Russian Grandmaster Dmitry Andreikin won the second stage of FIDE Grand Prix in Tashkent with 7/11 points.

His nearest followers Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Hikaru Nakamura finished half a point behind.

Sergey Karjakin and Fabiano Caruana achieved wins in the last round, while four games were drawn. 

Read full round 11 report here

Round 10: All games drawn, Andreikin maintains lead

All six games in round 10 of the FIDE Grand Prix in Tashkent were drawn, but not without the excitement both on and off the board!
The two most entertaining games of the day, Mamedyarov-Vachier-Lagrave and Giri-Jobava, kept the audience for long time in front of the screens.
As the games finished, the press conferences provided valuable insights into players' thinking process. There were huge disagreements in position evaluations!
In the other games, Caruana escaped from unpleasant position, while Andreikin held Gelfand to remain in the lead with one round to go.

Read full round 10 report here

Round 9: Andreikin defeats Jobava and takes the lead

In the ninth round of FIDE Grand Prix Dmitry Andreikin took the solo lead after defeating Baadur Jobava. Baadur misplayed in the opening and let his opponent to get huge advantage which Andreikin converted into a full point. In yet another decisive game Shakhriyar Mamedyarov won against Dmitry Jakovenko, who blundered in the time trouble. After 9 rounds Shakhriyar shares the second place together with Hikaru Nakamura, who drew with Sergey Karjakin. Teimour Radjabov keeps on playing Berlin Defence with both colors but the outcome remains the same so far - draw against Fabiano Caruana today. Full of fight games Vachier-Lagrave-Giri and Kasimdzhanov-Gelfand finished in a draw.

Read full round 9 report here

Round 8: Baadur Jobava wins and catches Andreikin and Nakamura

In what was the shortest round in FIDE Grand Prix in Tashkent so far, five out of six games finished in a draw but the only decisive game Gelfand-Jobava has changed the situation in the tournament. Baadur Jobava joined Dmitry Andreikin and Hikaru Nakamura at the top. All other games finished in a draw. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov are only half a point behind the leaders and the last three rounds will be decisive for the final results of the tournament. The ninth round will start at 2 pm local time on 31st of October.

Read full round 8 report here

Round 7: Karjakin and Caruana victorious

Sergey Karjakin defeated Anish Giri in round 7 of the FIDE Grand Prix in Tashkent to reverse the negative trend after two consecutive losses.

In the clash between the winners of previous FIDE Grand Prix in Baku, Fabiano Caruana and Boris Gelfand, the Italian star scored a victory that pushed the former world championship challenger to the bottom of the cross-table.

The remaining four games were drawn.

Results and pairings are here, crosstable is here. Visit also the photo gallery and replay the games.

Read full round 7 report here

Round 6: Andreikin wins and catches Nakamura at the top of the table

Dmitry Andreikin defeated Sergey Karjakin, who got in huge time trouble, and shares the lead with Hikaru Nakamura, who drew with Fabiano Caruana. In yet another decisive game Rustam Kasimdzhanov got a winning position against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov but after wild complications the game ended in favor of Azeri player. Boris Gelfand luckily escaped in the endgame against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Teimour Radjabov chose to play Berlin Defence with Black pieces this time and hold a draw against Anish Giri after 52 moves. Jobava and Jakovenko drew a very complicated game. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Baadur Jobava share the second place half a point behind the leaders. 

Read full round 6 report here

Round 5: Hikaru Nakamura takes the lead

As the weather in Tashkent was changing from summer to winter, the tournament situation had also significant changes. After 7 hours of play Hikaru Nakamura defeated Boris Gelfand to replace Maxime Vachier-Lagrave on the top of the table. The leader of the first part of the tournament lost against Dmitry Yakovenko, who scored his first victory in the tournament. Baadur Jobava sacrificed a piece and won an exciting game against Sergey Karjakin. Other games Radjabov-Andreikin, Kasimdzhanov-Giri and Caruana-Mamedyarov finished in a draw. Baadur Jobava, Dmitry Andreikin and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave share the second place half a point behind of Hikaru Nakamura.

Read full round 5 report here

Round 4: All games drawn, Vachier-Lagrave maintains lead

In the longest game of the day Maxime Vachier-Lagrave tried to convert an extra pawn against Sergey Karjakin, but there was no way through and the players settled for a tie.

With all games drawn, Vachier-Lagrave continues to lead the standings with 3 points.

Saturday 25th October is the first rest day.

Results and pairings are here, crosstable is here. Visit also the photo gallery and replay the games.



Andreikin - Kasimdzhanov 1/2-1/2

In the regular variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined white decided to open the center, but this only led to massive exchanges.

Before a contest for the open d-file could occur, the players repeated the moves and signed a draw on move 22.



Gelfand - Jakovenko 1/2-1/2

Another Queen's Gambit Declined, but this time Gelfand's favourite Bf4 line.

Black solved the opening problems relatively easy. He was quick to seize the open a-file and generate counterplay.

White could not take advantage of the e5-outpost and was forced to allow exchange of the pieces. Draw was signed on move 31.



Giri - Caruana 1/2-1/2

This game also leaned towards QGD, but Giri took it to the Catalan setup. Black was able to conveniently open the center and trade the Queens.

After further exchanges, a double rook endgame occurred on the board.

