Moscow Grand Prix 2017

**Wayne Komer** · Thursday, 4th May, 2017, 04:47 PM

Re: Moscow Grand Prix 2017

Moscow Grand Prix 2017

May 4, 2017

The Grand Prix tournament will be starting on May 12, in about a week’s time.

Recall that the FIDE Grand Prix 2017 is a series of four chess tournaments that form part of the qualification cycle for the 2018 Candidates Tournament.

In each tourney there are 18 players from a total of 24. Each player will compete in three of the four tournaments.

Each is an 18-player, 9-round Swiss.

The top two finishers from the Grand Prix will qualify for the 2018 Candidates Tournament.

The first competition of the series was the Sharjah Grand Prix in the UAE in February, 2017.

The commentators were Viktor Bologan and Tyler Schwarz, who was new to the job.

The final standing was MVL, Mamedyarov, Grischuck with 5.5 points each and Nakamura, Ding Liren, Adams, Nepomniachtchi and Jakovenko with 5.0 points each. Alexander Grischuk won the tournament on the basis of tie-breaks.

I have received four identical invitations via email to buy tickets for Moscow. They read:

Tickets to attend the FIDE 2017 Moscow Grand Prix are now available for purchase!

If you want to see the likes of Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Hikaru Nakamura, Anish Giri, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Harikrishna Pentala and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in action, then simply click on the button below.

The 2017 FIDE World Chess Moscow Grand Prix is held from May 12th to May 21st.

The venue is Moscow’s digital hub, the DI Telegraph space in the historic Central Telegraph building, which hosted the 2016 FIDE World Chess Candidates Tournament.

The general tickets are 1500 rubles and the VIP are 8000 rubles. Today’s conversion rate is 1000 rubles = $CAN 23.50, so $35 and $188. One assumes that these are for the tournament rather than daily.

The players are:

Alexander Grischuk (RUS)
Anish Giri (NED)
Boris Gelfand (ISR)
Ding Liren (CHN)
Ernesto Inarkiev (RUS)
Evgeny Tomashevsky (RUS)
Francisco Vallejo Pons (ESP)
Hikaru Nakamura (USA)
Hou Yifan (CHN)
Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS)
Jon Ludvig Hammer (NOR)
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA)
Michael Adams (ENG)
Pentala Harikrishna (IND)
Peter Svidler (RUS)
Salem Saleh (UAE)
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE)
Teimour Radjabov (AZE)

And after Moscow? The Norway tournament!

http://forum.chesstalk.com/showthrea...way#post110928

**Wayne Komer** · Thursday, 11th May, 2017, 03:45 PM

Re: Moscow Grand Prix 2017

Moscow Grand Prix 2017

May 11, 2017

Schedule

Opening Ceremony – May 11, 2017
Round 1 – May 12
Round 2 – May 13
Round 3 – May 14
Round 4 – May 15
Round 5 – May 16
Round 6 – May 17
Rest Day – May 18
Round 7 – May 19
Round 8 – May 20
Round 9 – May 21

Games start at 14:00 local or 7 a.m. Toronto/Montreal time

https://worldchess.com/gp2017/

The coverage is being broadcast at worldchess.com for which there is a fee. It is not clear if chess24 or chessbomb will be carrying the games.

Round One Pairings

1. Vachier-Lagrave-Adams
2. Inarkiev-Nakamura
3. Giri-Gelfand
4. Radjabov-Ding Liren
5. Mamedyarov-Vallejo Pons
6. Tomashevsky-Svidler
7. Nepomniachtchi-Hou Yifan
8. Salem-Grischuk
9. Harikrishna-Hammer

http://chess-results.com/tnr280762.a...=2&rd=1&wi=821

Mamedyarov and Giri have just finished playing in the Russian League in Sochi and have live ratings of 2794.9 and 2772.1 respectively. Grischuk (2758.3), Svidler (2753.8) and Nepomniachtchi (2747.8) were there as well. Fortunately there is no time shift to get accustomed to.

**Wayne Komer** · Friday, 12th May, 2017, 03:39 PM

Re: Moscow Grand Prix 2017

Moscow Grand Prix 2017

May 12, 2017

Round One

From the official FIDE site:

The opening ceremony for the second stage of FIDE Grand Prix Series took place in Moscow

A host of VIP guests gathered tonight at the Opening Ceremony for the eagerly anticipated FIDE 2017 Moscow Grand Prix.

Israel Gelfer, Vice President of FIDE, the world’s governing body of chess and Ilya Merenzon, CEO of World Chess, organizer of the Moscow Grand Prix, welcomed guests from the worlds of sport, entertainment, culture and politics who rubbed shoulders at the lavish event with the 18 Grandmasters who are competing for a prize fund of 130,000 euros.

Mr Gelfer said: “Russia has an enduring love affair with chess so it is always special to bring a World Championship Grand Prix event back to Moscow. The 2017 Grand Prix has an incredibly strong field and I know that there will be some incredible games between the world’s best.”

Ilya Merenzon, the Chief Executive of World Chess, the organiser of the World Chess Championship cycle, said: “The eyes of the chess world will be on Moscow once more. We are expecting thousands of spectators at the venue and millions more will watch every move at www.worldchess.com. ”

Evgeny Miroshnichenko is the commentator and Anastasiya Karlovich is doing the interviews. We last saw Evgeny commentating on the Women’s World Chess Championship in February. He looks very natty in suit jacket and bow tie.

Alexander Grischuk was suffering from a bad cold, so went for a short draw. Salem said he usually loses in the first round therefore he was good with that too.

David Llada tweeted this: Whoever paid $100.000 for AR Saleh Salem to play in the Grand Prix must be a bit disappointed with his 11 moves draw against Grischuk... :-/

That was the only non-game of the round.

The Inarkiev-Nakamura game looked like it was entirely pregame analysis but Hikaru said that he found all his moves over the board.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov has been on a winning tear, winning all his games (4) in the Russian Teams at Sochi and before that, first at Shamkir and ending Wesley So’s winning streak.

The longest game is Harikrishna-Hammer and Anastasiya comes in to help Miro who has been talking alone straight for five hours. At seven hours there was a draw and so Hou Yifan is leading the tournament with the only win.

The games:

Moscow Grand Prix 2017
Round 1, May 12, 2017
MVL-Adams, Michael
C89 Ruy Lopez, Marshall Counter-Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.c3 d5 9.exd5 Nxd5 10.Nxe5 Nxe5 11.Rxe5 c6 12.d3 Bd6 13.Re1 Bf5 14.Qf3 Bg6 15.Be3 Nxe3 16.Rxe3 Qg5 17.Na3 a5 18.Rae1 a4 19.Bd1 Bf4 20.h4 Qf6 21.Re7 Bd2 22.Qxf6 gxf6 23.R1e2 Bc1 24.Rc2 Bh6 25.Be2 Rfe8 26.Rxe8+ Rxe8 27.g4 1/2-1/2

Round 1, May 12, 2017
Inarkiev, Ernesto – Nakamura, Hikaru
D37 QGD, Hastings variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 c5 7.dxc5 Bxc5 8.cxd5 Nxd5 9.Nxd5 exd5 10.a3 Nc6 11.Bd3 Bb6 12.O-O Bg4 13.h3 Bh5 14.b4 a6 15.Rb1 d4 16.b5 axb5 17.Rxb5 Bxf3 18.Qb1 Bc7 19.Bxh7+ Kh8 20.gxf3 Bxf4 21.exf4 Ne7 22.Rh5 Ra5 23.Bf5+ Kg8 24.Bh7+ Kh8 25.Bf5+ Kg8 26.Bh7+ 1/2-1/2

