Second Leg of the Grand Prix Series Opens in Belgrade
The second leg of the 2022 Fide Grand Prix series was officially opened in Belgrade, Serbia. In the next 14 days, 16 top world players will try to advance in the 2022 GP series in hope of securing one of the two places leading to the Candidates Tournament
The Opening Ceremony was held at the ballroom of the “Dom Grade” venue – an impressive building from the 1920s, which was once home to the Serbian Royal Guard. The guest list included prominent Serbian chess figures, athletes, senior government officials and business representatives, and was attended by many journalists.
The host of the evening, Dragan Lazic, the president of the Serbian chess federation, reminded the guests of the long-lasting chess tradition in Serbia and former Yugoslavia and the great popularity the game has in this part of Europe.
“The Serbian public has been eagerly anticipating to once again see some of the strongest world chess players”, Lazic said.
The president of the Serbian chess federation also emphasized that chess is a game of peace and that “in these complex and difficult times we should all remember to act in the spirit of the motto of FIDE: ‘Gens Una Sumus’ – ‘We are one Family’”.
FIDE Vice President Lukasz Turlej noted how popular chess is in Serbia and also reflected on the rich chess history of the country: “We appreciate how many people play chess in Serbia and we are happy that such a big and an important event is hosted in this country.”
Round 1 pairings:
Pool A:
Alexander Grischuk (RCF), 2764 — Dmitry Andreikin (RCF), 2724
Etienne Bacrot (France), 2642 — Sam Shankland (USA), 2708
Pool B:
Pentala Harikrishna (India), 2719 — Nikita Vitiugov, (FIDE), 2726
Anish Giri (Netherlands), 2772 — Amin Tabatabaei (Iran), 2623
Pool C:
Richard Rapport (Hungary), 2763 — Vladimir Fedoseev (FIDE), 2704
Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (India), 2727 — Alexei Shirov (Spain), 2704
Pool D:
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), 2761 — Alexandr Predke (FIDE), 2682
Yangyi Yu (China), 2713 — Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), 2767
About the 2022 Grand Prix series:
The three-tournament series which will unfold from February to April features 24 of the world’s best Grandmasters competing in two out of three events. To make the series more exciting with a minimum number of draws, FIDE and World Chess have changed the format compared to previous events. In this series, each event consists of a group stage followed by a knockout semi-final and final.
Two winners of the Series will qualify for the Candidates Tournament that will take place later in 2022. The prize fund for each event is EUR 150,000, which is a EUR 20,000 increase from 2019.
The second leg of the FIDE Grand Prix will take place in the Crowne Plaza in Belgrade (Vladimira Popovića 10) from March 1 to 14. The rounds start at 3PM local time. Players from the Russian Federation are participating in the event under neutral status and FIDE flag, according to the decision by FIDE.
The games will be broadcast live at worldchess.com.
