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Grand Prix in Berlin mit Vincent Keymer

#1 · 4. Februar 2022, 18:56

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#2 · 5. Februar 2022, 6:52

Zitat von Conrad Schormann am 5. Februar 2022, 6:52 Uhr

Aronian leads the pack in the Berlin Grand Prix
Fedoseev and Wojtaszek also score their first win

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 were able to score 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!"
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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. 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 game 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 maneuver 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 a good 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."

And added "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 to 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, if Fabiano and Levon get back in form, we’ll be in good shape, because Leinier and I are very solid.”

Aronian leads the pack in the Berlin Grand Prix

Fedoseev and Wojtaszek also score their first win

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 were able to score 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. 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 game 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 maneuver 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 a good 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."

And added "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 to 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, if Fabiano and Levon get back in form, we’ll be in good shape, because Leinier and I are very solid.”

#3 · 6. Februar 2022, 11:42

Zitat von Conrad Schormann am 6. Februar 2022, 11:42 Uhr
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 in 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 of them are on 1,5/2 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 not to be an 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 and defended tenaciously a very difficult position until the draw was unavoidable. “Bacrot has all the reasons to be disappointed" was Miroschnichenko’s final consideration 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 Episenko. The opening was a classical English and it seemed that Hikaru was able to achieve a small edge. Episenko was defending well until move 23 when he blundered big with …Qe6? allowing Nakamura to win a pawn and the game.

In a postgame conversation with IM Michael Rahal, Press Officer for the event, Nakamura mentioned that Episenko 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 result in the tournament, but the on-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 but with two Black’s things could have gone worse today!

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, he 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 sole leader of the group 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 and the symmetrical disposition of the pawn structure 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 rounds, Keymer took it in stride: “Yesterday I missed a few chances to get more than half a point, two draws against two 2700+ plus players is certainly a good result, and now I will have to defend as Black”.

Pool D

American GM Wesley So had to fight hard today to earn his half-point. Still slightly jet-lagged, So managed to hold a tricky ending a pawn down, once again reminding everyone of Tarrasch’s famous idiom “All rook endings are drawn “.

His opponent, Indian GM Pentala Harikrishna, was pressing for most of the game, after introducing a new idea in a sideline of the Berlin defense. With razor-sharp precision, he isolated and then captured So’s weak d-pawn and tried hard to convert for nearly 50 moves to no avail. “I don’t know where I can clearly improve or at least pose more problems” was Harikrishna’s final reflection after the game.
The other game in this group was very exciting. Current Spanish number one GM Alexei Shirov (tied in the ratings with Vallejo Pons at 2704 but ahead on activity) was surprised in the opening by his opponent’s 9^thmove …e5, after which he spent nearly 20 minutes to get his grip on the position.

An unbalanced struggle took place for many moves, in a very unclear opposite-side castled king position, and finally, GM Leinier Dominguez took down the point with a crushing attack on Shirov’s king, leaving the American leader of his group after the first two rounds. A heart-breaking defeat for Shirov, but the Spaniard has demonstrated time and time again his comeback capability and there are still four rounds to go.

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 in 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 of them are on 1,5/2 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 not to be an 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 and defended tenaciously a very difficult position until the draw was unavoidable. “Bacrot has all the reasons to be disappointed" was Miroschnichenko’s final consideration 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 Episenko. The opening was a classical English and it seemed that Hikaru was able to achieve a small edge. Episenko was defending well until move 23 when he blundered big with …Qe6? allowing Nakamura to win a pawn and the game.

In a postgame conversation with IM Michael Rahal, Press Officer for the event, Nakamura mentioned that Episenko 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 result in the tournament, but the on-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 but with two Black’s things could have gone worse today!

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, he 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 sole leader of the group 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 and the symmetrical disposition of the pawn structure 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 rounds, Keymer took it in stride: “Yesterday I missed a few chances to get more than half a point, two draws against two 2700+ plus players is certainly a good result, and now I will have to defend as Black”.

Pool D

American GM Wesley So had to fight hard today to earn his half-point. Still slightly jet-lagged, So managed to hold a tricky ending a pawn down, once again reminding everyone of Tarrasch’s famous idiom “All rook endings are drawn “.

His opponent, Indian GM Pentala Harikrishna, was pressing for most of the game, after introducing a new idea in a sideline of the Berlin defense. With razor-sharp precision, he isolated and then captured So’s weak d-pawn and tried hard to convert for nearly 50 moves to no avail. “I don’t know where I can clearly improve or at least pose more problems” was Harikrishna’s final reflection after the game.

The other game in this group was very exciting. Current Spanish number one GM Alexei Shirov (tied in the ratings with Vallejo Pons at 2704 but ahead on activity) was surprised in the opening by his opponent’s 9^thmove …e5, after which he spent nearly 20 minutes to get his grip on the position.

An unbalanced struggle took place for many moves, in a very unclear opposite-side castled king position, and finally, GM Leinier Dominguez took down the point with a crushing attack on Shirov’s king, leaving the American leader of his group after the first two rounds. A heart-breaking defeat for Shirov, but the Spaniard has demonstrated time and time again his comeback capability and there are still four rounds to go.

#4 · 7. Februar 2022, 18:26

Zitat von Conrad Schormann am 7. Februar 2022, 18:26 Uhr
Levon elevates his game in Berlin
“With three PCR tests left, anything can happen yet,” says Grischuk

IM Michael Rahal — Berlin, February 6th, 2022 – The day began with some online drama concerning the correct spelling of one of the players’ names. Luckily enough, one of his countrymen saved the day:
Just to put the debate at rest, I can confirm that @viditchess’s last name is ‘Gujarathi’ and not ‘Gujrathi’ In my view Vidit Gujarathi is an acceptable version of his name. ‘Santosh’ is his middle name and I have always called him Vidit Gujarathi.
— Srinath Narayanan (@srinathchess) February 6, 2022
Once the round began, online commentator Jesse February quickly noticed some interesting facts. "We almost had the Grand Prix Attack played in the FIDE Grand Prix: we had the Berlin Defense played in Berlin, and today we have the French Defense being played by the French player!" Most of the games started with 1.e4 (5 out of 8): two Sicilians, two Caro-Kan’s and one French.

As in previous rounds, fighting chess is the norm. Four of the games ended with a win and three more of them could easily have gone to one of the two players. Only Dominguez-Harikrishna was peaceful to the end and even that game concealed some interesting nuances.

Pool A

With Hikaru Nakamura leading the group on 1.5/2 everyone expected that Alexander Grischuk would go all-out for the win in this crucial game with White. However, his choice of line against the American’s Queen’s Gambit Accepted was to go for a rather dull queenless middlegame, more to the liking of Kramnik than a great option in a must-win situation. "I'm not sure how serious Grischuk is for playing this for the win, to be honest," was online commentator Evgenij Miroshnichenko’s take on the Russian’s approach to the game
However, things spiced up when Grischuk went for 18.Nxb7. “I felt something was wrong but I couldn’t see nothing concrete. I calculated deeply some lines but I missed the …a5 idea and I was actually quite lucky to have Rc1 in that position” was Grischuk’s relieved answer to Press Officer IM Michael Rahal after the game. After some well-calculated tactics, the game ended in a peaceful outcome, leaving Nakamura ahead in the group.

Asked about his chances to represent his country in the upcoming Moscow Olympiad, Nakamura gave a surprising answer: "A lot depends on what happens with the ratings in the next months. If I am not in the top four, there is a 0% chance of me playing. So, I would say right now the odds of me playing are probably like 5%. I am not going to play as a reserve."
In the other game of the group, Andrey Esipenko defeated Etienne Bacrot for the first time in a classical game: their only previous encounter in the Grand Suisse 2019 ended in a draw. Bacrot went for the French defense (!), deviating from his usual opening preferences.

The game was quite double-edged for the most part, although objectively balanced according to the computer, but Esipenko managed to out-smart his opponent towards the end. A much-needed win for the young Russian prodigy, after yesterday’s heartbreaking defeat, leaving this group very open.