Round 1, May 12, 2017
Giri, Anish – Gelfand, Boris
B35 Sicilian, Accelerated Fianchetto, Uogele variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nc3 Nc6 3.Nf3 g6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 O-O 8.Bb3 d5 9.exd5 Na5 10.Qd2 Nxb3 11.Nxb3 b5 12.Nxb5 Qxd5 13.Qxd5 Nxd5 14.Bd4 Nb4 15.O-O-O Nxa2+ 16.Kb1 Nb4 17.Bxg7 Kxg7 18.Rhe1 Bf5 19.N3d4 Kf6 20.Nxf5 gxf5 21.Rd4 a5 22.g4 Rg8 23.h3 h5 24.gxf5 Rad8 25.Rf4 Rd5 26.Nc3 Rxf5 27.Ne4+ Kg6 28.Rxf5 Kxf5 29.Ng3+ Kg6 30.Rxe7 Rd8 31.Kc1 Na2+ 32.Kb1 Nb4 33.Kc1 Na2+ 34.Kb1 1/2-1/2

Round 1, May 12, 2017
Radjabov, Teimour – Ding, Liren
D11 QGD Slav

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Bd3 Nbd7 6.b3 Bd6 7.Bb2 O-O 8.Nbd2 b6 9.O-O Bb7 10.Qe2 c5 11.Rad1 Ne4 12.cxd5 exd5 13.Ba6 Bxa6 14.Qxa6 Re8 15.dxc5 Ndxc5 16.Qe2 Rc8 17.Rc1 Bf8 18.Rfd1 Qe7 19.Nb1 Qb7 20.Nc3 Red8 21.Rc2 a6 22.h3 b5 23.Rdc1 Ne6 24.Qd3 Rc5 25.Ne2 Rdc8 26.Nfd4 Rxc2 27.Rxc2 N4c5 28.Qd1 Nxd4 29.Bxd4 Ne6 30.Rd2 a5 31.Bb2 Rc5 32.Nd4 Nxd4 33.Bxd4 Rc6 34.Bb2 Rc5 35.Bd4 Rc6 36.Bb2 Rc5 37.a3 Qc6 38.Kh2 h6 39.g3 b4 40.a4 Be7 41.Bd4 Rc1 42.Qg4 Bf6 43.Bxf6 Qxf6 44.Kg2 Rc5 45.Qf3 1/2-1/2

Round 1, May 12, 2017
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar - Vallejo Pons, Francisco
D31 QGD, Janowski variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 a6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Nf3 c6 6.e4 dxe4 7.Ng5 Be7 8.Bc4 Nh6 9.Ngxe4 Nf5 10.d5 O-O 11.Bf4 cxd5 12.Nxd5 Nc6 13.O-O Be6 14.Re1 Bxd5 15.Bxd5 Bb4 16.Nc3 Nfd4 17.Be4 Re8 18.Re3 g6 19.h4 Ne6 20.Qxd8 Raxd8 21.Bxc6 bxc6 22.Rae1 Be7 23.g3 Nxf4 24.Rxe7 Rxe7 25.Rxe7 Nd5 26.Re4 Nxc3 27.bxc3 Rd5 28.Rc4 Kf8 29.Kf1 Ke7 30.Rxc6 1/2-1/2

Round 1, May 12, 2017
Tomashevsky, Evgeny – Svidler, Peter
D90 Grunfeld, Three Knights variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Nf3 Bg7 5.h4 c6 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bxf6 Bxf6 8.e3 e6 9.Qc2 Nd7 10.O-O-O O-O 11.Kb1 Bg7 12.g4 Qe7 13.cxd5 exd5 14.Bd3 Nb6 15.Rhg1 Bd7 16.Ne5 Bxe5 17.dxe5 Qxe5 18.f4 Qxe3 19.Bxg6 Qxf4 20.g5 fxg6 21.Qxg6+ Kh8 22.Qxh6+ Kg8 23.Qg6+ Kh8 24.Qh6+ Kg8 25.Qg6+ 1/2-1/2

Round 1, May 12, 2017
Nepomniachtchi, Ian – Hou, Yifan
D35 QGD, Exchange variation

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 c5 7.Rb1 Be7 8.Bb5+ Bd7 9.Bxd7+ Nxd7 10.Rxb7 cxd4 11.cxd4 Nb6 12.Qd2 Qc8 13.Rxe7+ Kxe7 14.Nf3 f6 15.O-O Kf7 16.e5 f5 17.g4 Rd8 18.Qg5 Kg8 19.Qh5 Rf8 20.Ba3 Qc6 21.Ng5 h6 22.Rc1 Qd7 23.Bxf8 Rxf8 24.Nh3 Qxd4 25.gxf5 Qxe5 26.Qg6 Rf6 27.Qg4 Rxf5 28.Qg3 Qd4 29.Re1 Rf6 30.Qg2 Nd5 31.Kh1 Qd3 32.Rg1 Qf3 33.Rb1 Qf5 34.Rg1 Rf7 35.Re1 Rf6 36.Rg1 Qf3 37.Rb1 Qh5 38.Rg1 Rf7 39.Re1 Qf5 40.Qg3 Rc7 41.Ng1 Nf4 42.Rd1 Kh7 43.Qf3 Rc2 44.a3 e5 45.Re1 Qg6 46.h3 Nd3 47.Rf1 Rc3 48.Qg4 Qxg4 49.hxg4 Rxa3 50.Nf3 Ra4 51.g5 h5 52.Kg2 Rg4+ 53.Kh2 a5 54.Ra1 a4 55.Ra2 e4 56.Nd4 Rxg5 57.Rxa4 Nxf2 58.Ra7 Ng4+ 59.Kh3 Re5 60.Nc6 Rd5 0-1

Round 1, May 12, 2017
Salem, Saleh – Grischuk, Alexander
D60 King’s Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 d5 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Nf3 Bg7 7.Ne5 Ne4 8.Nd2 Nf6 9.Nb1 Ne4 10.Nd2 Nf6 11.Nb1 1/2-1/2

- Biggest surprise out of all that is that Grischuk played 11 moves in just 30 minutes!

