Giri and Vidit lead their groups with a full point at the FIDE Grand Prix 2022
Day 2 of the FIDE Grand Prix 2022 in Belgrade ended with Anish Giri and Vidit Gujrathi leading Groups B and C respectively with a full point, while Grischuk suffered his second loss in a row.
Round 2 started with the ceremonial first move, made by the Serbian minister of Internal Affairs Aleksandar Vulin, in the game between Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.
POOL A
After an intense round 1, GM Alexander Grischuk had a promising position against the American GM Sam Shankland. In the endgame though Shankland seemed fully in control with one extra pawn, and creating winning chances. Eventually, he managed to convert this advantage into a point, leaving Grischuk with 0/2.
Right after Shankland-Grischuk finished, Bacrot-Andreikin ended in a draw after a threefold repetition. With a score of 1.5/2, Shankland and Andreiking are co-leading Group A after Round 2.
POOL B
GM Anish Giri had an exciting game against the co-leader of Group B Nikita Vitiugov. After a successful attack on the kingside, Giri struck his second win in a row
The Iranian GM Amin Tabatabaei saved a very difficult position against Pentala Harikrishna, and welcomed the draw with relief! After this result, Giri is leading Group B with a full point.
POOL C
Shirov-Rapport was the first result of the day with another quick draw for the Hungarian GM after 30 moves.
On the other hand, the Vidit-Fedoseev game was the last result of the day with the Indian GM winning a brilliant game. Right after the 40-mark move, Fedoseev blundered and Vidit grabbed the chance to lead Group C with a full point.
POOL D
The MVL-Mamedyarov showed early signs that it was going to be a sharp and exciting game. Barely 20 minutes into the game, Mamedyarov sacrificed a piece and spiced up the Open Spanish. Both players played really accurately though and “inhumanly” as GM Evgenij Miroshnichenko commented, which led them to a move repetition.
“I love to play riskily; it’s my style. Today it was an amazing draw. I take some risks; sometimes I win, sometimes I lose, and sometimes I draw. Today it was a draw, and it’s ok”, Mamedyarov said after the game.
The Predke-Yu game started with a rare variation of the Petroff Defense, as Shirov-Rapport, and after a fighting game, the two GMs agreed to a draw. All players of Group D have a 1/2 score, which makes us wonder who is going to break through first!
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