Rapport and Dominguez will face Nakamura and Aronian in the semifinals of the FIDE Grand Prix 2022

The tiebreaks of the FIDE Grand Prix 2022 ended with Rapport and Dominguez being the semifinalists of Group B and D respectively. Tomorrow in the semifinals Rapport will face Nakamura, while Dominguez will fight against Aronian for a spot in the Grand Prix finals.

ROUND 1

Group D tiebreak between So and Dominguez started with the Queen’s Gambit Accepted. It was a solid game from the beginning, which ended in a draw.

Group B tiebreak between Wojtaszek and Rapport started with the King’s Indian Defense and White looked slightly better in the middlegame. That wasn’t enough for Wojtaszek though, who was trapped in a mating net and eventually lost the first game. “In a mini-match of two games, winning the first one with Black is absolutely massive!” Evgeny Miroshnichenko commented.

ROUND 2

Wojtaszek chose the Sicilian for his must-win game but after a classy pawn sacrifice, Rapport managed to equalize the position and finish the game with a draw. With a 1.5-0.5 score in Rapport’s favor, the Hungarian GM advances to the semifinals, where he will face Group A leader Hikaru Nakamura.

In the Dominguez-So game there was some early tension with White being slightly better in the Italian Opening. So went for a king attack, but Dominguez found 32.Kh1 with 10 seconds on his clock and won the game. “That’s what chess is. You train so hard and then everything depends on that crucial few seconds of decision making.” So stated afterward.

In the semifinals, Dominguez will face Group C leader, Levon Aronian to claim his position for the Grand Prix finals.

Join our live stream with GM Evgenij Miroshnichenko and WIM Jesse February and watch the games.