Pool B

Radoslaw Wojtaszek missed a clear chance to increase his advantage over the rest of the field today. If he had played 21…e4! instead of 21…exf4 his opponent would have been in big trouble. As Vladimir Fedoseev pointed out after the game “I would have been close to losing if Radek had played this move” and recited all the pertinent calculations in the pressroom.
Meanwhile, the longest game of the round was being played on the other board of the group. Having won an exchange after a dubious opening by his opponent Grigoriy Oparin, Richard Rapport was on the verge of notching up his second win in a row. However, even he didn’t clearly understand after the game where he had gone wrong.

“I think it should be winning for Black of course, but there is a race where I am trying to promote four pawns and he is trying to promote two, and in the end, I couldn’t promote a single one of them, which is very hard to accomplish”, explained Rapport after the game.

Both players thought that the interesting ending with rook and two pawns against two knights and one pawn should end, as it did, in a draw. With these results, this group is totally open and anyone of the four could prevail.

Pool C

The first game to finish was Levon Aronian’s fine win over Vincent Keymer. Aronian had actually analyzed the Caro-Kan positions after the interesting but not so obvious opening idea 12…cxd3, isolating a doubled pawn. Online commentator Miroshnichenko praised Levon’s play in the tournament: "He outsmarted Vidit in a seemingly equal position, then he had no trouble making a draw with Dubov and now once again he is much better."

Keymer wasn’t able to find the precise way to get his pieces into play and Aronian gradually grinded him down and finished him off with textbook endgame play. Leading his group clearly with 2,5/3 he was quick to downplay his expectations: “I take it day per day, you know, there are three rounds to go, we will see how tomorrow will go. But so far, I think my play is fine."

In the other game of the group, Vidit scored an important victory over Daniil Dubov: "This was a much-needed win because in the last six games I scored something like 1.5 points" was his first reaction in the post-game interview.  “The key moment was when I played 23.Nb4 and he went for something active that didn’t turn out well for him due to lack of piece coordination”.

“In general, I overestimated this 23…Na5 idea and then a couple of moves later I didn’t really see what to play”, was Dubov’s postgame explanation on the rapid collapse of his position. “People now use the word blunder in a wrong way. When you play bad moves, they are just bad moves”.

With these results, Aronian maintains a comfortable one-point lead over Vidit, who gets back to 50%, and now Dubov and Keymer share the last place.

Pool D

The main result in this group was Wesley So’s first win in the tournament over Alexei Shirov. Although funnily enough, these two players had only disputed four classical games before, it was clear from the beginning that they were going for a fight. The Spaniard introduced a new idea in the Slav Defense with 9...b5! and soon he was playing an active position a pawn down but with great compensation.

Wesley recognized after the game that his play hadn’t been fine at all. “I totally underestimated the idea behind …Bd3, after which my knight on h4 is misplaced and my pawn structure is weak. Black has no problems”. However, Wesley gradually coordinated his forces and at some point Shirov’s play lacked the necessary precision.

Online commentator Miroshnichenko summed it up correctly: "That's exactly what you call 'got outplayed' - every single So's move was a little bit more precise than Shirov's". In the end, Shirov had to resign and So is now co-leader of the group tied with Dominguez.

American Leinier Dominguez will keep his lead in the group after signing a draw just after 30 moves against Pentala Harikrishna. Well-known for his deep opening preparation with Black, India’s number three player, who replaced Wei Yi for the series, came to the game with a clear idea in mind: to hold a solid position against his opponent.
“It was a very solid game, a typical position for this opening, slightly better for White but very even and I think we both played well. At some point I hoped that I could play for more, maybe dominate the d-file, but my opponent played very well” said Dominguez in the postgame interview.

Levon elevates his game in Berlin
“With three PCR tests left, anything can happen yet,” says Grischuk

IM Michael Rahal — Berlin, February 6th, 2022 – The day began with some online drama concerning the correct spelling of one of the players’ names. Luckily enough, one of his countrymen saved the day:

Just to put the debate at rest, I can confirm that @viditchess’s last name is ‘Gujarathi’ and not ‘Gujrathi’ In my view Vidit Gujarathi is an acceptable version of his name. ‘Santosh’ is his middle name and I have always called him Vidit Gujarathi.
— Srinath Narayanan (@srinathchess) February 6, 2022

Once the round began, online commentator Jesse February quickly noticed some interesting facts. "We almost had the Grand Prix Attack played in the FIDE Grand Prix: we had the Berlin Defense played in Berlin, and today we have the French Defense being played by the French player!" Most of the games started with 1.e4 (5 out of 8): two Sicilians, two Caro-Kan’s and one French.

As in previous rounds, fighting chess is the norm. Four of the games ended with a win and three more of them could easily have gone to one of the two players. Only Dominguez-Harikrishna was peaceful to the end and even that game concealed some interesting nuances.

Pool A

With Hikaru Nakamura leading the group on 1.5/2 everyone expected that Alexander Grischuk would go all-out for the win in this crucial game with White. However, his choice of line against the American’s Queen’s Gambit Accepted was to go for a rather dull queenless middlegame, more to the liking of Kramnik than a great option in a must-win situation. "I'm not sure how serious Grischuk is for playing this for the win, to be honest," was online commentator Evgenij Miroshnichenko’s take on the Russian’s approach to the game

However, things spiced up when Grischuk went for 18.Nxb7. “I felt something was wrong but I couldn’t see nothing concrete. I calculated deeply some lines but I missed the …a5 idea and I was actually quite lucky to have Rc1 in that position” was Grischuk’s relieved answer to Press Officer IM Michael Rahal after the game. After some well-calculated tactics, the game ended in a peaceful outcome, leaving Nakamura ahead in the group.

Asked about his chances to represent his country in the upcoming Moscow Olympiad, Nakamura gave a surprising answer: "A lot depends on what happens with the ratings in the next months. If I am not in the top four, there is a 0% chance of me playing. So, I would say right now the odds of me playing are probably like 5%. I am not going to play as a reserve."

In the other game of the group, Andrey Esipenko defeated Etienne Bacrot for the first time in a classical game: their only previous encounter in the Grand Suisse 2019 ended in a draw. Bacrot went for the French defense (!), deviating from his usual opening preferences.

The game was quite double-edged for the most part, although objectively balanced according to the computer, but Esipenko managed to out-smart his opponent towards the end. A much-needed win for the young Russian prodigy, after yesterday’s heartbreaking defeat, leaving this group very open.

Pool B

Radoslaw Wojtaszek missed a clear chance to increase his advantage over the rest of the field today. If he had played 21…e4! instead of 21…exf4 his opponent would have been in big trouble. As Vladimir Fedoseev pointed out after the game “I would have been close to losing if Radek had played this move” and recited all the pertinent calculations in the pressroom.

Meanwhile, the longest game of the round was being played on the other board of the group. Having won an exchange after a dubious opening by his opponent Grigoriy Oparin, Richard Rapport was on the verge of notching up his second win in a row. However, even he didn’t clearly understand after the game where he had gone wrong.

“I think it should be winning for Black of course, but there is a race where I am trying to promote four pawns and he is trying to promote two, and in the end, I couldn’t promote a single one of them, which is very hard to accomplish”, explained Rapport after the game.

Both players thought that the interesting ending with rook and two pawns against two knights and one pawn should end, as it did, in a draw. With these results, this group is totally open and anyone of the four could prevail.

Pool C

The first game to finish was Levon Aronian’s fine win over Vincent Keymer. Aronian had actually analyzed the Caro-Kan positions after the interesting but not so obvious opening idea 12…cxd3, isolating a doubled pawn. Online commentator Miroshnichenko praised Levon’s play in the tournament: "He outsmarted Vidit in a seemingly equal position, then he had no trouble making a draw with Dubov and now once again he is much better."

Keymer wasn’t able to find the precise way to get his pieces into play and Aronian gradually grinded him down and finished him off with textbook endgame play. Leading his group clearly with 2,5/3 he was quick to downplay his expectations: “I take it day per day, you know, there are three rounds to go, we will see how tomorrow will go. But so far, I think my play is fine."

