Following the fascinating tie-breakers on Sunday, the FIDE Grand Prix organized by World Chess in Riga proceeds to the second round.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave wins with black and emerges as the only winner of day one.


Following the fascinating tie-breakers on Sunday, the FIDE Grand Prix organized by World Chess proceeds to the second round. The symbolic first move to open the playing day was made by Dana Reizniece-Ozola, Minister of Economy of Latvia from 2014 till 2016 and Minister of Finance from 2016 until 2019. Well-known in the chess world as a Woman Grand Master and long-time leader of her national team, Mrs. Reizniece-Ozola played 1.Nf3 in the match Duda – Mamedyarov, as instructed by the Polish champion. This game took on a closed character when pawns started blocking each other on the queenside and in the centre. Thanks to his space advantage in these areas, Jan-Krzysztof Duda reached a pleasant position, but Shakhriyar Mamedyarov played the timely 17...f4 to make sure that he would always have chances for counter-play. Both players agreed afterwards that white’s advantage was probably less serious than what the computer usually suggests in this type of positions. In any case, Duda did not see a plan to improve his position and offered a draw on move 34.

The encounter between Sergey Karjakin and Wesley So came to a premature end, when both players repeated moves after the opening and agreed a draw after half an hour. In the post-match interview, the Russian said that he felt tired from his epic match of the previous day, so that a short game came at the right moment to help him recover. He clarified, however, that he had not planned to waste his white game like this. He had not expected the Petrov Defence from his opponent and could not remember all details of his preparation. Wesley So commented that he had chosen this precise line after seeing Duda play it in the previous tie-break against Svidler. “It seems interesting but also a bit risky. It requires precise play from sides and I thought that Sergey might not be ready for it”.

Alexander Grischuk and Yu Yangyi played a balanced game and made a draw. The only really tense moment came when the Russian sacrificed a pawn with 15.Ne5. Perhaps surprised that his opponent grabbed it, Grischuk sank into thought. After about 30 minutes, he continued logically with 16.Qg4 and won back the pawn shortly after. Yet, from afar, he had overlooked the reply 24…Rfe8, after which he admitted in the post-game interview that white should be careful to equalize.

The most entertaining and longest game of the day brought Veselin Topalov and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave together. Never afraid of challenges, the former World Champion chose an aggressive line against the favourite Najdorf of the French star. By playing 11.Nf4, Topalov made it clear that, no matter what, he was going to sacrifice a knight. Black obliged by going 13…e5 some moves later. After the game, both players seemed to be quite optimistic about their chances here. The Bulgarian thought he had decent compensation with nice piece play, whereas Vachier-Lagrave believed he was better. In any case, the French was not happy with the way he handled the position later on as he felt that he lost control. Move 28 was a critical moment in the game, as Topalov rejected a draw offer and played on. Whether this was objectively justified is doubtful, but he was certainly hoping to use the momentum and his opponent’s apparent shakiness. Both played well until queens came off on move 40. Topalov hastily took a pawn on d6 but missed that with his strong reply 41…Rd8, black could force the exchange of rooks. After that, the Bulgarian felt that his position could not be saved anymore and that his opponent played technically very well. Thanks to this victory with black, Vachier-Lagrave has achieved a big step towards the semi-final. But the French will be on his guard, as Topalov is famous for his fighting spirit.


Round 2, game 1:

Karjakin – So ½ - ½

Duda – Mamedyarov ½ - ½

Grischuk – Yu Yangyi ½ - ½

Topalov – Vachier-Lagrave 0-1


Text by Press Officer Yannick Pelletier; Photo courtesy: World Chess

 




Leading partners supporting the FIDE Grand Prix Riga 2019 include: 

EG Capital Advisors as the Official Partner 
PhosAgro as the Official Strategic Partner 
Kaspersky as the Official Cybersecurity Partner

Information for the press: https://worldchess.com/news/2189  
Official website https://worldchess.com/news/2089  
An official photo gallery is available via Dropbox. 


About FIDE
The International Chess Federation (FIDE), is recognized by its members and the International Olympic Committee as the international federation in the domain of chess, the supreme body responsible for the sport of chess and its Championships. FIDE has the sole rights to organize the World Chess Championships and the Chess Olympiads. 
Contact:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

About World Chess
World Chess is a London-based media company. It's a commercial partner of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), and official broadcaster for FIDE events. World Chess organized the World Championship Matches in Russia, USA, and the UK. It revolutionized chess by signing the biggest media partnerships in the history of chess. World Chess is also developing Armageddon, the chess league designed for television. It operates worldchess.com. 
Contact:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

About PhosAgro
PhosAgro is one of the world's leading vertically integrated phosphate-based fertilizer producers in terms of production volumes of phosphate-based fertilizers and high-grade phosphate rock with a P2O5 content of 39% and higher. The Company is the largest phosphate-based fertilizer producer in Europe (by total combined capacity for DAP/MAP/NP/NPK/NPS), the largest producer of high-grade phosphate rock with a P2O5 content of 39%, a top-three producer of MAP/DAP globally, one of the leading producers of feed phosphates (MCP) in Europe, and the only producer in Russia, and Russia's only producer of nepheline concentrate (according to the RAFP). 

PhosAgro's main products include phosphate rock, 39 grades of fertilizers, feed phosphates, ammonia, and sodium tripolyphosphate, which are used by customers in 100 countries spanning all of the world's inhabited continents. The Company's priority markets outside of Russia and the CIS are Latin America, Europe and Asia. PhosAgro's shares are traded on the Moscow Exchange, and Global Depositary Receipts (GDRs) for shares trade on the London Stock Exchange (under the ticker PHOR). Since 1 June 2016, the Company's GDRs have been included in the MSCI Russia and MSCI Emerging Markets indexes. 

About EG Capital Advisors
EG Capital Advisors is a UK-headquartered asset management company which offers strategies across multiple asset classes. Specialist areas of focus include emerging markets high yield debt, pre-IPO private equity and biotec public equity. www.egcapitaladvisors.com

About Kaspersky
Kaspersky is a global cybersecurity company, which has been operating in the market for over 21 years. Kaspersky's deep threat intelligence and security expertise is constantly transforming into next generation security solutions and services to protect businesses, critical infrastructure, governments and consumers around the globe. The company's comprehensive security portfolio includes leading endpoint protection and a number of specialized security solutions and services to fight sophisticated and evolving digital threats. Over 400 million users are protected by Kaspersky technologies and we help 270,000 corporate clients protect what matters most to them. 
Learn more at www.kaspersky.com