Round 1, May 12, 2017
Harikrishna, Pentala – Hammer, Jon Ludvig
E48 Nimzo-Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 d5 6.cxd5 exd5 7.Ne2 Bd6 8.Nb5 Be7 9.Bd2 a6 10.Nbc3 c5 11.dxc5 Bxc5 12.Nd4 Bxd4 13.exd4 Qb6 14.O-O Qxd4 15.Bg5 Nc6 16.Bxf6 Qxf6 17.Nxd5 Qxb2 18.Rb1 Qxa2 19.Nb6 Rb8 20.Nc4 Bf5 21.Ra1 Qxa1 22.Qxa1 Bxd3 23.Rc1 Rbd8 24.Ne3 Nd4 25.Rd1 Nc2 26.Nxc2 Bxc2 27.Rc1 Be4 28.h4 Bc6 29.Rc5 Rd6 30.Rg5 f6 31.Rg4 Rfd8 32.Kh2 h5 33.Rf4 Rd2 34.Qc3 R8d5 35.Qe3 a5 36.Qe6+ Kf8 37.Qc8+ Rd8 38.Qe6 R8d4 39.Qc8+ Kf7 40.Qc7+ Kg6 41.Qxa5 Rxf4 42.Qxd2 Rxh4+ 43.Kg1 Rg4 44.g3 Ra4 45.Qc2+ Kh6 46.f3 h4 47.Qd2+ g5 48.Qd8 Kg7 49.Qe7+ Kg6 50.g4 Ra1+ 51.Kf2 Ra2+ 52.Ke3 Ra8 53.Kf2 h3 54.Kg3 Rh8 55.Kh2 Bxf3 56.Qe6 Bc6 57.Qf5+ Kg7 58.Qc5 Re8 59.Kxh3 Re5 60.Qd6 Kf7 61.Kg3 Re6 62.Qc7+ Re7 63.Qb6 Bd5 64.Qd4 Be4 65.Qc4+ Kg7 66.Qb4 Re8 67.Qd6 Kg6 68.Qb4 Bc6 69.Qd6 Re3+ 70.Kh2 Re4 71.Kg3 Kf7 72.Qc7+ Ke6 73.Qc8+ Ke7 74.Kf2 Kd6 75.Qf8+ Kd5 76.Kg3 Re3+ 77.Kf2 Re6 78.Qd8+ Kc4 79.Qb6 Re4 80.Kg3 Rf4 81.Kh3 Rf3+ 82.Kh2 f5 83.gxf5 g4 84.Kg1 Rh3 85.Qc7 g3 86.Qf4+ Kc5 87.Qe3+ Kd6 88.Qe6+ Kc7 89.Qe7+ Kb6 90.Qb4+ Kc7 91.Qe7+ Kb6 92.Qb4+ Kc7 1/2-1/2

Standing after Round One

1 Hou Yifan 1.0
2-17 MVL, Nakamura, Giri, Ding, Mamedyarov, Svidler, Grischuk, Harikrishna, Adams, Inarkiev, Gelfand, Radjabov, Vallejo Pons, Tomasehvky, Salem, Hammer all with 0.5
18 Nepomniachtchi 0

Round Two Pairings

1. Hou Yifan-MVL
2. Nakamura-Radjabov
3. Adams-Giri
4. Ding-Inarkiev
5. Gelfand-Mamedyarov
6. Svidler-Salem
7. Grischuk-Tomashevsky
8. Vallejo Pons-Harkirishna
9. Hammer-Nepomniachtchi

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 14th May, 2017, 11:29 PM

Re: Moscow Grand Prix 2017

Moscow Grand Prix 2017

May 13, 2017

Round Two

It was a round of relatively short draws – starting off with Grischuk-Tomashevsky in 12 moves. Grischuk looks unwell. There is no 30-move rule so Nakamura-Radjabov went 18, Gelfand-Mamnedyarov 22 and Svidler-Salem in 16.Vallejo Pons-Harikrishna went 82 moves. Pentala’s first round game went 82 moves. He is exhausting himself while the others take it easy. I wonder if he ever read Fischer’s Sports Illustrated article The Russians Have Fixed World Chess?

On the other side, Ding Liren defeated Ernesto Inarkiev and first-round loser Ian Nepomniachtchi took down Jon Ludvig Hammer.

This is not a very interesting tournament so far. Let us hope that the pace picks up.

The games:
Moscow Grand Prix 2017
Round 2, May 13, 2017
Hou, Yifan – MVL
A30 English, symmetrical

1.Nf3 c5 2.c4 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5 4.e3 Nf6 5.d4 e4 6.d5 exf3 7.dxc6 bxc6 8.Qxf3 d5 9.cxd5 Bg4 10.Qf4 cxd5 11.Bb5+ Bd7 12.O-O Be7 13.Qa4 Rb8 14.Bxd7+ Qxd7 15.Qxd7+ Kxd7 16.b3 Rhc8 17.Ba3 c4 18.Bxe7 Kxe7 19.Rfc1 a5 20.Kf1 cxb3 21.axb3 Rc5 22.Ne2 Rxc1+ 23.Nxc1 Rb5 24.Ne2 Rxb3 25.Nd4 Rb2 1/2-1/2

Round 2, May 13, 2017
Nakamura, Hikaru – Radjabov, Teimour
E00 Catalan Opening

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 c6 7.Qc2 b6 8.Ne5 Bb7 9.O-O Nbd7 10.Bc3 O-O 11.Nd2 Nxe5 12.dxe5 Nd7 13.cxd5 cxd5 14.e4 Nc5 15.exd5 Bxd5 16.Ne4 Nxe4 17.Bxe4 Bxe4 18.Qxe4 Qc7 1/2-1/2

Round 2, May 13, 2017
Adams, Michael – Giri, Anish
B31 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rossolimo Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.O-O Bg7 6.Re1 Nh6 7.c3 O-O 8.h3 f5 9.e5 Nf7 10.d4 cxd4 11.cxd4 c5 12.dxc5 Bb7 13.Nc3 e6 14.Be3 Rb8 15.Bd4 h5 16.h4 Bxf3 17.Qxf3 Qxh4 18.Rad1 g5 19.g3 Qh3 20.b3 g4 21.Qg2 Ng5 22.Qxh3 Nxh3+ 23.Kg2 Ng5 24.Rh1 Nf3 25.Rxh5 Nxd4 26.Rxd4 Bxe5 27.Rxd7 Bxc3 28.Rg5+ Kh8 29.Rh5+ Kg8 1/2-1/2

Round 2, May 13, 2017
Ding, Liren – Inarkiev, Ernesto
A20 English, Kingside Fianchetto

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 c6 4.Nf3 e4 5.Nd4 d5 6.d3 exd3 7.cxd5 Bb4+ 8.Nc3 c5 9.Nb3 c4 10.Nd2 O-O 11.O-O Bxc3 12.bxc3 Bg4 13.f3 dxe2 14.Qxe2 Bf5 15.Nxc4 Qxd5 16.Rd1 Qb5 17.a4 Qa6 18.Bf1 Be6 19.Nd6 Qxe2 20.Bxe2 b6 21.Nb5 Bb3 22.Rd6 Nbd7 23.a5 Rfc8 24.Kf2 h6 25.Be3 Ne5 26.Bd4 Nc4 27.Rxf6 gxf6 28.Bxc4 Bxc4 29.Nd6 bxa5 30.Nxc8 Rxc8 31.Rxa5 Re8 32.g4 a6 33.Rc5 Bd3 34.Bxf6 Re6 35.Bd4 Kf8 36.h4 Ke8 37.Rc8+ Kd7 38.Rf8 Ke7 39.Bc5+ Kf6 40.Rh8 Kg7 41.Bd4+ f6 42.Rd8 Bc4 43.Rd7+ Kg8 44.Ra7 Bd3 45.Kg3 Rc6 46.h5 Bc2 47.f4 Bd1 48.Kh4 Rd6 49.Ra8+ Kf7 50.Rh8 Kg7 51.Rc8 Kf7 52.Rc7+ Kg8 53.Rc5 Kf7 54.g5 fxg5+ 55.fxg5 hxg5+ 56.Kxg5 Bc2 57.Rc7+ Ke6 58.h6 Rd5+ 59.Kg4 Rd7 60.Rc6+ Rd6 61.Rc7 Rd7 62.Rc5 Rd5 63.Rc8 a5 64.Re8+ Kd7 65.Ra8 a4 66.h7 Bxh7 67.Ra7+ Kc6 68.Rxh7 Ra5 69.Rh6+ Kd7 70.Kf4 a3 71.Rh1 a2 72.Ra1 Kc6 73.Ke4 Kb5 74.Kd3 Ra8 75.Kc2 Kc4 76.Kb2 Rb8+ 77.Kxa2 Kd3 78.Rh1 Kc2 79.Ka3 Kd3 80.Rh5 Rb1 81.Ka4 Rb8 82.Rb5 Ra8+ 83.Kb4 Rc8 84.Rb7 Rc4+ 85.Kb5 Rc8 86.Bg7 Rd8 87.c4 1-0