In the other game of the group, Vidit scored an important victory over Daniil Dubov: "This was a much-needed win because in the last six games I scored something like 1.5 points" was his first reaction in the post-game interview. “The key moment was when I played 23.Nb4 and he went for something active that didn’t turn out well for him due to lack of piece coordination”.

“In general, I overestimated this 23…Na5 idea and then a couple of moves later I didn’t really see what to play”, was Dubov’s postgame explanation on the rapid collapse of his position. “People now use the word blunder in a wrong way. When you play bad moves, they are just bad moves”.

With these results, Aronian maintains a comfortable one-point lead over Vidit, who gets back to 50%, and now Dubov and Keymer share the last place.

Pool D

The main result in this group was Wesley So’s first win in the tournament over Alexei Shirov. Although funnily enough, these two players had only disputed four classical games before, it was clear from the beginning that they were going for a fight. The Spaniard introduced a new idea in the Slav Defense with 9...b5! and soon he was playing an active position a pawn down but with great compensation.

Wesley recognized after the game that his play hadn’t been fine at all. “I totally underestimated the idea behind …Bd3, after which my knight on h4 is misplaced and my pawn structure is weak. Black has no problems”. However, Wesley gradually coordinated his forces and at some point Shirov’s play lacked the necessary precision.

Online commentator Miroshnichenko summed it up correctly: "That's exactly what you call 'got outplayed' - every single So's move was a little bit more precise than Shirov's". In the end, Shirov had to resign and So is now co-leader of the group tied with Dominguez.

American Leinier Dominguez will keep his lead in the group after signing a draw just after 30 moves against Pentala Harikrishna. Well-known for his deep opening preparation with Black, India’s number three player, who replaced Wei Yi for the series, came to the game with a clear idea in mind: to hold a solid position against his opponent.

“It was a very solid game, a typical position for this opening, slightly better for White but very even and I think we both played well. At some point I hoped that I could play for more, maybe dominate the d-file, but my opponent played very well” said Dominguez in the postgame interview.

#5 · 10. Februar 2022, 10:48

Zitat von Conrad Schormann am 10. Februar 2022, 10:48 Uhr
Levon Aronian, first semifinalist
The last round will decide the other three spots

IM Michael Rahal - Berlin, February 9th, 2022 – Today’s round in the Berlin Grand Prix began with a bit of drama. The president of the German Chess Federation, Ullrich Krause, had been invited to execute the first “ceremonial” move on GM Vincent Keymer’s board. However, while fifteen of the sixteen players were already firmly seated, most of them fully concentrated, Keymer’s opponent – GM Levon Aronian – had yet to appear.

The signs of relief on Chief Arbiter Ivan Syrovy’s face when Aronian finally stepped into the playing venue at exactly 14.59 were clearly visible. The former Armenian player, now representing USA, greeted his opponent and awaited 1.d4, in this case played by Krause, and the round was on.
And an exciting round it was!   Four wins and four draws in an eight-man round robin is a great statistic. In addition, Aronian’s win over Keymer qualifies the USA competitor to the semifinals, while Esipenko and Dominguez scored important wins with Black that allow them to keep their qualifying chances intact for tomorrow’s final round.

Pool A

Trailing Hikaru Nakamura by half a point, but playing Black, Alexander Grischuk had a really difficult task ahead. His opening choice, the double-edged King’s Indian Defence, definitely seems the way to go to fight for a win. However, after Nakamura’s 6.Be3 – the Semi-Averbakh variation, a fitting choice as the legendary Russian Grand Master turned 100 yesterday -  Grischuk plunged into a deep 15-minute thought.

He finally decided to follow the main line but around move twenty he was already down to his last twenty minutes, a startling contrast to Nakamura’s one hour twenty. At the critical moment, Nakamura transferred his bishop to b2 and started attacking Grischuk’s king, already weakened on the dark squares thanks to an early h-pawn push by the American.

With hardly any thinking time and facing a direct attack, the Russian’s position crumbled, leaving Grischuk out of the race for qualification.  Asked by Press Officer Michael Rahal what could he take away from the game his reply, as usual, wasn’t disappointing: “I probably have to stop playing the King’s Indian”, finding some light humor in a desperate tournament moment.

In the other game of the A-pool, Andrey Esipenko had no other chance but to shoot his last bolt in an effort to defeat the last-placed competitor of the group, Etienne Bacrot. He was probably going to play the Marshall Attack but Bacrot nipped that idea in the bud, deciding on a solid anti-Marshall line with a rapid exchange of queens.

The game remained largely balanced until Bacrot played 27.Bc4. Esipenko grabbed the chance to situate his rook on d4 and began to advance his kingside pawns, eventually creating a decisively passed g-pawn. In his postgame interview, Bacrot said that he had been quite lazy in his calculations and that he should never have fallen into this passive endgame position.

Esipenko was obviously very happy with the outcome of the game and will now have White against Nakamura in the last round: whoever wins will qualify to semifinals but Nakamura also advances with a draw.
Pool B

The first game of the afternoon to finish was a quick affair. Playing with White against the co-leader of the group, Radoslaw Wojtaszek decided to play it safe. Slightly surprised by his opponent’s opening choice, Radek recognized in the postgame interview that he had missed 18…Rc4 and that he even thought that he was slightly worse, in view of which he decided to initiate mass exchanges leading to a three-fold repetition in a completely level position.
Although Vladimir Fedoseev still has to face (with White) Rapport in the last round, his solid opening choice was a clear indication that a draw was good today.

Meanwhile, in the other game, Grigoriy Oparin repeated the Tarrasch variation which he already played in the third round. When the pawn structure stabilized, he found himself with another isolated d-pawn position which he seems to enjoy defending: a weak pawn but in exchange for active piece play.

However, when things seem to be going well for Rapport he missed 23...Ng3 and already he was on the defensive. Oparin started to pile on the pressure and gradually increased his advantage in the endgame.

On move 41 just after the time control, Oparin missed a great opportunity to win on the spot with 41…Re2+ before capturing the pawn on f2. In their post-game analysis on the board, both players thought that it was a draw but further analysis seemed to confirm the win for Black.

These results leave everything open for the last round: a very exciting and interesting tournament situation where the winner of the game between Fedoseev and Rapport could easily win a spot in the tiebreaks.
Pool C

Possibly inspired by the President of the German Chess Federation’s first move, Vincent Keymer went all-out for Aronian’s throat in today’s game. Trailing the leader by a full two-points but playing with the white pieces, Keymer went for a crazy pawn-grab in the solid Ragozin Defence (13.Nxe5 instead of the prudent 13.0-0), allowing his opponent to force his king into the center with hardly any protection.

An unrelenting battle began, both players attacking with heavy shots such as 17.g4, 17…g5 and 18.b4. Computer analysis indeed confirmed that the players were finding the best moves, but White’s position seemed to be always hanging by a thread.

The position remained tactically balanced until Keymer blundered big with 29.Rh5? (29.f3 was still equal according to the computer). Aronian seized the moment, capturing the two center pawns and the game was over.

In the postgame interview, both players mentioned that they had analyzed the position after 13.Nxe5 some time back, but it was hard to remember the different resulting positions.
In the other game of the group, both Vidit Gujrathi and Daniil Dubov, tied on two points out of four, faced their last opportunity to win the full point and catch Aronian. A Tarrasch defence transposed into a sideline of the Queen’s Gambit accepted.

Although Dubov declared that he had spent the rest day sleeping, he had also prepared a popular piece sacrifice but Vidit had it all under control, improving with 16... 0-0 an earlier game played in the same line by Alexandru David in 2021. The position remained equal: Dubov targeted Black’s kingside with his bishops and major pieces while Vidit tried his best to exchange rooks on the c-file.

In his interview after the game, Dubov sensed that he may have had better chances on the kingside, but even so, and after many exchanges, White still ended up with the bishop pair and an outside passed a-pawn. However, one of his bishops was trapped on h6 and while Vidit tried to round it up Dubov pushed his passer. After a couple of pawn exchanges, and in view of the balanced position, a draw was agreed.

