Both semi-final matches are decided before tie-breaks at the FIDE Grand Prix organized by World Chess in Riga.

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave eliminates Alexander Grischuk after a thrilling game, while Shakriyar Mamedyarov draws and qualifies against Wesley So.

Both second games of the semi-finals were launched symbolically by special guests. Latvian artist and songwriter Markus Riva opened the encounter between Wesley So and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, while FIDE President Arkady Dvorkovich kicked off the other battle between Alexander Grischuk and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.



The game So-Mamedyarov began on an amusing note. The American left the choice of the first move to Markus Riva, upon which Mamedyarov himself suggested the dubious 1.a4. The musician obliged and the battle began in a relaxed atmosphere. For the record, Wesley So obviously corrected the unofficial first move and played 1.Nf3 instead. Following his loss yesterday, the question remained open whether he would go all-or-nothing, or rather stay true to his quiet style and try to squeeze a win from a technical game. Sometimes, circumstances are such that you do not have a choice. The Azeri played the solid Queen’s Gambit Accepted and reached a symmetric pawn structure. Wesley So definitely kept a symbolic advantage throughout, but this proved insufficient to shake Mamedyarov’s resistance. The Azeri held the draw and thus qualified to the final.



Arkady Dvorkovich guessed Grischuk’s first move correctly, as he played 1.d4. What nobody could have figured out, though, is that Grischuk would sidestep Vachier-Lagrave’s beloved Grunfeld opening with the rare and eccentric 3.h4. The fight transposed into the realm of a Benko Gambit, when the French, famously called MVL in the chess world, decided to sacrifice a pawn with 3…c5 4.d5 b5. This setup is considered risky at the highest level, but the premature advance of White’s h-pawn changes the situation, as it creates long-term weaknesses on the kingside. In such tense positions, the value of every move is very high, and any mistake can tip the scales decisively. With hindsight, Grischuk was not happy with 15.Re1 and he might have been well-advised to accept his opponent’s subsequent draw offer. The Russian played on but it turns out that he slightly over-estimated his chances. The return of the rook with 18.Rf1 felt like a concession, which MVL exploited in a very powerful way. The whole sequence of moves, starting with 19…Rfc8 and running up to 26…Rc2, completely shook the Russian. Grischuk ended up in time trouble and understandably failed to put up the strongest resistance. After the time-control, the French increased the pressure with 42…g5 and eventually broke the white position. In the post-game interview, a clear-headed Grischuk showed exemplary fair-play and praised his opponent for his brilliant game.

Since no tie-break will be needed, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave will have two rest days until the start of their match on Monday.

Besides all happenings on the chess board, the organizer of the Grand Prix Series, World Chess, announced the signature of an agreement with the company Algorand on Friday. Thereupon, Algorand becomes the Official Blockchain Partner of the FIDE Grand Prix Series.

After the rapid and the blitz tournaments, the Mikhail Tal Memorial proceeds to several youth events. A tournament for children aged under 14 started on Friday in the National Library of Latvia, the same venue as the FIDE Grand Prix. The President of the International Chess Federation Arkady Dvorkovich attended the opening ceremony and wished all young participants good luck. This tournament will run until July 23.


Semi-finals, game 2:

So – Mamedyarov ½ - ½ (0,5 - 1,5 on aggregate)

Grischuk – Vachier-Lagrave 0 - 1 (0,5 – 1,5 on aggregate)


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