Grand Prix: Ding and Andreikin Replaced by Esipenko and Wojtaszek
FIDE has named two replacements for the first leg of the Grand Prix after receiving last minute information that two players will not be able to compete in the tournament that starts in Berlin on February 3 due to visa and health issues.
GMs Ding and Andreikin are replaced by GMs Esipenko and Wojtaszek. FIDE President, upon consultation with the organizers and arbiters, made a decision on the replacements as per event’s regulations.
Pool A:
- Alexander Grischuk (Russia), 2764
- Hikaru Nakamura, (USA), 2736
- Andrey Esipenko* (Russia), 2714
- Etienne Bacrot (France), 2642
Pool B:
- Radoslaw Wojtaszek* (Poland), 2686
- Richard Rapport (Hungary), 2763
- Vladimir Fedoseev (Russia), 2704
- Grigoriy Oparin (Russia), 2681
Pool C:
- Levon Aronian (USA), 2772
- Vidit Gujrathi (India), 2727
- Daniil Dubov (Russia), 2720
- Vincent Keymer (Germany), 2664
Pool D:
- Wesley So (USA), 2772
- Leinier Dominguez (USA), 2752
- Pentala Harikrishna (India), 2717
- Alexei Shirov (Spain), 2704
FIDE Grand Prix, organized by World Chess, is a 3-event series that features 24 players, each of whom will compete in two out of three tournaments. Two winners of the Grand Prix Series will qualify for the Candidates Tournament. The series will take place in Berlin, Germany and Belgrade, Serbia.
The prize fund for each event is EUR 150,000.