Unfortunately for the two players, this result allows Aronian to qualify to the semifinals with a round to spare. Nonetheless, an exciting game, although as Vidit put it “Specially exciting for Aronian”.
Pool D
Leading the pack by a full point, Wesley So also decided de play it safe today. Facing Alexei Shirov, a very dangerous opponent with White, So opted for the solid Berlin Defence, always a good choice if you’re playing in Germany, or more specifically Berlin as Shirov was quick to point out in the press interview after the game.

They followed a recent 2021 game between MVL and Aronian until Shirov’s novelty 16.Nf5 – Vachier-Lagrave played 16.Rfe1 – but that only led to more exchanges and soon the position petered out into a totally equal ending and a draw was agreed on move 31 after a three-fold repetition.

In his postgame interview, Wesley mentioned that he had prepared this game for more than five hours on the rest day, but he had learned by experience that generally you shouldn’t spend so much time preparing.

Trailing So with 2/4, today was both Harikrishna and Leinier Dominguez’s last chance to make something work in order to catch the American on the top of the scoreboard. Dominguez went for his beloved Sicilian but Harikrishna had prepared a side-line in the Alapin system - 4.Bc4 - which has gained some traction recently.

Visibly surprised, Dominguez spent more than fifteen minutes to recall his analysis. After the opening phase, the position resembled more a cross between the Caro-Kan and the French than a Sicilian: a reminder to all chess fans that understanding structures is more important than memorizing openings.

The online commentators were suggesting that maybe Harikrishna missed a good chance to seize the initiative with 22.g4. Some interesting queenside tactics followed, and Dominguez came out ahead in a typical French ending, and was able to convert his passed d-pawn effortlessly. A devastated Harikrishna recognized in the postgame interview that maybe he had to calculate more specifically instead of just moving pieces around.

This result allows Dominguez a chance to overtake So in the last round, or at least force a tiebreak, all depending on tomorrow’s results.

Levon Aronian, first semifinalist
The last round will decide the other three spots

IM Michael Rahal - Berlin, February 9th, 2022 – Today’s round in the Berlin Grand Prix began with a bit of drama. The president of the German Chess Federation, Ullrich Krause, had been invited to execute the first “ceremonial” move on GM Vincent Keymer’s board. However, while fifteen of the sixteen players were already firmly seated, most of them fully concentrated, Keymer’s opponent – GM Levon Aronian – had yet to appear.

The signs of relief on Chief Arbiter Ivan Syrovy’s face when Aronian finally stepped into the playing venue at exactly 14.59 were clearly visible. The former Armenian player, now representing USA, greeted his opponent and awaited 1.d4, in this case played by Krause, and the round was on.

And an exciting round it was! Four wins and four draws in an eight-man round robin is a great statistic. In addition, Aronian’s win over Keymer qualifies the USA competitor to the semifinals, while Esipenko and Dominguez scored important wins with Black that allow them to keep their qualifying chances intact for tomorrow’s final round.

Pool A

Trailing Hikaru Nakamura by half a point, but playing Black, Alexander Grischuk had a really difficult task ahead. His opening choice, the double-edged King’s Indian Defence, definitely seems the way to go to fight for a win. However, after Nakamura’s 6.Be3 – the Semi-Averbakh variation, a fitting choice as the legendary Russian Grand Master turned 100 yesterday - Grischuk plunged into a deep 15-minute thought.

He finally decided to follow the main line but around move twenty he was already down to his last twenty minutes, a startling contrast to Nakamura’s one hour twenty. At the critical moment, Nakamura transferred his bishop to b2 and started attacking Grischuk’s king, already weakened on the dark squares thanks to an early h-pawn push by the American.

With hardly any thinking time and facing a direct attack, the Russian’s position crumbled, leaving Grischuk out of the race for qualification. Asked by Press Officer Michael Rahal what could he take away from the game his reply, as usual, wasn’t disappointing: “I probably have to stop playing the King’s Indian”, finding some light humor in a desperate tournament moment.

In the other game of the A-pool, Andrey Esipenko had no other chance but to shoot his last bolt in an effort to defeat the last-placed competitor of the group, Etienne Bacrot. He was probably going to play the Marshall Attack but Bacrot nipped that idea in the bud, deciding on a solid anti-Marshall line with a rapid exchange of queens.

The game remained largely balanced until Bacrot played 27.Bc4. Esipenko grabbed the chance to situate his rook on d4 and began to advance his kingside pawns, eventually creating a decisively passed g-pawn. In his postgame interview, Bacrot said that he had been quite lazy in his calculations and that he should never have fallen into this passive endgame position.

Esipenko was obviously very happy with the outcome of the game and will now have White against Nakamura in the last round: whoever wins will qualify to semifinals but Nakamura also advances with a draw.

Pool B

The first game of the afternoon to finish was a quick affair. Playing with White against the co-leader of the group, Radoslaw Wojtaszek decided to play it safe. Slightly surprised by his opponent’s opening choice, Radek recognized in the postgame interview that he had missed 18…Rc4 and that he even thought that he was slightly worse, in view of which he decided to initiate mass exchanges leading to a three-fold repetition in a completely level position.

Although Vladimir Fedoseev still has to face (with White) Rapport in the last round, his solid opening choice was a clear indication that a draw was good today.

Meanwhile, in the other game, Grigoriy Oparin repeated the Tarrasch variation which he already played in the third round. When the pawn structure stabilized, he found himself with another isolated d-pawn position which he seems to enjoy defending: a weak pawn but in exchange for active piece play.

However, when things seem to be going well for Rapport he missed 23...Ng3 and already he was on the defensive. Oparin started to pile on the pressure and gradually increased his advantage in the endgame.

On move 41 just after the time control, Oparin missed a great opportunity to win on the spot with 41…Re2+ before capturing the pawn on f2. In their post-game analysis on the board, both players thought that it was a draw but further analysis seemed to confirm the win for Black.

These results leave everything open for the last round: a very exciting and interesting tournament situation where the winner of the game between Fedoseev and Rapport could easily win a spot in the tiebreaks.

Pool C

Possibly inspired by the President of the German Chess Federation’s first move, Vincent Keymer went all-out for Aronian’s throat in today’s game. Trailing the leader by a full two-points but playing with the white pieces, Keymer went for a crazy pawn-grab in the solid Ragozin Defence (13.Nxe5 instead of the prudent 13.0-0), allowing his opponent to force his king into the center with hardly any protection.

An unrelenting battle began, both players attacking with heavy shots such as 17.g4, 17…g5 and 18.b4. Computer analysis indeed confirmed that the players were finding the best moves, but White’s position seemed to be always hanging by a thread.

The position remained tactically balanced until Keymer blundered big with 29.Rh5? (29.f3 was still equal according to the computer). Aronian seized the moment, capturing the two center pawns and the game was over.

In the postgame interview, both players mentioned that they had analyzed the position after 13.Nxe5 some time back, but it was hard to remember the different resulting positions.

In the other game of the group, both Vidit Gujrathi and Daniil Dubov, tied on two points out of four, faced their last opportunity to win the full point and catch Aronian. A Tarrasch defence transposed into a sideline of the Queen’s Gambit accepted.

Although Dubov declared that he had spent the rest day sleeping, he had also prepared a popular piece sacrifice but Vidit had it all under control, improving with 16... 0-0 an earlier game played in the same line by Alexandru David in 2021. The position remained equal: Dubov targeted Black’s kingside with his bishops and major pieces while Vidit tried his best to exchange rooks on the c-file.

In his interview after the game, Dubov sensed that he may have had better chances on the kingside, but even so, and after many exchanges, White still ended up with the bishop pair and an outside passed a-pawn. However, one of his bishops was trapped on h6 and while Vidit tried to round it up Dubov pushed his passer. After a couple of pawn exchanges, and in view of the balanced position, a draw was agreed.

Unfortunately for the two players, this result allows Aronian to qualify to the semifinals with a round to spare. Nonetheless, an exciting game, although as Vidit put it “Specially exciting for Aronian”.

