FIDE Grand Prix Semi-Finals Round Report
Wesley So takes the lead in the match against Tabatabaei, while Nakamura and Mamedyarov finish their game in a draw.
In the first round of the semifinals of the third stage of the FIDE Grand Prix in Berlin organised by World Chess Wesley So managed to convert his advantage into a full point against Amin Tabatabaei. Hikaru Nakamura and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov played an uneventful game that finished in a draw.
On Thursday, March 31st, Amin Tabatabaei plays with white pieces and needs to equalize the score in the mini-match to go to tiebreaks.Hikaru Nakamura has Black in the second game against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.
Hikaru decided to play one of the calmest systems in Petroff Defense which is considered as not too ambitious for White. In a post-game interview, Hikaru explained why he didn’t have an intention to go the main lines today: “It’s quite nice to qualify but also very tricky because for the last 24-48 hours my thoughts are on that event and preparation. And then in today’s game, it’s an opening that many people at the Candidates might play, so I did not want to do anything too exciting.”
Queens have left the board after a few moves and in a symmetrical position, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov had no problems keeping the balance. After numerous exchanges, the game was transferred into the ending with rooks and opposite-coloured bishops and finished in a draw once the players reached the 30thmove. “It was one of this Grandmaster’s draws”, said Shakhriyar with a smile. He congratulated Hikaru on qualifying for the Candidates tournament and added: “For chess, it is very important that players like Hikaru are in the Candidates. He is very popular, famous online and in the chess world in general.”
It seems Hikaru Nakamura doesn’t spend any day without chess! He won the Titled Tuesday tournament yesterday on his free day and was in a hurry to get back to his hotel to take part in the Arena Kings after today’s round.
Wesley So and Amin Tabatabaei went for a very complicated line in the Queen’s Gambit Declined.
After blitzing out 18 moves Wesley So spent lots of time trying to figure out the White’s plan. The line was new for him and he was not really happy with what he got out of the opening. Both players came to the conclusion that Amin should have installed the knight on c4 right away no matter what happens but the Iranian player hesitated and played Rf7 instead. After trading the knights on a4, Black left with a passive knight on f6 versus White’s strong bishop. After losing b7 pawn Black position was hopeless but Wesley was spending lots of time and played precisely making sure he doesn’t give chances to his opponent. Remembering the miraculous escape of Amin in the game against Yu Yangyi, Wesley So made sure no perpetual checks will be on the board today.
Amin Tabatabaei: “It’s great to play against such strong opponents. I am getting more and more experienced. If somebody can punish me in these positions, it’s top players like Wesley. I am a bit disappointed how the game went but I need these losses to be a better player.”
Pairing for the second game of semi-finals:
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov — Hikaru Nakamura
Amin Tabatabaei — Wesley So
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