Round 2, May 14, 2017
Gelfand, Boris – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
D06 QGD, Grau

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Bf5 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Nf6 5.Nh4 Bb4 6.cxd5 Qxd5 7.e3 c5 8.Bb5+ Nc6 9.O-O Qd7 10.Nxf5 exf5 11.Ne2 cxd4 12.Nxd4 Bc5 13.Nxc6 bxc6 14.Qxd7+ Kxd7 15.Rd1+ Kc7 16.Bc4 Rhd8 17.Bd2 Nd5 18.Ba5+ Bb6 19.Bxd5 Rxd5 20.Rxd5 cxd5 21.Bc3 g5 22.Rd1 1/2-1/2

Round 2, May 14, 2017
Svidler, Peter – Salem, Saleh
A20 English Opening

1.c4 e5 2.g3 d6 3.Bg2 f5 4.d4 Be7 5.Nc3 Nf6 6.Nf3 e4 7.Ng5 c6 8.O-O O-O 9.f3 d5 10.cxd5 Nxd5 11.Nh3 exf3 12.Bxf3 Be6 13.Nf4 Nxf4 14.Bxf4 Na6 15.e4 Nb4 16.a3 1/2-1/2

Round 2, May 14, 2017
Grischuk, Alexander – Tomashevsky, Evgeny
C77 Ruy Lopez, Anderssen variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 Bc5 6.c3 d6 7.O-O Ba7 8.Re1 O-O 9.h3 Ne7 10.Nbd2 Ng6 11.Nf1 c6 12.Ng3 1/2-1/2

Round 2, May 14, 2017
Vallejo Pons, Francisco – Harikrishna, Pentala
E05 Catalan, open, Classical line

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.d4 Be7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O dxc4 7.Ne5 Nc6 8.Bxc6 bxc6 9.Nxc6 Qe8 10.Nxe7+ Qxe7 11.b3 Rd8 12.bxc4 c5 13.Ba3 Qc7 14.Bxc5 Ne4 15.Qb3 Bb7 16.Qa3 Rdc8 17.Rd1 e5 18.Nc3 Nxc3 19.Qxc3 exd4 20.Bxd4 Qc6 21.f3 Qxc4 22.Qxc4 Rxc4 23.Rac1 Ba6 24.Kf2 h5 25.a3 f6 26.Rxc4 Bxc4 27.Rc1 Bf7 28.h3 a5 29.Rc5 a4 30.Bc3 Be8 31.g4 hxg4 32.hxg4 Ra7 33.g5 Kf7 34.e4 Bd7 35.Ke3 Rb7 36.Bb4 Ra7 37.f4 fxg5 38.Rxg5 g6 39.Rc5 Ra6 40.Rc7 Ke8 41.Kd4 Kd8 42.Rc1 Rc6 43.Bc5 Be6 44.Rh1 Bb3 45.Rh7 Ke8 46.Re7+ Kd8 47.Rh7 Ke8 48.Re7+ Kd8 49.Rg7 Ke8 50.e5 Bf7 51.Rh7 Bb3 52.Re7+ Kd8 53.Rg7 Ke8 54.Bd6 Bf7 55.Bb4 Bb3 56.Ke4 Kd8 57.Kf3 Be6 58.Be7+ Kc8 59.Bb4 Bf5 60.Ra7 Rc4 61.Rxa4 Kb7 62.Ra5 Kb6 63.Kg3 Be6 64.Ra8 g5 65.fxg5 Rg4+ 66.Kf2 Rxg5 67.Rb8+ Kc6 68.Bd6 Rg4 69.Re8 Kd5 70.Kf3 Rh4 71.Rb8 Bd7 72.Rb1 Bc6 73.Ke3 Re4+ 74.Kd3 Rd4+ 75.Kc3 Rc4+ 76.Kb2 Ba4 77.Re1 Rc2+ 78.Kb1 Rd2 79.Kc1 Rc2+ 80.Kb1 Rd2 81.Kc1 Rc2+ 82.Kb1 1/2-1/2

Round 2, May 14, 2017
Hammer, Jon Ludvig – Nepomniachtchi, Ian
B07 Pirc Defence

1.e4 d6 2.d4 Nf6 3.Nc3 g6 4.Be3 c6 5.Qd2 b5 6.e5 Ng4 7.exd6 Nxe3 8.Qxe3 Qxd6 9.O-O-O Bg7 10.g3 Nd7 11.Bg2 Nb6 12.Qf3 Bd7 13.Ne4 Qc7 14.Nc5 Rc8 15.h4 Na4 16.Nxd7 Qxd7 17.h5 O-O 18.hxg6 hxg6 19.Ne2 Qd6 20.c3 b4 21.c4 c5 22.b3 Nc3 23.Nxc3 bxc3 24.Qxc3 Bxd4 25.Qd2 Qa6 26.Kb1 Rb8 27.g4 Bg7 28.g5 Qxc4 29.Bd5 Qg4 30.Rhe1 e6 31.Be4 c4 32.Qe3 cxb3 33.axb3 Rb4 34.Rd3 Rfb8 35.f3 Qg2 36.Re2 Qh1+ 37.Re1 Qh2 38.Re2 Qe5 39.Ra2 a5 40.Kc2 a4 41.Rxa4 Rxa4 42.bxa4 Qa1 43.Rd2 Qb1# 0-1

Standing after Round Two

1-2 Ding Liren, Hou Yifan 1.5
3-17 MVL, Nakamura, Giri, Mamedyarov, Svidler, Nepomniachtchi, Grischuk, Harikrishna, Adams, Gelfand, Radjabov, Vallejo Pons, Tomashevsky, Salem all with 1.0
18-19 Inarkiev, Hammer 0.5

Pairings for Round Three

1. Hou Yifan-Ding Liren
2. MVL-Gelfand
3. Tomashevsky-Nakamura
4. Giri-Vallejo Pons
5. Mamedyarov-Adams
6. Harikrishna-Svidler
7. Nepomniachtchi-Salem
8. Radjabov-Grischuk
9. Inarkiev-Hammer

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 15th May, 2017, 03:02 PM

Re: Moscow Grand Prix 2017

Moscow Grand Prix 2017

May 14, 2017

Round Three

Five games ended decisively today. The winner’s were Ding Liren over his compatriot Hou Yifan, Mamedyarov beating Michael Adams, Svidler over Harikrishna (only 40 moves in this time), Salem over Nepomniachtchi and Hammer against Inarkiev.

Peter Doggers has this interesting note on Inarkiev:

Agon has a habit of finding peculiar VIPs to join the stage at the start of the rounds, but even for their standards today was rather remarkable. Yunus-Bek Yevkurov, the head of the Republic of Ingushetia, came to the boards and performed the first move for Ernesto Inarkiev.

There's a relation between the two: the $100,000 sponsor money that Agon demanded for Inarkiev to play, came from Ingushetia, and Inarkiev recently took the job of president of the local chess federation there.

