Latvian superstar Mairis Briedis kicks off the semi-finals of the FIDE Grand Prix organized by World Chess in Riga.

Shakriyar Mamedyarov beats Wesley So, while Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Alexander Grischuk make a draw.


The Riga FIDE Grand Prix had the great honour to welcome Mairis Briedis to kick off the semi-finals on Thursday. The WBC World Diamond Champion and current WBO cruiserweight World Champion, who was awarded the Order of the Three Stars in 2017, opened the game between Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Alexander Grischuk with the move 1.e4. The Russian chose the Berlin Defence, which is considered one of the most solid openings nowadays. He obtained a fine position but got careless with the move 17…Bg5, instead of 17…Bf5 for instance. He had missed the strong resource 21.Rd3 which poses black tremendous problems. After thinking for half an hour, Grischuk came up with the only defensive plan, the advance of his queenside pawns. In the post-game interview, both Grand Masters suspected that there might be a study-like win for white, but they did not see anything concrete. Vachier-Lagrave made a good practical attempt but his opponent found the accurate 26…b3 and secured a draw.



The game between Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Wesley So took an unexpected turn of events shortly after the opening. The Azeri chose a fighting line in the Catalan, where the pawn structure is damaged for both sides. Generally, black is supposed to be alright there, but the white pair of bishops is a long-term asset to reckon with. After Mamedyarov’s novelty 14.a3, meant to prevent a possible exchange of queens by Qb4, the American sank into thought and played the inexplicable mistake 15…c3. He apparently considered his position to be worse, but there was no reason to burn bridges yet. After that, Mamedyarov won two light pieces for a rook and converted with exemplary technique. Wesley So now finds himself in an all or nothing situation and will have the white pieces on Friday.



The former World Champion Mikhail Tal was a passionate blitz player. It is therefore a fitting tribute to include a tournament with this time-control in the Mikhail Tal Memorial in Riga. The crowd could not be more delighted to see their local Grand Master Igors Kovalenko win the event. He actually dominated the field with an impressive score of 12 out of 13. Second was Vladimir Fedoseev with 10,5, ahead of four Grand Masters with 10. The Rapid and Blitz Tal Memorial was organized by the Latvian Chess Federation and sponsored by Rietumu Bank, Coca-Cola, Tolmets and Latvijas Balzams.




Semi-finals, game 1:

Mamedyarov – So 1–0

Vachier-Lagrave – Grischuk ½ - ½


Pictures can be downloaded from Dropbox. 

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  


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. 
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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. 
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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