aronian are not playing in Belgrade; on the other hand, several top grandmasters start their Grand Prix campaign in the capital of Serbia. GP points after the first leg: 1. Hikaru Nakamura, (USA), 2736 — 13 points2. Levon Aronian (USA), 2772 — 10 points3. Leinier Dominguez (USA), 2752 — 7 points4. Richard Rapport (Hungary), 2763 — 7 points5. Wesley So (USA), 2772 — 4 points6. Radoslaw Wojtaszek (Poland), 2686 — 4 points7. Andrey Esipenko (Russia), 2714 — 4 points8. Vidit Gujrathi (India), 2727 — 3 points9. Daniil Dubov (Russia), 2720 — 3 points10. Alexander Grischuk (Russia), 2764 — 2 points11. Vladimir Fedoseev (Russia), 2704 — 2 points12. Pentala Harikrishna (India), 2717 — 2 points Just like in the first leg, sixteen players were allocated to four different pools through a randomized selection, with the final pairings to be determined at the opening ceremony: Pool A: Alexander Grischuk (Russia), 2764Dmitry Andreikin (Russia), 2724Sam Shankland (USA), 2708Etienne Bacrot (France), 2642 Pool B: Anish Giri (Netherlands), 2772Nikita Vitiugov, (Russia), 2726Pentala Harikrishna (India), 2719Amin Tabatabaei (Iran), 2623 Pool C: Richard Rapport (Hungary), 2763Vidit Gujrathi (India), 2727Vladimir Fedoseev (Russia), 2704Alexei Shirov (Spain), 2704 Pool D: Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), 2767Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), 2761Yu Yangyi (China), 2713Alexandr Predke (Russia), 2682 Photo: ihg.com The second leg of the FIDE Grand Prix will take place in Belgrade’s Crowne Plaza Hotel. All the rounds start at 3 PM CET. The games will be broadcast live at worldchess.com: https://chessarena.com/broadcasts/13605 For further questions, please contact media@worldchess.com. About FIDE Grand Prix 2022: The competition consists of three legs that span over three months and two cities: First leg: February 3 — 17, Berlin, GermanySecond leg: February 28 — March 14, Belgrade, SerbiaThird leg: March 21 — April 4, Berlin, Germany The FIDE Grand Prix will feature 24 players, with each player competing in two out of three events. Each 16-player event will consist of a group stage followed by a knockout semi-final and final. At the group stage, the participants will compete in four double-round-robin tournaments, with only the winners of each pool advancing. Both the semi-finals and final will consist of 2 regular time limit games, plus tiebreaks if needed. Players receive Grand Prix points according to their finishing position in each tournament: Round Grand Prix points Winner 13 Runner-Up 10 Semi-final loser 7 2nd in pool 4 3rd in pool 2 4th in pool 0 Two winners of the Series will qualify for the Candidates Tournament that will take place later in 2022. Regulations for the FIDE Grand Prix Series 2022 (pdf) About World Chess: World Chess is a London-based chess gaming and entertainment group and FIDE’ official broadcaster and commercial partner. World Chess organized the FIDE Championship Matches in Russia, the USA, and the UK, and revolutionized the sport by signing the biggest media partnerships in history. World Chess develops Armageddon, the chess league for prime-time television. World Chess also runs FIDE Online Arena, the exclusive official chess gaming platform. More at worldchess.com.
Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi play out epic 2-2 draw
Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi played out an epic see-saw encounter on day 1 of the Airthings Masters final that leaves the event on a knife-edge. The match started with Carlsen having earlier tweeted “peace is cool” in reference to world events. That proved appropriate as, after four stunning games, there was a pleasingly peaceful resolution on the chessboard. The chess, of course, was anything but friendly. Purely in chess terms, the four epic drama-filled games were as exciting as anything seen on the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour – despite all being draws. Games 2 and 3 were filled with twists and turns as both Magnus and Ian took huge risks to go for the win. Then in the final game, it seemed like one player would finally get ahead going into tomorrow’s decider. Nepomniachtchi took his eye off the ball for a moment and blundered a piece. A win for Carlsen, a full rook up, looked inevitable. But incredibly, Carlsen blew it with a careless move of his own. Both players were visibly shocked as game 4 headed towards another draw. It ended a stunning encounter that belied the sombre mood among the players due to outside events. The players will resume tomorrow with four more games and tiebreaks if needed. A winner must be found. Full coverage with commentary is available on chess24.com/tour/ and chess24’s YouTube and Twitch channels. For further comments, contact: Leon Watson – leon@championschesstour.com About the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour The Champions Chess Tour is the leading online chess Tour worldwide, determining the world’s best chess player over a full competitive season of online chess. The 2022 season begins in February 2022 and features monthly tournaments culminating in a Final in November 2022. The best chess players in the world are competing in rapid chess. All games take place online on www.chess24.com, with players competing for a total prize pool of over USD 1.5 million. For more information, visit www.championschesstour.com. About Play Magnus Group Play Magnus Group is a global leader in the chess industry focused on providing premier digital experiences for millions of chess players and students. The company offers e-learning and entertainment services via its market-leading brands: chess24, Chessable, iChess, New In Chess, Everyman Chess, Silver Knights, Aimchess, the Play Magnus App Suite, and the Meltwater Champions Chess Tour. The Group’s mission is to grow chess to make the world a smarter place by encouraging more people to play, watch, study, and earn a living from chess. Play Magnus Group is listed on Euronext Growth Oslo under the ticker PMG.