Paris FIDE Grand Prix - Closing Ceremony Print
Friday, 04 October 2013 20:39
24

The 2013 Paris FIDE Grand Prix tournament has come to its end. It was an outstanding event with 12 top grandmasters. We had a high rate of decisive games, continuous suspense until the very end, good and excellent moves but also occasional blunders, deep plans and psychological games... Life is a theater they say, but such a complex and eventful tournament surely is a great episode of life itself!

23
FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov with the winner Caruana Fabiano (ITA)

25
Top three - Caruana, Gelfand and Nakamura - with the FIDE President, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the President of Commission of Finances in St.Quentin, Bernard Tabarie, the FFE President, Diego Salazar, and the IA Laurent Freyd

10


8


28

Official website

Pictures from the Closing Ceremony

FIDE Grand Prix overall standings 2012-2013

gp overall 2013

8

Round 11: Caruana wins but ... shared with Gelfand

SNo. Name Rtg Res. Name Rtg SNo.
11 GM Wang Hao 2736 ½ - ½ GM Fressinet Laurent 2708
10 GM Bacrot Etienne 2723 ½ - ½ GM Grischuk Alexander 2785
9 GM Dominguez Perez Leinier 2757 ½ - ½ GM Caruana Fabiano 2779
8 GM Tomashevsky Evgeny 2703 ½ - ½ GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2731
7 GM Giri Anish 2737 ½ - ½ GM Nakamura Hikaru 2772
6 GM Gelfand Boris 2764 ½ - ½ GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2756

There can be high dramatism below the apparent mask of peacefullness...

The eleventh, last and most expected round in Paris did not produce any decisive game! It started with three relatively short draws by move repetition, sealing the tournament's main heroes' fate. Caruana and Gelfand share the tournament win, Mamedyarov qualifies for the Candidates!


Official website

Full Standings


Round 10

Round 10: Caruana takes the lead

SNo. Name Rtg Res. Name Rtg SNo.
12 GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2756 ½ - ½ GM Wang Hao 2736 11
1 GM Fressinet Laurent 2708 0 - 1 GM Bacrot Etienne 2723 10
2 GM Grischuk Alexander 2785 ½ - ½ GM Dominguez Perez Leinier 2757 9
3 GM Caruana Fabiano 2779 1 - 0 GM Tomashevsky Evgeny 2703 8
4 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2731 ½ - ½ GM Giri Anish 2737 7
5 GM Nakamura Hikaru 2772 0 - 1 GM Gelfand Boris 2764 6

The storm we had predicted after the peaceful ninth round exploded at full violence in round ten. It is not only about the three decisive games, since we had had two even more „fruitful” days before, but rather their impact over the hot zone of the classification. The "winner's luck" abandoned Nakamura, who lost the game and the tournament leadership, while Caruana won and advanced to a shared first place with Gelfand, one step closer to his main goal - the Candidates.

Full report at the official website.

Full Standings


43

Round 9:égalité, fraternité?! 
SNo. Name Rtg Res. Name Rtg SNo.
5 GM Nakamura Hikaru 2772 ½ - ½ GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2756 12
6 GM Gelfand Boris 2764 ½ - ½ GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2731 4
7 GM Giri Anish 2737 ½ - ½ GM Caruana Fabiano 2779 3
8 GM Tomashevsky Evgeny 2703 ½ - ½ GM Grischuk Alexander 2785 2
9 GM Dominguez Perez Leinier 2757 ½ - ½ GM Fressinet Laurent 2708 1
10 GM Bacrot Etienne 2723 ½ - ½ GM Wang Hao 2736 11

How else could we define a round (the only one, so far) in which all games ended in draws? But in case you wonder if this affected the classification, we should resort to the language once spoken in another great European capital: status quo...

Meaning among others that Nakamura keeps his lead, while Caruana and Grischuk only have two more rounds to overtake him in the tournament and Mamedyarov in the overall Grand Prix classification. Caruana’s task seems to become more difficult, while Grischuk’s success looks very improbable despite all his efforts.

Full report at the official website.

Full Standings

Photo Gallery

Live Games


10

Round 8: bloody games before the rest day
SNo. Name Rtg Res. Name Rtg SNo.
12 GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2756 0 - 1 GM Bacrot Etienne 2723 10
11 GM Wang Hao 2736 ½ - ½ GM Dominguez Perez Leinier 2757 9
1 GM Fressinet Laurent 2708 ½ - ½ GM Tomashevsky Evgeny 2703 8
2 GM Grischuk Alexander 2785 1 - 0 GM Giri Anish 2737 7
3 GM Caruana Fabiano 2779 1 - 0 GM Gelfand Boris 2764 6
4 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2731 0 - 1 GM Nakamura Hikaru 2772 5

Day by day, the Paris tournament proves to be a lot more than a small part of the World championship cycle. Both players having a theoretical chance to qualify for the Candidates’ tournament in case of a clear tournament win, namely Fabiano Caruana and Alexander Grischuk, won today. However, they remain half a point and one and half points respectively behind the new sole leader, Hikaru Nakamura!