After making the ceremonial first move, Yevkurov (a former soldier and paratrooper) pretended to threaten Inarkiev: "If you lose, you cannot come back to Ingushetia!"

It was a joke, and being the good citizen that he is, Inarkiev pretended he liked it—only to lose to Jon Ludvig Hammer 48 moves later.

Yevkurov then went to board one, where Ding Liren and Hou Yifan were playing. And despite the fact that the players had started their game, the politician introduced himself and gave flowers to Hou, for no particular reason (besides, it seems, that she's a woman). The players seemed perplexed.

You must see the photo at chess.com. There is Kirsan smiling, Yekurov, Hou Yifan with the bouquet of flowers, one of the arbiters while Ding Liren looks on and Vallejo Pons looks around. Delicious!!

https://www.chess.com/news/view/ding...moscow-gp-6036

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to find the Republic of Ingushetia within one minute of being given a map of the world!
_________

The games:

Moscow Grand Prix
Round 3, May 14, 2017
Hou Yifan – Ding Liren
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.O-O O-O 6.a4 d6 7.c3 a5 8.Bg5 h6 9.Bh4 g5 10.Bg3 Kg7 11.Re1 g4 12.Bh4 Ne7 13.Bxf6+ Kxf6 14.d4 Bb6 15.Nh4 Kg7 16.Na3 exd4 17.cxd4 Nc6 18.Nf5+ Bxf5 19.exf5 h5 20.Nc2 Qf6 21.Re4 Qxf5 22.Bd3 Qg5 23.g3 f5 24.Rf4 Rae8 25.h4 gxh3 26.Qf3 d5 27.Rd1 Re4 28.Bxe4 fxe4 29.Qe3 Rxf4 30.Qxf4 Qxf4 31.gxf4 Ne7 32.Kh2 Ng6 33.f5 Nf4 34.f3 c6 35.fxe4 dxe4 36.Re1 Bc7 37.Rg1+ Kf7 38.Rf1 Kf6 39.Kg3 Kxf5 40.Ne3+ Kg5 41.Nc4 h4+ 42.Kf2 Nd3+ 43.Ke2 Bf4 44.Nxa5 h2 45.Nxb7 Nc1+ 46.Kf2 e3+ 47.Kg2 e2 48.Re1 Bd2 49.Rh1 Nb3 50.Kxh2 e1=Q 51.Rxe1 Bxe1 0-1

Round 3, May 14, 2017
MVL – Gelfand, Boris
B35 Sicilian, Accelerated Fianchetto, Uogele variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 g6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 O-O 8.Bb3 d5 9.exd5 Na5 10.Qd2 Nxb3 11.Nxb3 b5 12.Nxb5 Qxd5 13.Qxd5 Nxd5 14.Bd4 Rb8 15.Bxg7 Kxg7 16.Na3 Nb4 17.O-O-O Nxa2+ 18.Kb1 Nb4 19.Rhe1 Re8 20.Rd2 Bb7 21.c3 Nd5 22.Kc2 Rec8 23.Rd4 Ba8 24.Nc4 Rc7 25.g3 f6 26.f4 Kf7 27.Nbd2 Rd8 28.Kc1 Rdc8 29.g4 Nb6 30.Nxb6 axb6 31.Rb4 Rb8 32.Kc2 Bc6 33.Nb3 Bd7 34.g5 b5 35.Nd4 Rc5 36.h4 Ra8 37.Nb3 Rc4 38.Rxc4 bxc4 39.Nd4 h6 40.gxf6 exf6 41.b4 cxb3+ 42.Kxb3 Ra5 43.Kc4 g5 1/2-1/2

Round 3, May 14, 2017
Tomashevsky, Evgeny - Nakamura, Hikaru
E54 Nimzo-Indian, Gligorich System, main line

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 c5 6.Nf3 d5 7.O-O cxd4 8.exd4 dxc4 9.Bxc4 b6 10.Bg5 Bb7 11.Qe2 Bxc3 12.bxc3 Nbd7 13.Ne5 Rc8 14.Bb3 Rxc3 15.Rac1 Rxc1 16.Rxc1 Nxe5 17.dxe5 h6 18.Rd1 Qc7 19.Bxf6 gxf6 20.exf6 Qf4 21.Rd7 1/2-1/2

Round 3, May 14, 2017
Giri, Anish – Vallejo Pons, Francisco
D45 QGD, Semi-Slav

1.d4 d5 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.b3 O-O 8.Be2 e5 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.Nb5 Bb4+ 11.Bd2 Bxd2+ 12.Nxd2 a6 13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.Nd4 Bg4 15.Bxg4 Nfxg4 16.O-O Rc8 17.Qf5 g6 18.Qf4 Re8 19.Rad1 Nf6 20.Qg5 Ne4 21.Qxd8 Rexd8 22.N2f3 Nxf3+ 23.gxf3 Nf6 24.Kg2 Kf8 25.Rd2 Rd7 26.b4 Rc4 27.Rb1 Rd6 28.Rdb2 b6 29.Rd1 Ne8 30.b5 a5 31.Rc2 Rd7 32.Rdc1 Nd6 33.Rxc4 Nxc4 34.Nc6 Na3 35.Ne5 Rb7 36.Rc6 Ke7 37.Ng4 Nxb5 38.Nf6 Nc7 1/2-1/2

Round 3, May 14, 2017
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – Adams, Michael
E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 b6 5.e3 Bb7 6.Bd3 O-O 7.O-O d5 8.cxd5 exd5 9.a3 Bd6 10.b4 Nbd7 11.Qb3 a6 12.a4 Qe7 13.Rb1 c6 14.a5 Rfb8 15.axb6 Bc8 16.Qc2 Nxb6 17.e4 dxe4 18.Nxe4 Nxe4 19.Bxe4 h6 20.Re1 Qc7 21.Bh7+ Kf8 22.Ne5 Nd5 23.Nxf7 Qxf7 24.Bg6 Bf5 25.Bxf5 Nxb4 26.Qe4 Nd5 27.Be6 Qf6 28.Rxb8+ Rxb8 29.Qh7 g5 30.Qg8+ 1-0

Round 3, May 14, 2017
Harikrishna, Pentala – Svidler, Peter
D85 Grunfeld, Exchange variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Be3 c5 8.Rc1 O-O 9.Nf3 Qa5 10.Qd2 Rd8 11.d5 e6 12.d6 Qa4 13.h4 Qxe4 14.h5 Qd5 15.Qc2 Rxd6 16.hxg6 hxg6 17.Ng5 Nc6 18.Ne4 Rd7 19.Bg5 Bxc3+ 20.Qxc3 Qxe4+ 21.Be3 e5 22.Qxc5 Nd4 23.Bb5 Qxg2 24.Rh8+ Kxh8 25.Qf8+ Kh7 26.Bxd7 Qf3 27.Qh6+ Kg8 28.Bxd4 Bxd7 29.Bxe5 Qe4+ 30.Qe3 Qh1+ 31.Kd2 Qd5+ 32.Qd4 Qxa2+ 33.Rc2 Qa5+ 34.Kc1 Re8 35.f4 Bf5 36.Rc7 f6 37.Qc4+ Be6 38.Qc3 Qa4 39.Bd6 Bf5 40.Kd2 Qa2+ 0-1

Round 3, May 14, 2017
Nepomniachtchi, Ian – Salem, Saleh
A07 Reti, King’s Indian Attack