Both sides had the weak pawns, but then the queen's flank was cleared and the players agreed to draw.



Mamedyarov - Nakamura 1/2-1/2

The Exchange variation of the Queen's Gambit Declined on the board, but the two aggressive players didn't wait long before picking the fight.

A nice combination with 14.Nf4 left white with an extra pawn, still black was far from being worse.

Soon Nakamura took the pawn back, provoking Mamedyarov to sacrifice an exchange to collect the queenside pawns.

White got his pawns rolling, but black was up to the task, trading a pair of rooks and establishing counterplay to force white to accept a draw.



Jobava - Radjabov 1/2-1/2

A very entertaining Gruenfeld Indian where black offers to sacrifice two pawns to extend white's center. Jobava preferred to develop the pieces instead.

The resulting position was very interesting, with two white knights battling against two black bishops.

White established a dominant knight on d5, but black was not bothered by this as his pieces had the scope to dance around.

After the queens went off, the players agreed to a draw around the time control.



Vachier-Lagrave - Karjakin 1/2-1/2

A curious Queen's Indian game where black suddenly decided to give up a pawn to have opposite-coloured bishops on the board.

But with the queens and rooks on, there was still lots to play for. The advance of the white pawns left both kings weakened.

At one point Vachier-Lagrave missed the opportunity to win the black g7-pawn.

After lots of maneuvering, white couldn't set his passed pawns in motion and eventually conceded a draw.

Round 3: three decisive games

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave kept his half point lead in round 3 of the FIDE Grand Prix in Tashkent. He managed to hold a draw with Black against Teimour Radjabov after long defence. Sergey Karjakin outplayed his compatriot Dmitry Jakovenko and shares the second place with Hikaru Nakamura and Dmitry Andreikin, who drew with Anish Giri and Fabiano Caruana respectively. Rustam Kasimdzhanov sacrificed a pawn in the opening but lost the thread of the game in a complicated position against Baadur Jobava. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov profited from a mistake in the endgame by Boris Gelfand after 6 hours of play.

Standings after Round 3

Read full Round 3 report here

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave sole leader after two rounds

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave became the sole leader in the tournament after defeating Rustam Kasimdzhanov. It turned out to be the only decisive game in the second round as all other five encounters finished in a draw. Fabiano Caruana was very close to strike back after his unfortunate start but was held to a draw by Baadur Jobava. Dmitry Andreikin and Hikaru Nakamura were first to finish their game after repeating known line from Anand-Shirov. Anish Giri introduced an interesting novelty in the opening but didn't manage to convert his advantage against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. Boris Gelfand and Dmitry Jakovenko could not break through stubborn defenses of their opponents Sergey Karjakin and Teimour Radjabov.

Read full Round 2 report here

Round 1: Andreikin, Nakamura and Vachier-Lagrave first winners in Grand Prix

Dmitry Andreikin, Hikaru Nakamura and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave defeated their opponents today, perhaps, inspired by the great Champions Bobby Fisher, Tigran Petrossian and Mikahil Tal (whose portraits are on the background of the photo from the opening ceremony). Maxime Vachier-Lagrave started the Grand Prix series with victory over the top seed of the tournament Fabiano Caruana. In a “must see” game Nakamura vs Jobava, Georgian player sacrificed a rook for 3 pawns but blundered in a very complex position being short of time. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov unexpectedly lost in the endgame with pawn up against Dmitry Andreikin. Three other games Giri-Gelfand, Kasimdzhanov-Jakovenko, Radjabov-Karjakin were drawn. 

Read full Round 1 report here

The second stage of FIDE Grand Prix series 2014-2015 was officially opened on Monday evening at the Gallery of Fine Arts in Tashkent. The tournament's opening ceremony was attended by chess officials, sponsors, national and international media. From 21st of October till 2nd of November over eleven rounds, the strongest players in the world will compete in the round robin tournament. The tournament follows the first stage which recently finished in the capital of Azerbaijan. Fabiano Caruano (ITA) and Boris Gelfand (ISR) tied for the first place in Baku Grand Prix and are the leaders in the third GP series.

The opening ceremony started with speeches. The Chairman of the Chess Federation of Uzbekistan Alisher Saidabbasovich Sultanov took the floor to welcome all participants and guests.

FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov expressed his gratitude to the government of the country for their huge support and decisive contribution into development of chess.

The Chief Arbiter of the tournament IA Husan Turdialiev conducted the ceremony of drawing of lots. Each participant was proposed to choose one of the 12 bottles of cognac with the number inside of each. By coincidence the name of the cognac “Filatov” turned to be same as the name of the President of Russian Chess Federation Andrey Filatov and this fact has not escaped the attention of players.

Round 1 pairings:

First symbolic moves were made by former World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov and FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.

Before the opening ceremony the technical meeting took place. The Chief Arbiter of the tournament IA Husan Turdialiev and FIDE CEO Geoffrey Borg explained technical details, reminded the key regulations and helped to choose the Appeal Committee.

The composition of the Appeals Committee in Tashkent 2014 FIDE Grand Prix will be:
Chairman: Javier Ochoa de Echaguen (Spain)
Members: Boris Gelfand (Israel), Teimour Radjabov (Azerbadjan)
Reserves: Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan), Sergei Karjakin (Russian)

Official tournament website http://tashkent2014.fide.com/