It turns out that the tournament is important in itself. The frequency with which the leader changes from one round to another proves that the players who do not aspire for qualification, are playing with full ambition and strength too. And for the second time from the start, we had four decisive games!

Full report at the official website.

Full Standings

Photo Gallery

Live Games

 

32

Round 7: Bad day for Caruana and Grischuk

SNo. Name Rtg Res. Name Rtg SNo.
4 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2731 ½ - ½ GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2756 12
5 GM Nakamura Hikaru 2772 1 - 0 GM Caruana Fabiano 2779 3
6 GM Gelfand Boris 2764 1 - 0 GM Grischuk Alexander 2785 2
7 GM Giri Anish 2737 ½ - ½ GM Fressinet Laurent 2708 1
8 GM Tomashevsky Evgeny 2703 ½ - ½ GM Wang Hao 2736 11
9 GM Dominguez Perez Leinier 2757 ½ - ½ GM Bacrot Etienne 2723 10

Apart from spectacular moves and well played games, what really makes the spectators’ delight is the permanent change in the classification at the top. Fortunately (for some), the sixth FIDE Grand Prix tournament offered plenty of that so far!

Having reached a joint lead after the pleasant win from yesterday, Caruana suffered a very painful loss against Nakamura, caused by an opening blunder. The American grandmaster displayed the same kind of modesty as after his other win, against Bacrot. He was 'helped by just one bad move of the opponent', that was all.

Full report at the official website.

Full Standings

Photo Gallery

Live Games


top

Round 6: Caruana and Gelfand in the lead

SNo. Name Rtg Res. Name Rtg SNo.
12 GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2756 ½ - ½ GM Dominguez Perez Leinier 2757 9
10 GM Bacrot Etienne 2723 ½ - ½ GM Tomashevsky Evgeny 2703 8
11 GM Wang Hao 2736 ½ - ½ GM Giri Anish 2737 7
1 GM Fressinet Laurent 2708 ½ - ½ GM Gelfand Boris 2764 6
2 GM Grischuk Alexander 2785 ½ - ½ GM Nakamura Hikaru 2772 5
3 GM Caruana Fabiano 2779 1 - 0 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2731 4

Black’s excellent statistics in the previous round did not mark the start of a new trend in the second half of the Grand Prix. Although generally speaking White failed to pose big problems, the overall result favours the first player, with a win and five draws.

As the tournament advances, players seem to be less concerned about specific preparation before each game, possibly in an attempt to keep their minds in good working shape. As revealed during the press conferences, many of them were not familiar in depth with the theory and acted rather in the over-the-board play mode. Or was it more of a generalized effect of surprize in the opening?



Full report at the official website.

Full Standings

Round 6 Photo Gallery


6

Round 5: Black's day

SNo. Name Rtg Res. Name Rtg SNo.
3 GM Caruana Fabiano 2779 ½ - ½ GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2756 12
4 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2731 0 - 1 GM Grischuk Alexander 2785 2
5 GM Nakamura Hikaru 2772 ½ - ½ GM Fressinet Laurent 2708 1
6 GM Gelfand Boris 2764 ½ - ½ GM Wang Hao 2736 11
7 GM Giri Anish 2737 0 - 1 GM Bacrot Etienne 2723 10
8 GM Tomashevsky Evgeny 2703 ½ - ½ GM Dominguez Perez Leinier 2757 9

Experienced players know that a day off can radically change one’s tournament fate, for better or for worse, depending on the way he spends it. It is less common though, that a free day may change statistics to such an extent as noticed in the fifth round in Paris. Before yesterday, Black had managed to win only one game, in the fourth round, while White had won six times. Today, both decisive games ended to Black’s favour; quite a diametral change of tendency, is it not?

Full report at the official website.

Full Standings

Photo Gallery




5

Round 4: First win for Black

SNo. Name Rtg Res. Name Rtg SNo.
12 GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2756 ½ - ½ GM Tomashevsky Evgeny 2703 8
9 GM Dominguez Perez Leinier 2757 1 - 0 GM Giri Anish 2737 7
10 GM Bacrot Etienne 2723 ½ - ½ GM Gelfand Boris 2764 6
11 GM Wang Hao 2736 ½ - ½ GM Nakamura Hikaru 2772 5
1 GM Fressinet Laurent 2708 0 - 1 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2731 4
2 GM Grischuk Alexander 2785 ½ - ½ GM Caruana Fabiano 2779 3

Playing with White has often been referred to as an equivalent of the turn to serve in tennis, but is the right of playing the first move that important really? Looking at the results of the first three rounds in Paris we notice that all the decisive games so far were indeed won by...White!

I believe our hopes for a hard fought tournament are fully justified, those fearing the worse must have relaxed by now, but another intriguing question is looming: will Black win at least one game before the first rest day?

Full report at the official website.