Pool D

Leading the pack by a full point, Wesley So also decided de play it safe today. Facing Alexei Shirov, a very dangerous opponent with White, So opted for the solid Berlin Defence, always a good choice if you’re playing in Germany, or more specifically Berlin as Shirov was quick to point out in the press interview after the game.

They followed a recent 2021 game between MVL and Aronian until Shirov’s novelty 16.Nf5 – Vachier-Lagrave played 16.Rfe1 – but that only led to more exchanges and soon the position petered out into a totally equal ending and a draw was agreed on move 31 after a three-fold repetition.

In his postgame interview, Wesley mentioned that he had prepared this game for more than five hours on the rest day, but he had learned by experience that generally you shouldn’t spend so much time preparing.

Trailing So with 2/4, today was both Harikrishna and Leinier Dominguez’s last chance to make something work in order to catch the American on the top of the scoreboard. Dominguez went for his beloved Sicilian but Harikrishna had prepared a side-line in the Alapin system - 4.Bc4 - which has gained some traction recently.

Visibly surprised, Dominguez spent more than fifteen minutes to recall his analysis. After the opening phase, the position resembled more a cross between the Caro-Kan and the French than a Sicilian: a reminder to all chess fans that understanding structures is more important than memorizing openings.

The online commentators were suggesting that maybe Harikrishna missed a good chance to seize the initiative with 22.g4. Some interesting queenside tactics followed, and Dominguez came out ahead in a typical French ending, and was able to convert his passed d-pawn effortlessly. A devastated Harikrishna recognized in the postgame interview that maybe he had to calculate more specifically instead of just moving pieces around.

This result allows Dominguez a chance to overtake So in the last round, or at least force a tiebreak, all depending on tomorrow’s results.

#6 · 11. Februar 2022, 9:04

Zitat von Conrad Schormann am 11. Februar 2022, 9:04 Uhr
Nakamura joins Aronian in the semifinals
So-Dominguez and Rapport-Wojtaszek to the play-offs

IM Michael Rahal - Berlin, February 10th, 2022 – The final round of the qualifying stage was without any doubt the most exciting chess witnessed in Berlin during the last few days. With a lot at stake all the games (with the exception of Aronian - Dubov) were fought to the bitter end.

The ceremonial first move was executed by Richard Lutz, CEO of Deutsche Bahn (German Railways). Mr. Lutz is a strong player himself and Deutsche Bahn has been a regular supporter of chess in Germany over the years. He opened the game for Vidit with 1.c4 against local player Vincent Keymer and the games were on!

Pool A

In a must-win scenario, Andrey Esipenko opened with 1.e4 against Hikaru Nakamura. A draw would be enough for the American so he went back to the solid 1…e5, his main option for the last few years.
Esipenko chose the Italian Opening and both players more or less blitzed out their opening moves, following a previous 2019 game between Alekseenko and Grischuk.

The Russian could have won a pawn with 14.Bxa6 – a move he considered for nearly 15 minutes – but instead he preferred to advance in the center. With 16.d5 he closed the position and went for a structure resembling the King’s Indian defence: for that reason, as soon as he got the chance, Nakamura lashed out with the typical counter 21…f5.

Esipenko took over the initiative and firmly advanced a pawn to e6, achieving a decisive advantage. But in the time scramble, he missed several opportunities to win, allowing Nakamura to escape unscathed into a slightly worse queen ending which he was able to hold to a draw.

In his postgame interview with FIDE Press Officer IM Michael Rahal, a visibly relieved Hikaru Nakamura gave his take on the game: “In the opening I got very creative, mixing up a bunch of plans. I thought I was worse, and Andrey played very well. Just when I thought I was fine I blundered with Kh7 and I was close to resigning”.

Although all eyes were on the Esipenko-Nakamura game, next to them Alexander Grischuk and Etienne Bacrot were fighting it out to avoid last place.  Bacrot left his French defence at home and brought out the classical variation of the Sicilian defence.

Possibly suspecting this, Grischuk followed the 2021 game between Anish Giri and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (MVL is coached by Bacrot) but Bacrot deviated with the novelty 15…Qc5, offering the exchange of queens, which Grischuk declined. The online commentators were slightly worried that Bacrot was risking too much by leaving his king in the center of the board, with so many heavy pieces surrounding it, but this is well-known strategy in the variation.

The Frenchman missed a huge winning opportunity on move twenty: facing an attack on his queen, Bacrot instantly moved it away with 20…Qb6. However, the unbelievable tactic 20…Nxe4! would have led to a winning position, in view of 21.Nxe4 Bxe4! 22.Rxc5 dxc5 23.Qe1 Rxd1 24.Qxd1 Rxh2 followed by 25…Rh1 winning. As soon as this idea was mentioned to Alexander in the postgame conference, he immediately saw the whole line in his head.

Grischuk didn’t allow a second chance, and struck back with a classic Sicilian knight sacrifice on d5, opening the game for his pieces and achieving a winning attack.  Although he missed some opportunities to finish the game – among other things because Bacrot was huge in defence – in the end he got the job done.

Pool B
In the first game, Grigoriy Oparin chose an enterprising but risky variation of the Reti opening, winning a pawn but falling behind heavily in development. Radoslaw Wojtaszek took up the gauntlet and began to centralize his pieces – a win would give him excellent chances to take clear first.

The precise 18….Nd3+ installed a strong pawn on d3 and was the prelude to a kingside offensive. In addition to his precarious position, Oparin was dangerously falling behind on the clock.

When everything seemed to be on point for Poland’s number two, a couple of inaccurate moves allowed Oparin to exchange queens and with a daring exchange sacrifice he took over the imitative and forced a three-fold move repetition draw.

In the postgame interview, Radek lamented his missed opportunities: “I was sure that I was winning at some moment but I had to play the correct moves and I failed”. Asked about improvement ideas for his participation in the third leg, Oparin was very clear: “I have played so badly here that I have many things to improve, tactics, openings, and recover my best form”.

Meanwhile, with Black against Vladimir Fedoseev, Richard Rapport was doing his best to unbalance the position. His opening choice was already a sign of intent: the offbeat Chigorin defence. Fedoseev played it safe with the solid 3.Bf4 line and again Rapport chose to unbalance his pawn structure by recapturing 6…cxd6, doubling a pawn, but avoiding at all cost a symmetrical pawn structure.

However, Fedoseev kept his calm, opened the position and initiated exchanges on the c-file. It seemed that the Russian missed a good chance to achieve an advantage on move twenty-two: instead of 22.Re1, the computer was blasting out 22.e4!

The position remained balanced and Fedoseev did have a chance to claim a three-fold move repetition which he declined. Possibly not the best decision as after the queens were exchanged Rapport took over and with excellent endgame technique outplayed his opponent.

In an incredible turn of events, Richard Rapport will now face Radoslaw Wojtaszek for a place in the semifinals. The winner of tomorrow’s playoffs will play against Hikaru Nakamura.

Pool C
The first game to finish was a quick draw between Levon Aronian and Daniil Dubov. Although hardly fifteen minutes went by from the beginning of the round, Aronian had an explanation ready: “I wasn’t expecting this line, so when Daniil played 8…Nbd7 I remembered my analysis, which was a long and very sharp line”.

Aronian continued: “I thought that he would be well prepared as this is not his usual opening repertoire and I just thought that a draw is a normal result against a good player. Also, as this is a preliminary it’s only logical to get more rest before the tough semifinal”

What at first sight might seem a formality, the game between Vidit Gujrathi and Vincent Keymer was all guns blazing. A few thousand euros plus some extra Grand Prix points were in play and Vidit was clearly going to try and win in order to score second place in the group.

Following the 9^th game of the 2021 World Championship between Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi, the opening was a Neo-Catalan, although most theoreticians prefer to consider it as a Benoni with reversed colors. It seemed that White was slightly better going into the middlegame – some extra space and pawn center – but these positions are hard to assess: it looks good for White, but the computer keeps the balance with precise play.