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Bg4 3.Bg2 c6 4.c4 e6 5.O-O Nf6 6.b3 Nbd7 7.Bb2 Bd6 8.d3 O-O 9.Nbd2 Qe7 10.h3 Bh5 11.a3 a5 12.Qc2 Rfc8 13.e4 dxe4 14.dxe4 e5 15.Nh4 Bc5 16.Kh1 Bg6 17.Nxg6 hxg6 18.Nf3 Rd8 19.Rfe1 Nh7 20.h4 g5 21.Qe2 Qf6 22.Rf1 gxh4 23.Nxh4 Ndf8 24.Nf5 Ne6 25.Rad1 Nd4 26.Bxd4 exd4 27.f4 d3 28.Rxd3 Rxd3 29.Qxd3 Rd8 30.Qe2 g6 31.Nh6+ Kg7 32.e5 Qe7 33.Ng4 f5 34.Nh2 Nf8 35.g4 Qh4 36.b4 axb4 37.axb4 Bd4 38.e6 Re8 39.gxf5 gxf5 40.e7 Rxe7 41.Qd3 Be3 42.Rf3 Bf2 43.Bf1 Ng6 44.Qc2 Bd4 45.Qxf5 Rf7 46.Qe6 Ne5 47.Rh3 Qxf4 48.Qe8 Qe4+ 49.Nf3 Rxf3 50.Qh8+ Kf7 51.Rh7+ Ke6 52.Qc8+ Kf6 53.Qf8+ Kg5 54.Qh6+ Kf5 55.Qf8+ Kg4 0-1

Round 3, May 14, 2017
Radjabov, Teimour – Grischuk, Alexander
B97 Sicilian, Najdorf, Poisoned Pawn variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.Qd2 Qxb2 9.Rb1 Qa3 10.f5 Nc6 11.fxe6 fxe6 12.Nxc6 bxc6 13.e5 dxe5 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Ne4 Qxa2 16.Rd1 Be7 17.Be2 O-O 18.O-O f5 19.Qh6 Qxc2 20.Rf3 f4 21.Rh3 Rf7 22.Rhd3 Qxe2 23.Rd8+ Rf8 24.Nf6+ Kf7 25.Qxh7+ Kxf6 26.Qh6+ Kf7 27.Qh7+ Kf6 28.Qh6+ Kf7 29.Qh7+ 1/2-1/2

Round 3, May 14, 2017
Inarkiev, Ernesto – Hammer, Jon Ludvig
B12 Caro-Kann, Advance variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 Ne7 6.O-O c5 7.c3 Nec6 8.a3 Be7 9.b4 cxd4 10.cxd4 a6 11.Be3 O-O 12.Nbd2 Nd7 13.Ne1 b5 14.f4 Bg6 15.g4 f5 16.Rc1 Rc8 17.Nb3 Nb6 18.Nd3 Nc4 19.Bf2 fxg4 20.Bxg4 Bf5 21.Ndc5 Qe8 22.Bh5 Bg6 23.Bg4 Bf5 24.Bh5 g6 25.Bg4 Bxc5 26.Nxc5 Bxg4 27.Qxg4 Rf5 28.Rc3 Qf7 29.Rd3 Kh8 30.Bh4 g5 31.Bxg5 Rg8 32.Qg2 Nxd4 33.Rg3 Rg6 34.h4 h6 35.h5 Rg8 36.Bf6+ Kh7 37.Rxg8 Qxg8 38.Qxg8+ Kxg8 39.Kh2 Rxh5+ 40.Kg3 Nf5+ 41.Kf2 Kf7 42.Nb7 Rh2+ 43.Kg1 Ra2 44.Rf2 Ra1+ 45.Rf1 Rxf1+ 46.Kxf1 Nd4 47.Kf2 Kg6 48.Bh4 Nxa3 0-1

Ranking after Round Three

1 Ding Liren 2.5
2-4 Mamedyarov, Svidler, Salem 2.0
5-14 MVL, Nakamura, Giri, Grischuk, Gelfand, Radjabov, Vallejo Pons, Tomashevsky
Hou Yifan, Hammer 1.5
15-17 Nepomniachtchi, Harikrishna, Adams 1.0
18 Inarkiev

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 15th May, 2017, 11:08 PM

Re: Moscow Grand Prix 2017

Moscow Grand Prix 2017

May 15, 2017

Round Four

Well, things are now starting to get interesting. Black is winning all the games. Today there were two underpromotions (to N and R), Grischuk is getting better, Mamedyarov’s live rating went over 2800 and millions of people are paying to see the World Chess broadcast. Actually, I lied about the last one but all the rest are correct.

Teimour Radjabov had a peach of a game and an ending I will play over for a long while. You’ll remember that he went into the London Candidates in 2013 out of practice and lost seven games, winning only one – the worst result in his career and hasn’t been in top flite chess very much since then.

Great game today though.

Peter Doggers - Alexander Grischuk played his fourth draw but this time it was a real game. He had Maxime Vachier-Lagrave on the ropes, but blew the win on the 40th move, as he thought himself.

"I was much better quickly and then I think I was winning. My move 40 is a huge mistake. If I play 40. d6 instead of 40. Re8+ I think White should win. I spent half an hour on my move 41 and I didn't see real chances," Grischuk said.

"Somehow I didn't realize what went wrong," said MVL. "I thought I was doing fine and suddenly I just realized his pieces were just on very good squares. There was not much I could do."

Grischuk, who is still under the weather, saw a reason to be satisfied: "Let's say the game by itself is probably quite disappointing but given that yesterday I could barely breathe, just to be able to live, and to compete on equal terms with one of the best players in the world is already very optimistic for me."

Of the 11 decisive games played so far, nine were won by Black! If you have any theories about this, do share them with me.

https://www.chess.com/news/view/mame...in-moscow-9866

The games:

Moscow Grand Prix 2017
Round 4, May 15, 2017
Ding Liren – Svidler, Peter
A36 English, ultra-symmetrical variation

1.c4 g6 2.Nc3 c5 3.g3 Bg7 4.Bg2 Nc6 5.a3 e6 6.Rb1 Nge7 7.b4 d6 8.Nf3 O-O 9.O-O b6 10.e3 d5 11.bxc5 bxc5 12.Na4 Qd6 13.d3 Ba6 14.Qc2 Rab8 15.Rxb8 Rxb8 16.cxd5 Nxd5 17.e4 Nde7 18.Nxc5 Nd4 19.Nxd4 Bxd4 20.Be3 Rb2 21.Qc1 Bb5 22.a4 Be8 23.Bxd4 Qxd4 24.Qe3 Qxe3 25.fxe3 Rc2 26.d4 e5 27.Rd1 exd4 28.exd4 Nc6 29.Bf1 Nxd4 30.Rxd4 Rxc5 31.Rd8 Re5 32.Bb5 Kf8 33.Ra8 Rxe4 1/2-1/2