Full standings after Round 4

Round 4 Photo Gallery

Live Games

11

Round 3 results:

SNo. Name Rtg Res. Name Rtg SNo.
2 GM Grischuk Alexander 2785 ½ - ½ GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2756 12
3 GM Caruana Fabiano 2779 1 - 0 GM Fressinet Laurent 2708 1
4 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2731 1 - 0 GM Wang Hao 2736 11
5 GM Nakamura Hikaru 2772 1 - 0 GM Bacrot Etienne 2723 10
6 GM Gelfand Boris 2764 1 - 0 GM Dominguez Perez Leinier 2757 9
7 GM Giri Anish 2737 ½ - ½ GM Tomashevsky Evgeny 2703 8

Things are getting hectic here in Paris. Although the first two rounds had been tense enough, some could have complained about the high drawing rate. The third round had it all: complicated battles and more decisive games than in the previous days taken together, all with the white pieces!

Ever since Capablanca’s sceptical claim that the game of chess is about to be exhausted, chess lovers have been marred by such metaphysical questions: will there be forever room for improvisation, are there other new things under the sun than the well forgotten ones, how many tabula rasa would be left?

Full report at the official website.

Round 3 Photo Gallery

Live Games


4

Round 2 results:

SNo. Name Rtg Res. Name Rtg SNo.
12 GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2756 ½ - ½ GM Giri Anish 2737 7
8 GM Tomashevsky Evgeny 2703 ½ - ½ GM Gelfand Boris 2764 6
9 GM Dominguez Perez Leinier 2757 ½ - ½ GM Nakamura Hikaru 2772 5
10 GM Bacrot Etienne 2723 ½ - ½ GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2731 4
11 GM Wang Hao 2736 ½ - ½ GM Caruana Fabiano 2779 3
1 GM Fressinet Laurent 2708 1 - 0 GM Grischuk Alexander 2785 2

For our limited human powers, chess is practically inexhaustible. If all the players in the World played continuously for all their lives, this would not necessarily mean that they would produce even two identical games. This does not apply to tournament situations though.

From the point of view of the results, the second round in Paris was an identical copy of the first one: five draws and just one decisive game on the last (sixth) board! And once again, this did not at all mean that the day was boring for the spectators. On the contrary, we had some hard fought games and a lot of creative tension.

The pairing system ensures a reasonably fair distribution of colours throughout the tournament. However, things can be a bit chaotic when it comes to games played between the same opponents along the years. The second round offers two suggestive examples of this kind.

Full report at the official website.

Round 2 Photo Gallery

Live Games


7

Round 1 results:

SNo. Name Rtg Res. Name Rtg SNo.
1 GM Fressinet Laurent 2708 ½ - ½ GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2756 12
2 GM Grischuk Alexander 2785 ½ - ½ GM Wang Hao 2736 11
3 GM Caruana Fabiano 2779 ½ - ½ GM Bacrot Etienne 2723 10
4 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2731 ½ - ½ GM Dominguez Perez Leinier 2757 9
5 GM Nakamura Hikaru 2772 ½ - ½ GM Tomashevsky Evgeny 2703 8
6 GM Gelfand Boris 2764 1 - 0 GM Giri Anish 2737 7

Even though we are living in a World of numbers and statistics, the first round results should not deceive us!

True, one decisive game out of six is not much, and some may say we almost did not see any gladiator's blood flowing. In exchange, the spectacle was worth every single penny, all the games were interesting and hard fought. Draws did not come in easily; we have the extreme case of Nakamura who, with less than a minute on his clock, took big risks in a heroic attempt to avoid a peaceful result.

The pozitive first round spirit is reflected by the attitude of Anish Giri, the only player sho had to drink the bitter cup of defeat. Anish declared himself happy with his play despite the final result in a display of true sportsmanship.

Full report at the official website.

Round 1 Photo Gallery

Live Games


Opening Ceremony

Paris - opening ceremony 283

Already before the start of any Formula 1 race, one can feel the latent tension from the way the drivers race their motors with the cars immobile yet. Is a similar feeling to be expected when we speak about a different kind of Grand Prix competitions, such as the Paris 2013 chess tournament?

At first sight, the general picture displayed by the opening ceremony and the technical meeting suggest a negative answer. It was more like a high class and refined spectacle, rather than an anticipation of ruthless fight!

These events were hosted by an absolutely superb hall, Chapelle de la Villedieu, and the audience was honoured by the presence of the FIDE President, Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, the Deputy Director General on Economy and Finance of “GC “Titan” (tournament sponsor) - Svetlana Titova , the Vice President of the urban community of St. Quentin, Alexandra Rosetti and the FFE President, Diego Salazar.

One could hardly guess the gladiators’ spirit lying inside the elegant 12 players, all dressed in suit and tie!

Full report here

Photo Gallery

Official website

 

 

 

 

 
 
Contact:
Media: press@fide.com
General inquiries: office@fide.com
        

FIDE Sponsor
COMMISSIONS
Planning and Development Commission
pdc.fide.com
Arbiters' Commission
arbiters.fide.com
Chess in Education Commission
cis.fide.com
Commission for Women's Chess
womenchess.fide.com
Ethics Commission
ethics.fide.com
Events Commission
events.fide.com
Rules Commission
rules.fide.com
System of Parings Commission
pairings.fide.com
Trainers Commission
trainers.fide.com
 
©  International Chess Federation  |  Privacy Policy