It’s always hard to speculate when commentating these elite games, but maybe 28.g4 was inaccurate (instead 28.Ra1 seemed like a better try). Keymer was able to exchange White’s strong knight on e5 and the game headed to a draw.

Pool D
Trailing So by half point and having White, the only realistic outcome for Lenier Dominguez was to go hard for a win against Alexei Shirov, and hope that Wesley would be unable to defeat Harikrishna. Leinier opted for the Italian Opening, very popular these days, and his opponent spiced things up with the aggressive 6…g5.

However, Leinier came very well prepared, following a recent 2021 game between two American players, and achieved a small edge out of the opening. Shirov defended very well, simplifying into a slightly worse but very defendable endgame. However, as Shirov explained in the postgame interview, his moves Re2 and Rb2 were not the way to go in the endgame.

Dominguez increased the pressure and notched up one of the most important wins of his career.   He will now face Wesley So in tomorrow's playoff: "It's obviously very tough for both. Wesley is always very solid, very strong, especially in rapid time controls. I will fight and we'll see what happens" were his thoughts immediately after the game.

In the other game, Wesley So had to face a tricky situation. With White against Harikrishna, a draw would suffice as long as Dominguez didn’t defeat Shirov. A solid Catalan Opening seemed quite a decent solution: try to achieve a small edge and keep pressing.

Harikrishna defended with precision during many moves, but at some point, he was forced to give up the c-file and overextend his pawn center. It seemed that So was going to score the win but, low on time, he went for the a-pawn allowing his opponent a lot of tactical counterplay on his first rank, enough for Harikrishna to get the draw after So forced the perpetual.

In his postgame interview, So lamented his missed opportunities but at the same time praised his opponent’s opening preparation and resilience. “I was very happy to see 28...e4 on the board when I had options like Bh3, Qe5, Rc7, but I think I chose wrongly with 29.a4 and after that did not have many chances."

With these results, Wesley So will play off against Leinier Dominguez for the chance to face Levon Aronian in one of the semifinals, while Radoslaw Wojtaszek will play off against Richard Rapport. The winner of this match will play against Hikaru Nakamura. Both Nakamura and Aronian will enjoy one extra rest day.

The playoffs will be held tomorrow afternoon at 3pm in the tournament venue. Two rapid chess games with a 15 minute + 10 second time control will be played. If scores are level after these games, then two 3 minutes + 2 second games will be played. If the match is still level, a sudden death (“Armageddon”) will be played to declare a winner.

Nakamura joins Aronian in the semifinals
So-Dominguez and Rapport-Wojtaszek to the play-offs

IM Michael Rahal - Berlin, February 10th, 2022 – The final round of the qualifying stage was without any doubt the most exciting chess witnessed in Berlin during the last few days. With a lot at stake all the games (with the exception of Aronian - Dubov) were fought to the bitter end.

The ceremonial first move was executed by Richard Lutz, CEO of Deutsche Bahn (German Railways). Mr. Lutz is a strong player himself and Deutsche Bahn has been a regular supporter of chess in Germany over the years. He opened the game for Vidit with 1.c4 against local player Vincent Keymer and the games were on!

Pool A

In a must-win scenario, Andrey Esipenko opened with 1.e4 against Hikaru Nakamura. A draw would be enough for the American so he went back to the solid 1…e5, his main option for the last few years.

Esipenko chose the Italian Opening and both players more or less blitzed out their opening moves, following a previous 2019 game between Alekseenko and Grischuk.

The Russian could have won a pawn with 14.Bxa6 – a move he considered for nearly 15 minutes – but instead he preferred to advance in the center. With 16.d5 he closed the position and went for a structure resembling the King’s Indian defence: for that reason, as soon as he got the chance, Nakamura lashed out with the typical counter 21…f5.

Esipenko took over the initiative and firmly advanced a pawn to e6, achieving a decisive advantage. But in the time scramble, he missed several opportunities to win, allowing Nakamura to escape unscathed into a slightly worse queen ending which he was able to hold to a draw.

In his postgame interview with FIDE Press Officer IM Michael Rahal, a visibly relieved Hikaru Nakamura gave his take on the game: “In the opening I got very creative, mixing up a bunch of plans. I thought I was worse, and Andrey played very well. Just when I thought I was fine I blundered with Kh7 and I was close to resigning”.

Although all eyes were on the Esipenko-Nakamura game, next to them Alexander Grischuk and Etienne Bacrot were fighting it out to avoid last place.  Bacrot left his French defence at home and brought out the classical variation of the Sicilian defence.

Possibly suspecting this, Grischuk followed the 2021 game between Anish Giri and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (MVL is coached by Bacrot) but Bacrot deviated with the novelty 15…Qc5, offering the exchange of queens, which Grischuk declined. The online commentators were slightly worried that Bacrot was risking too much by leaving his king in the center of the board, with so many heavy pieces surrounding it, but this is well-known strategy in the variation.

The Frenchman missed a huge winning opportunity on move twenty: facing an attack on his queen, Bacrot instantly moved it away with 20…Qb6. However, the unbelievable tactic 20…Nxe4! would have led to a winning position, in view of 21.Nxe4 Bxe4! 22.Rxc5 dxc5 23.Qe1 Rxd1 24.Qxd1 Rxh2 followed by 25…Rh1 winning. As soon as this idea was mentioned to Alexander in the postgame conference, he immediately saw the whole line in his head.

Grischuk didn’t allow a second chance, and struck back with a classic Sicilian knight sacrifice on d5, opening the game for his pieces and achieving a winning attack.  Although he missed some opportunities to finish the game – among other things because Bacrot was huge in defence – in the end he got the job done.

Pool B

In the first game, Grigoriy Oparin chose an enterprising but risky variation of the Reti opening, winning a pawn but falling behind heavily in development. Radoslaw Wojtaszek took up the gauntlet and began to centralize his pieces – a win would give him excellent chances to take clear first.

The precise 18….Nd3+ installed a strong pawn on d3 and was the prelude to a kingside offensive. In addition to his precarious position, Oparin was dangerously falling behind on the clock.

When everything seemed to be on point for Poland’s number two, a couple of inaccurate moves allowed Oparin to exchange queens and with a daring exchange sacrifice he took over the imitative and forced a three-fold move repetition draw.

In the postgame interview, Radek lamented his missed opportunities: “I was sure that I was winning at some moment but I had to play the correct moves and I failed”. Asked about improvement ideas for his participation in the third leg, Oparin was very clear: “I have played so badly here that I have many things to improve, tactics, openings, and recover my best form”.

Meanwhile, with Black against Vladimir Fedoseev, Richard Rapport was doing his best to unbalance the position. His opening choice was already a sign of intent: the offbeat Chigorin defence. Fedoseev played it safe with the solid 3.Bf4 line and again Rapport chose to unbalance his pawn structure by recapturing 6…cxd6, doubling a pawn, but avoiding at all cost a symmetrical pawn structure.

However, Fedoseev kept his calm, opened the position and initiated exchanges on the c-file. It seemed that the Russian missed a good chance to achieve an advantage on move twenty-two: instead of 22.Re1, the computer was blasting out 22.e4!

The position remained balanced and Fedoseev did have a chance to claim a three-fold move repetition which he declined. Possibly not the best decision as after the queens were exchanged Rapport took over and with excellent endgame technique outplayed his opponent.

In an incredible turn of events, Richard Rapport will now face Radoslaw Wojtaszek for a place in the semifinals. The winner of tomorrow’s playoffs will play against Hikaru Nakamura.

Pool C

The first game to finish was a quick draw between Levon Aronian and Daniil Dubov. Although hardly fifteen minutes went by from the beginning of the round, Aronian had an explanation ready: “I wasn’t expecting this line, so when Daniil played 8…Nbd7 I remembered my analysis, which was a long and very sharp line”.

Aronian continued: “I thought that he would be well prepared as this is not his usual opening repertoire and I just thought that a draw is a normal result against a good player. Also, as this is a preliminary it’s only logical to get more rest before the tough semifinal”

What at first sight might seem a formality, the game between Vidit Gujrathi and Vincent Keymer was all guns blazing. A few thousand euros plus some extra Grand Prix points were in play and Vidit was clearly going to try and win in order to score second place in the group.

