FIDE Grand Prix Belgrade: Round 4 Recap
A day of draws in the Grand Prix as Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is the only one to score a victory, producing a first decisive game in Pool D
The fourth round of the second leg of the FIDE Grand Prix was mostly calm as seven out of eight games ended in a draw. The only one to win was the World Blitz champion and seasoned top-class player, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (MVL), who scored an important victory in Pool D, breaking a three-round long cycle of draws in that group.
In the overall results, Anish Giri is doing best with 3/5, leading Pool B, followed by five GMs on 2.5 points: Andreikin and Shankland (leaders in Pool A), Rapport and Gujrathi (leaders in Pool C) and MVL, who leads in Pool D.
Pool A:
The game between Dmitry Andreikin and Alexander Grischuk was the first to finish after an hour and 15 minutes. The two played a well-researched line in the Grunfeld Defence, and the game followed a familiar theoretical path leading to a draw. As Grischuk said – “Dmitry only checked if I knew the theory and it turns out I do”.
Andreikin noted that he was happy with a draw given the overall standings as he prepares for the key duel in the group – the Round 5 encounter with the other leader of Pool A, Sam Shankland. Alexander Grischuk was more direct: “I can now buy a [plane] ticket, as it’s guaranteed I won’t reach the playoffs”.
In the other game in this group, Sam Shankland drew with Etienne Bacrot. White got a better position out of the opening but did not manage to coordinate his pieces and allowed Black to regroup. By move 14, White’s advantage melted. Then it was Etienne’s turn to misstep – his rook made a long voyage to b4, but it was just a waste of time. Shankland achieved a virtually won position but failed to find 34.e5! He went for Black’s a-pawn, hoping to advance his a-runner, but Bacrot also had a pawn on c5, which played an important role in his defensive setup. In the end, the Frenchman gave up his knight for White’s a-runner to collect Shankland’s pawns on the kingside to secure a draw.
Pool B:
Nikita Vitiugov split a point with Pentala Harikrishna. In the Anti-Marshal, the two quickly achieved a balanced position. Although it was not without venom, neither side had any serious chances. Both opponents made very logical moves, and a draw came as a logical outcome.
Amin M. Tabatabaei and Anish Giri drew their round four game as well. The Rossolimo attack of the Sicilian was played, and both sides wanted to force the other out of their preparation, but neither succeeded.
After Black played 11…b5, Tabatabaei spent 15 minutes thinking about his response, but he didn’t manage to find anything sharp. Giri easily equalised, and the game moved towards calmer waters. After massive exchanges, the position transpired to a rook endgame, and the two agreed to split a point on the move 31.
Pool C:
Vladimir Fedoseev was eager to catch up with Richard Rapport, but the latter opted for a very solid Petroff Defence. The two followed a critical line in which the Hungarian introduced a novelty recommended by chess engines. After exchanges on the queenside, Fedoseev managed to win a pawn, but Rapport had two strong bishops as compensation. The position was even, and the two agreed to split a point on the move 42.
Alexei Shirov and Vidit Santosh Gujrathi played the longest game of the round (five and a half hours) before deciding to call it even. In the Open Variation Ruy Lopez, the opponents tested a very old line first played by the fifth World Champion Max Euwe in a couple of games back in 1920. The encounter played more than a century later did not change the evaluation of the position as safe for Black. The opponents ended up in a roughly equal endgame in which Shirov tested the precision of his opponent but to no avail. The game was drawn on move 57.
Pool D:
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Yu Yangyi drew their game. In the Ragozin Defence, Black solved all the opening problems and reached equality. Things shifted after White’s move 21.Rb2, allowing Black to get an edge after seemingly illogical knight exchange on d4. However, Yu either missed or underestimated a very strong move 22...b5 creating a protected b5-passer. As played, White avoided the worst, and after mutual annihilation of the weak pawns, the opponents split a point on move 30.
The duel between Alexandr Predke and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave was the first one to produce a decisive outcome in Pool D after four rounds.
Vachier-Lagrave played a less common line in his trademarked Najdorf. In a sharp game where both players forced each other out of preparation, Predke was the first one to err, venturing upon a breakthrough in the centre that did not work out for him.
The following middlegame was a typical complicated Sicilian battle: MVL allowed White to exert pressure on the e-file, aiming for the uncastled king, but at the same time, he had enough resources to launch a counter-attack on the queenside. It was all going Black’s way in this critical portion of the game as the Frenchman completely outplayed his opponent. On move 30 White had to give up an exchange, and the rest was a smooth sail for MVL. The Frenchman is now the leader of Group D.
Round 5
Saturday is a rest day at the FIDE Grand Prix. Round five will be played on Sunday, 6th March, from 3 PM local (CET) time.
The pairings for the fifth round are as follows:
Pool A:
Sam Shankland (2704) vs Dmitry Andreikin (2724)
Etienne Bacrot (2635) vs Alexander Grischuk (2758)
Pool B:
Amin M. Tabatabaei (2623) vs Nikita Vitiugov (2726)
Anish Giri (2771) vs Pentala Harikrishna (2716)
Pool C:
Alexei Shirov (2691) vs Vladimir Fedoseev (2704)
Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (2723) vs Richard Rapport (2762)
Pool D:
Alexandr Predke (2682) vs Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (2776)
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2761) vs Yu Yangyi (2713)
Leading partners supporting the FIDE Grand Prix Series 2022 include:
Kaspersky as the Official Cybersecurity Partner;
Algorand as the Official Blockchain Partner;
Prytek as the Technology Transfer Partner;
FIDE Online Arena as the official Partner.
Text: Milan Dinic
Photo: Mark Livshitz