Round 4, May 15, 2017
Salem, Saleh - Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
E60 King’s Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 d5 5.Qa4 dxc4 6.Qxc4 Bg7 7.Nf3 O-O 8.O-O Bf5 9.Nc3 Nbd7 10.e3 Qc7 11.Nh4 Nb6 12.Qc5 Be6 13.b3 a5 14.Ba3 Nfd7 15.Qxe7 Rfe8 16.Qg5 a4 17.Rfc1 axb3 18.axb3 h6 19.Qf4 Qd8 20.Nf3 Nf6 21.Ne5 Bxb3 22.g4 Nbd5 23.Nxd5 Bxd5 24.h3 Nh7 25.e4 Be6 26.Bb2 Rxa1 27.Bxa1 Nf6 28.Rd1 Qa5 29.Bf3 Qa4 30.Kg2 Rd8 31.h4 Nxe4 32.Re1 Nf6 33.Nxg6 fxg6 34.Rxe6 Qxa1 35.g5 hxg5 36.hxg5 Nh5 37.Bxh5 gxh5 38.Re7 Rf8 39.Rxg7+ Kxg7 40.Qe5+ Kg6 41.Qd6+ Kxg5 42.Qg3+ Kh6 43.Qd6+ Kg7 44.Qg3+ Kf7 45.Qf4+ Ke6 46.Qe5+ Kd7 47.Qg7+ Kc8 48.Qxf8+ Kc7 49.Qe7+ Kb6 50.Qc5+ Ka6 51.f4 Qa2+ 52.Kg3 Qe2 53.f5 Qg4+ 54.Kh2 Qf4+ 55.Kg2 Qe4+ 56.Kh2 Qf3 57.Qe5 h4 58.f6 b5 59.Qg5 b4 60.Qg7 Qf2+ 61.Kh3 Qe3+ 62.Kg2 Qe4+ 63.Kh2 Qxd4 64.Kh3 b3 65.Qf7 b2 66.Qa2+ Kb6 67.Qb3+ Kc7 68.f7 Qf4 69.f8=R Qxf8 70.Qxb2 Qf4 71.Kg2 c5 0-1

Round 4, May 15, 2017
Grischuk, Alexander – MVL
B90 Sicilian, Byrne (English) Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Be3 Ng4 7.Bc1 Nf6 8.Be3 Ng4 9.Bg5 h6 10.Bc1 Nf6 11.Bd3 e5 12.Nde2 Be7 13.O-O O-O 14.Ng3 Nbd7 15.a4 Nc5 16.Be2 Be6 17.Bf3 Rc8 18.Re1 Qd7 19.a5 Rfd8 20.Nd5 Bxd5 21.exd5 Re8 22.c4 Bd8 23.Be3 e4 24.Be2 h5 25.b4 Nd3 26.Bxd3 exd3 27.Qxd3 h4 28.Nf1 h3 29.Bd4 hxg2 30.Ng3 Rxe1+ 31.Rxe1 Qh3 32.Qf3 Kf8 33.c5 dxc5 34.Bxc5+ Kg8 35.Qf5 Qxf5 36.Nxf5 g6 37.Nd6 Rc7 38.Ne8 Rd7 39.Nxf6+ Bxf6 40.Re8+ Kg7 41.Bf8+ Kh7 42.d6 Bg7 43.Re7 Rd8 44.Bxg7 Kxg7 45.Rxb7 Rxd6 46.Kxg2 Rd4 47.Kf3 g5 48.Ke3 Rf4 49.Rb6 f5 50.Rxa6 Rxb4 51.Ra7+ Kg6 52.a6 Ra4 53.Ra8 g4 54.f4 gxf3 55.Kxf3 Kg7 56.Kg3 Rg4+ 57.Kf3 Ra4 58.h3 Kh7 59.Kg3 Kg7 60.h4 Rg4+ 61.Kh3 Ra4 62.h5 Kh7 63.Kg3 Kg7 64.Kf3 Kh7 65.Ke3 Kg7 66.Kd3 f4 1/2-1/2

Round 4, May 15, 2017
Nakamura, Hikaru – Hou Yifan
A08 Neo-Sicilian, King’s Indian Attack

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 e6 4.O-O Be7 5.d3 c5 6.Nbd2 Nc6 7.e4 O-O 8.Re1 b5 9.e5 Nd7 10.Nf1 Bb7 11.h4 b4 12.Bf4 a5 13.N1h2 Ra6 14.c3 a4 15.a3 bxc3 16.bxc3 Qa5 17.c4 Nd4 18.Nxd4 cxd4 19.h5 h6 20.Ng4 Kh7 21.Bd2 Qd8 22.Bb4 Nc5 23.cxd5 Bxd5 24.Bxd5 Qxd5 25.Rc1 Re8 26.Rc4 Raa8 27.Bxc5 Bxc5 28.Re4 Red8 29.Qc1 Bf8 30.Qf4 Qb7 31.Rexd4 Bxa3 32.Rxd8 Rxd8 33.Rxa4 Rxd3 34.Qe4+ Qxe4 35.Rxe4 Bc5 36.Kg2 Rd4 37.Kf3 Rd2 38.Rc4 Bb6 39.Rc6 Rb2 40.Rc8 Rb3+ 41.Kg2 Bd4 42.Rf8 Rb7 43.f4 f5 44.Nh2 Rb2+ 45.Kh3 Rb3 46.Rc8 Be3 47.Rc4 Bg1 48.Rc6 Be3 49.Rc4 Bg1 50.Rc6 Be3 1/2-1/2

Round 4, May 15, 2017
Hammer, Jon Ludvig – Giri, Anish
A20 English Opening

1.c4 e5 2.g3 c6 3.Nf3 e4 4.Nd4 d5 5.cxd5 Qxd5 6.Nc2 Nf6 7.Nc3 Qe5 8.Bg2 Na6 9.O-O Be7 10.d4 exd3 11.Qxd3 O-O 12.Qe3 Bd6 13.Rd1 Re8 14.Qd4 Bc7 15.Bf4 Qh5 16.Bxc7 Nxc7 17.f3 Ne6 18.Qf2 Ng5 19.g4 Qg6 20.Ne3 h5 21.h4 Ne6 22.g5 Nf4 23.Rd4 N6d5 24.Ncxd5 Nxd5 25.Nxd5 cxd5 26.Rxd5 Be6 27.Rd2 Rad8 28.e4 f5 29.Rxd8 Rxd8 30.Qxa7 Qf7 31.Qa5 Qd7 32.Qe5 fxe4 33.fxe4 Bh3 34.Qd5+ Qxd5 35.exd5 Bxg2 36.Kxg2 Rxd5 37.Rf1 Rd4 38.Kg3 Rg4+ 39.Kh3 Kh7 40.Rf7 Rb4 41.b3 Kg6 42.Rc7 Rd4 43.Rxb7 Rd3+ 44.Kg2 Rd2+ 45.Kf3 Rxa2 46.Rb4 Kf5 47.Ke3 Rg2 48.Kd3 Rg3+ 49.Kc2 Ke5 50.Rc4 Kd5 51.Kb2 Rh3 52.Ka3 Rg3 53.Ka4 Rh3 54.Rb4 Ke6 55.Kb5 Kd5 56.Ka5 Kd6 57.Rb7 Rxh4 58.Rxg7 Rh1 59.g6 h4 60.Rh7 Ke6 61.Rc7 h3 62.g7 Rg1 63.Rc3 h2 64.Rh3 Rxg7 65.Rxh2 Kd7 66.Rc2 Rg8 67.b4 Ra8+ 68.Kb5 Rb8+ 69.Ka4 Ra8+ 70.Kb3 Rc8 71.Rxc8 Kxc8 72.Kc4 Kb8 73.Kd5 Kb7 74.Kc5 Kc7 75.b5 Kb7 76.b6 Kb8 77.Kc6 Kc8 78.b7+ Kb8 79.Kb6 1/2-1/2