Following the 9^th game of the 2021 World Championship between Carlsen and Nepomniachtchi, the opening was a Neo-Catalan, although most theoreticians prefer to consider it as a Benoni with reversed colors. It seemed that White was slightly better going into the middlegame – some extra space and pawn center – but these positions are hard to assess: it looks good for White, but the computer keeps the balance with precise play.

It’s always hard to speculate when commentating these elite games, but maybe 28.g4 was inaccurate (instead 28.Ra1 seemed like a better try). Keymer was able to exchange White’s strong knight on e5 and the game headed to a draw.

Pool D

Trailing So by half point and having White, the only realistic outcome for Lenier Dominguez was to go hard for a win against Alexei Shirov, and hope that Wesley would be unable to defeat Harikrishna. Leinier opted for the Italian Opening, very popular these days, and his opponent spiced things up with the aggressive 6…g5.

However, Leinier came very well prepared, following a recent 2021 game between two American players, and achieved a small edge out of the opening. Shirov defended very well, simplifying into a slightly worse but very defendable endgame. However, as Shirov explained in the postgame interview, his moves Re2 and Rb2 were not the way to go in the endgame.

Dominguez increased the pressure and notched up one of the most important wins of his career.   He will now face Wesley So in tomorrow's playoff: "It's obviously very tough for both. Wesley is always very solid, very strong, especially in rapid time controls. I will fight and we'll see what happens" were his thoughts immediately after the game.

In the other game, Wesley So had to face a tricky situation. With White against Harikrishna, a draw would suffice as long as Dominguez didn’t defeat Shirov. A solid Catalan Opening seemed quite a decent solution: try to achieve a small edge and keep pressing.

Harikrishna defended with precision during many moves, but at some point, he was forced to give up the c-file and overextend his pawn center. It seemed that So was going to score the win but, low on time, he went for the a-pawn allowing his opponent a lot of tactical counterplay on his first rank, enough for Harikrishna to get the draw after So forced the perpetual.

In his postgame interview, So lamented his missed opportunities but at the same time praised his opponent’s opening preparation and resilience. “I was very happy to see 28...e4 on the board when I had options like Bh3, Qe5, Rc7, but I think I chose wrongly with 29.a4 and after that did not have many chances."

With these results, Wesley So will play off against Leinier Dominguez for the chance to face Levon Aronian in one of the semifinals, while Radoslaw Wojtaszek will play off against Richard Rapport. The winner of this match will play against Hikaru Nakamura. Both Nakamura and Aronian will enjoy one extra rest day.

The playoffs will be held tomorrow afternoon at 3pm in the tournament venue. Two rapid chess games with a 15 minute + 10 second time control will be played. If scores are level after these games, then two 3 minutes + 2 second games will be played. If the match is still level, a sudden death (“Armageddon”) will be played to declare a winner.

#7 · 12. Februar 2022, 9:27

Zitat von Conrad Schormann am 12. Februar 2022, 9:27 Uhr
Berlin Grand Prix FIDE: the semifinals are set
Aronian-Dominguez and Nakamura-Rapport
IM Michael Rahal - Berlin, February 11th 2022 –"That's what chess is. You train so hard and then everything depends on that crucial few seconds of decision making”. Wesley So’s final reflection after losing his semifinal sums up very well the extreme difficulty of being an elite chess professional.

Rapid and blitz game tiebreaks are the real test for today’s modern chess player. Calculation skills become slightly less important and are at a certain level, as the time on the clock starts to run low, they are substituted by pure intuition.

Good nerves, decent physical condition, stamina, and a well-thought-out opening repertoire are some of the key skills that have to be honed at home before the competition to be a good tie-breaker. Superior players excel even more with reduced time, thanks to better intuition and pattern knowledge plus match experience and today’s tie-break round was no exception.

After the preliminary qualifying stage finished, two pools still had to define a winner. The rules and regulations of the 2022 FIDE Grand Prix establish that tiebreaks will be used to determine who advances to the semifinals: two rapid games - 15 minutes base time + 10 seconds increment - followed by two blitz 3/2 games. A nerve-racking “Armageddon” decisive game is left for the end: 5 minutes vs 4 on the clock and Black advances with the draw.

Tiebreak 1: GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek (Poland 2702) – GM Richard Rapport Hungary (2779)

According to my database, Wojtaszek and Rapport have faced each other twelve times during their careers with a total score of 7-5 in favor of Poland’s number two. However, the trend in the tournament seemed to be favorable for Rapport: he qualified for the tiebreaks in the last minute by defeating Fedoseev yesterday, while Wojtaszek missed a huge opportunity for direct qualification to the semifinals.

In the first game with Black, Rapport opted for the double-edged King’s Indian Defence, his main weapon for most of his career. Wojtaszek had prepared the very solid fianchetto variation which has also served him well for many years.

The game proved very exciting and remained balanced until a double-rook ending was reached. Rapport retained a strong passed pawn which eventually advanced until the seventh rank: it’s a well-known fact that these endgames with two rooks and passed pawns are extremely tricky. With precise play the game should have been a draw but, very low on time, Wojtaszek chose the wrong defence and allowed his king to be trapped in a mating net.

Having won the first game, Rapport played it safe in the second. Faced with Wojtaszek’s Sicilian defense he chose the solid 3.Bb5+ and proceeded to exchange every piece in sight. Even though he ended up a pawn down in a bishop ending he was never in any danger and drew the game effortlessly, securing his spot in the semifinals against Hikaru Nakamura.

After the match, both players talked to IM Michael Rahal, Press Officer for the event. “I was just lucky to even have qualified for the tiebreak,” said Rapport. “In today’s first game I got a decent position from the opening. Objectively it should be equal, but both of us were trying to create some imbalances. The resulting rook ending should be fine but it’s somewhat uncomfortable for White because he has to watch out for checks all the time. At the end, he was low on time and blundered the mate”.

When questioned about tomorrow’s semifinal against Nakamura, Rapport dodged the issue: "I am really tired from this tiebreak, and yesterday I also had a must-win game so it takes a toll. But I guess there is no rest for the wicked so I have to keep on going”.

When questioned about his opening choice in the second game, Wojtaszek took it in his stride and jokingly said that “Maybe I should have chosen something different because Rapport probably checked this line in his room during the break! The ending is just a draw and there are hardly any real chances to do something different. I wasn’t expecting to lose the first game with White, so I wasn’t really ready for this scenario”.

Tiebreak 2: GM Wesley So (USA 2782) – GM Leinier Dominguez (USA 2722)

According to my database So and Dominguez have faced each other on 53 occasions, most of them in rapid and blitz events, with a total score of 29-24 for Wesley So, making him a very slight favorite in this two-game match-up.

The first game was apparently a dull affair. With White, Wesley avoided the main theoretical lines in the solid Queen’s Gambit Accepted and went for a queenless ending which theory considers to be completely equal.

However, World Chess online commentator Evgenij Miroshnichenko observed: "This kind of setup is, in fact, dangerous for Black, especially if he does not realize the dangers." But once again, Leinier’s defensive skills were on point and after precise play, a draw was agreed on move forty-two, a very good result for Dominguez.

The second game was clearly the most exciting of the afternoon. Once again, Leinier went for the Italian Opening, and soon the game was in unknown territory. Wesley chose a defensive plan with several pawn moves (d6-c6-f6) which he recognized after the game was possibly not the best choice.

After a few inaccuracies and faced with the unattractive possibility of losing a full center pawn, So sacrificed his knight on g2. With under a minute left to go Dominguez found an excellent counter-attack and threatened mate with 30.Qd3. So parried the threat and created his own attack on Dominguez’s king but the former Cuban player found the only defensive move 32.Kh1 (any other move would lose) and Wesley was forced to resign.

Asked about his performance in the first game, Wesley gave an honest opinion: “Accidents happen, this tiebreak was very short. I knew it was a 50/50 chance, Leinier is very dangerous in the opening so I decided to play whatever, to avoid getting too tired. I have already played this line against Leinier two or three times in the past and never got anything.

So recognized he didn’t play very well in the second game: “In the second game my pawn structure was very vulnerable although I’m not entirely sure where I made the decisive mistake. I thought I had some tricks but I totally missed that against 32.Kh1 I can’t play 32….Rf3 because he has 33.Re8+ and mate on h7”.

A very happy Leinier Dominguez gave us some insight on how to prepare a rapid-blitz tiebreak: “I didn’t think too much about the opening because these fifteen-minute games are always decided in some middlegame position: you make mistakes, you survive a bad position and then its all about the calculation skills and your overall form that particular day”.

With regard to the second game, Leinier recognized that luck was on his side: “I knew that my position in the second game was promising, maybe even clearly better because his pawns are weak and my pieces are well placed but I was low on time and in one move I can spoil everything. In any case, I think I deserve to qualify after finding this Kh1: it’ s such a difficult move. I actually saw it at the last moment”.

The prospect of facing teammate Levon Aronian tomorrow in the semifinal was still not on Leinier’s mind: "It feels a bit surreal after losing the classical game against Wesley. I felt that I'd go home by Saturday and yet I was able to make a comeback. It took a lot of energy so I'll try to get some rest and then I'll think about the next match”.

Berlin Grand Prix FIDE: the semifinals are set
Aronian-Dominguez and Nakamura-Rapport

IM Michael Rahal - Berlin, February 11th 2022 –"That's what chess is. You train so hard and then everything depends on that crucial few seconds of decision making”. Wesley So’s final reflection after losing his semifinal sums up very well the extreme difficulty of being an elite chess professional.

Rapid and blitz game tiebreaks are the real test for today’s modern chess player. Calculation skills become slightly less important and are at a certain level, as the time on the clock starts to run low, they are substituted by pure intuition.

Good nerves, decent physical condition, stamina, and a well-thought-out opening repertoire are some of the key skills that have to be honed at home before the competition to be a good tie-breaker. Superior players excel even more with reduced time, thanks to better intuition and pattern knowledge plus match experience and today’s tie-break round was no exception.

After the preliminary qualifying stage finished, two pools still had to define a winner. The rules and regulations of the 2022 FIDE Grand Prix establish that tiebreaks will be used to determine who advances to the semifinals: two rapid games - 15 minutes base time + 10 seconds increment - followed by two blitz 3/2 games. A nerve-racking “Armageddon” decisive game is left for the end: 5 minutes vs 4 on the clock and Black advances with the draw.

Tiebreak 1: GM Radoslaw Wojtaszek (Poland 2702) – GM Richard Rapport Hungary (2779)

According to my database, Wojtaszek and Rapport have faced each other twelve times during their careers with a total score of 7-5 in favor of Poland’s number two. However, the trend in the tournament seemed to be favorable for Rapport: he qualified for the tiebreaks in the last minute by defeating Fedoseev yesterday, while Wojtaszek missed a huge opportunity for direct qualification to the semifinals.

In the first game with Black, Rapport opted for the double-edged King’s Indian Defence, his main weapon for most of his career. Wojtaszek had prepared the very solid fianchetto variation which has also served him well for many years.

The game proved very exciting and remained balanced until a double-rook ending was reached. Rapport retained a strong passed pawn which eventually advanced until the seventh rank: it’s a well-known fact that these endgames with two rooks and passed pawns are extremely tricky. With precise play the game should have been a draw but, very low on time, Wojtaszek chose the wrong defence and allowed his king to be trapped in a mating net.

Having won the first game, Rapport played it safe in the second. Faced with Wojtaszek’s Sicilian defense he chose the solid 3.Bb5+ and proceeded to exchange every piece in sight. Even though he ended up a pawn down in a bishop ending he was never in any danger and drew the game effortlessly, securing his spot in the semifinals against Hikaru Nakamura.

After the match, both players talked to IM Michael Rahal, Press Officer for the event. “I was just lucky to even have qualified for the tiebreak,” said Rapport. “In today’s first game I got a decent position from the opening. Objectively it should be equal, but both of us were trying to create some imbalances. The resulting rook ending should be fine but it’s somewhat uncomfortable for White because he has to watch out for checks all the time. At the end, he was low on time and blundered the mate”.

When questioned about tomorrow’s semifinal against Nakamura, Rapport dodged the issue: "I am really tired from this tiebreak, and yesterday I also had a must-win game so it takes a toll. But I guess there is no rest for the wicked so I have to keep on going”.

When questioned about his opening choice in the second game, Wojtaszek took it in his stride and jokingly said that “Maybe I should have chosen something different because Rapport probably checked this line in his room during the break! The ending is just a draw and there are hardly any real chances to do something different. I wasn’t expecting to lose the first game with White, so I wasn’t really ready for this scenario”.

Tiebreak 2: GM Wesley So (USA 2782) – GM Leinier Dominguez (USA 2722)

According to my database So and Dominguez have faced each other on 53 occasions, most of them in rapid and blitz events, with a total score of 29-24 for Wesley So, making him a very slight favorite in this two-game match-up.

The first game was apparently a dull affair. With White, Wesley avoided the main theoretical lines in the solid Queen’s Gambit Accepted and went for a queenless ending which theory considers to be completely equal.

However, World Chess online commentator Evgenij Miroshnichenko observed: "This kind of setup is, in fact, dangerous for Black, especially if he does not realize the dangers." But once again, Leinier’s defensive skills were on point and after precise play, a draw was agreed on move forty-two, a very good result for Dominguez.

The second game was clearly the most exciting of the afternoon. Once again, Leinier went for the Italian Opening, and soon the game was in unknown territory. Wesley chose a defensive plan with several pawn moves (d6-c6-f6) which he recognized after the game was possibly not the best choice.

After a few inaccuracies and faced with the unattractive possibility of losing a full center pawn, So sacrificed his knight on g2. With under a minute left to go Dominguez found an excellent counter-attack and threatened mate with 30.Qd3. So parried the threat and created his own attack on Dominguez’s king but the former Cuban player found the only defensive move 32.Kh1 (any other move would lose) and Wesley was forced to resign.

Asked about his performance in the first game, Wesley gave an honest opinion: “Accidents happen, this tiebreak was very short. I knew it was a 50/50 chance, Leinier is very dangerous in the opening so I decided to play whatever, to avoid getting too tired. I have already played this line against Leinier two or three times in the past and never got anything.

So recognized he didn’t play very well in the second game: “In the second game my pawn structure was very vulnerable although I’m not entirely sure where I made the decisive mistake. I thought I had some tricks but I totally missed that against 32.Kh1 I can’t play 32….Rf3 because he has 33.Re8+ and mate on h7”.

A very happy Leinier Dominguez gave us some insight on how to prepare a rapid-blitz tiebreak: “I didn’t think too much about the opening because these fifteen-minute games are always decided in some middlegame position: you make mistakes, you survive a bad position and then its all about the calculation skills and your overall form that particular day”.

With regard to the second game, Leinier recognized that luck was on his side: “I knew that my position in the second game was promising, maybe even clearly better because his pawns are weak and my pieces are well placed but I was low on time and in one move I can spoil everything. In any case, I think I deserve to qualify after finding this Kh1: it’ s such a difficult move. I actually saw it at the last moment”.

The prospect of facing teammate Levon Aronian tomorrow in the semifinal was still not on Leinier’s mind: "It feels a bit surreal after losing the classical game against Wesley. I felt that I'd go home by Saturday and yet I was able to make a comeback. It took a lot of energy so I'll try to get some rest and then I'll think about the next match”.

Grand Prix in Berlin mit Vincent Keymer

Aronian leads the pack in the Berlin Grand Prix

Aronian leads the pack in the Berlin Grand Prix

No risk, no reward Berlin’s Grand Prix second round leaves no stone unturned

No risk, no reward Berlin’s Grand Prix second round leaves no stone unturned

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No risk, no reward
Berlin’s Grand Prix second round leaves no stone unturned

No risk, no reward
Berlin’s Grand Prix second round leaves no stone unturned