Round 4, May 15, 2017
Gelfand, Boris – Tomashevsky, Evgeny
E00 Queen’s Pawn game

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 Bb4+ 4.Bd2 Be7 5.Bg2 d5 6.Nf3 O-O 7.O-O Nbd7 8.a4 a5 9.Qc2 c6 10.Na3 Bd6 11.Ne1 Qe7 12.Nd3 e5 13.cxd5 Nxd5 14.Bxd5 cxd5 15.Nb5 e4 16.Nf4 Nf6 17.Rfc1 Bg4 18.Nxd6 Qxd6 19.Qb3 h6 20.Qb5 Bd7 21.Qc5 Qa6 22.Nxd5 Nxd5 23.Qxd5 Bg4 24.Qxe4 Bxe2 25.Rc5 Rfe8 26.Re5 Rxe5 27.Qxe5 Bf3 28.Ra3 Qc6 29.Rc3 Qd5 30.Qxd5 Bxd5 31.Rc5 Bf3 32.Rf5 Be4 33.Re5 Bf3 34.Bxa5 b6 35.Re3 Bd5 36.Bxb6 1/2-1/2

Round 4, May 15, 2017
Vallejo Pons, Francisco – Radjabov, Teimour
B31 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rossolimo Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.d3 Bg7 6.h3 Nf6 7.Nc3 O-O 8.Bf4 Nh5 9.Be3 Qd6 10.Qd2 e5 11.O-O-O b5 12.Ne2 b4 13.g4 Nf6 14.Ng3 a5 15.c4 a4 16.Rhg1 Kh8 17.Bh6 Ne8 18.Bxg7+ Kxg7 19.Nf5+ gxf5 20.gxf5+ Kh8 21.Qg5 Ra7 22.Rg4 f6 23.Qh6 Rff7 24.Rdg1 Rg7 25.Rxg7 Nxg7 26.Ng5 Ne8 27.Nf3 Ba6 28.Rg6 Rf7 29.Ng5 Bxc4 30.f4 exf4 31.e5 Qe7 32.Nxf7+ Bxf7 33.Rg1 Bxa2 34.e6 f3 35.Qf4 Bd5 36.Qb8 c4 37.Kd2 c3+ 38.bxc3 bxc3+ 39.Kc2 a3 40.Rg4 a2 41.Qg3 a1=N+ 42.Kd1 c2+ 43.Kd2 c1=Q+ 44.Kxc1 Qc5+ 45.Kd2 Nb3+ 0-1

Round 4, May 15, 2017
Adams, Michael – Nepomniachtchi, Ian
B91 Sicilian, Najdorf, Zagreb variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.g3 e5 7.Nde2 Be7 8.Bg2 O-O 9.O-O b5 10.Nd5 Nxd5 11.Qxd5 Ra7 12.Be3 Be6 13.Qd3 Rb7 14.b3 Nd7 15.Nc3 Nf6 16.a4 Qd7 17.axb5 axb5 18.Ra6 Rc8 19.Rfa1 b4 20.Na4 Qc7 21.Ra2 Nd7 22.Qf1 Rcb8 23.Qd1 h6 24.h4 Bf8 25.Bf3 Nf6 26.Bg2 Bd7 27.Nb2 Bc6 28.Nc4 Bxe4 29.Ba7 Re8 30.Bb6 Qd7 31.Na5 Bxg2 32.Kxg2 Rbb8 33.Ra7 Qb5 34.Bc7 Ra8 35.Nc4 Rxa7 36.Rxa7 Qc5 37.Qa1 Ng4 38.Bb6 Qc6+ 39.f3 e4 40.fxg4 e3+ 41.Kh2 e2 42.Qe1 d5 43.Be3 dxc4 44.Qxe2 Qe6 45.Qf2 Qxe3 46.Qxf7+ Kh8 47.bxc4 Qe2+ 48.Kh3 Qd1 49.g5 h5 0-1

Round 4, May 15, 2017
Inarkiev, Ernesto – Harikrishna, Pentala
A62 Benoni, Fianchetto variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 c5 4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 g6 6.Bg2 d6 7.Nf3 Bg7 8.Nc3 O-O 9.O-O Re8 10.Bf4 Bf5 11.Nh4 Bc8 12.Qd2 a6 13.a4 Qe7 14.h3 Nbd7 15.e4 Rb8 16.Nf3 b5 17.axb5 axb5 18.Rfe1 b4 19.Na4 Bb7 20.e5 Nxd5 21.exd6 Qf8 22.Ne5 Rxe5 23.Bxe5 Nxe5 24.Nxc5 Bc6 25.Ra6 Qxd6 26.Rxc6 Qxc6 27.Qxd5 Qxd5 28.Bxd5 Rd8 29.Rd1 Bf8 30.Ne4 Be7 31.Bb3 Rxd1+ 32.Bxd1 Nd3 33.Bb3 Nxb2 34.Kf1 Nd3 35.Bd5 Kg7 36.Ke2 Ne5 37.f4 Nd7 38.g4 f5 39.gxf5 gxf5 40.Ng3 Kf6 41.Nh5+ Kg6 42.Bc6 b3 43.Bxd7 b2 44.Ng3 b1=Q 45.Bxf5+ Qxf5 46.Nxf5 Kxf5 47.Kf3 Bc5 1/2-1/2

Standing after Round Four

1-2 Ding Liren, Mamedyarov 3.0
3-4 Svidler, Radjabov 2.5
5-14 MVL, Nakamura, Giri, Nepomniachtchi, Grischuk, Gelfand, Tomashevsky, Hou Yifan, Salem, Hammer all with 2.0
15-16 Harikrishna, Vallejo Pons 1.5
17-18 Adams, Inarkiev 1.0

Round Five Pairings

1. Mamedyarov-Ding Liren
2. Svidler-Radjabov
3. MVL-Salem
4. Giri-Nakamura
5. Nepomniachtchi-Gelfand
6. Hou Yifan-Grischuk
7. Tomashevsky-Hammer
8. Harikrishna-Adams
9. Vallejo Pons-Inarkiev

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 16th May, 2017, 04:40 PM

Re: Moscow Grand Prix 2017

Moscow Grand Prix 2017

May 16, 2017

Round Five

Disappointing draw between the two leaders. MVL takes apart Salem. Disappointing draw between Giri and Nakamura. Grischuk, feeling better, beats Hou Yifan, Harikrishna beats Adams and a nicely played game between Vallejo Pons and Inarkiev.

The tournament was poorly advertised before it started. Not only for me evidently but for Carlsen too! He said:

"I wasn't even aware that they had started playing" (May 12).

Agon is awaiting a appeal court decision today about their broadcast rights. See:

http://forum.chesstalk.com/showthrea...or-Chess-Games

Since they are now giving away the moves to other sites, I am not sure what they are fighting for.

Their broadcast is not very interesting. Evgeny analyzes alone for six solid hours and then Anastasiya comes in to help. Wouldn’t it be better to have a two-person team doing commentary and have the players post-mortem with them? Agon seems to have learnt surprisingly little in the last year about how to please viewers.

With dozens of grandmasters in Moscow, you would think you could get a couple to drop in and kibitz with Miro.

Lennart Oates has an interesting discussion of chess internet coverage at:

https://lennartootes.com/content/chess

Note added later: Just before the start of the round some guy came onstage and took a selfie with Hou Yifan!

The games:

Moscow Grand Prix 2017
Round 5, May 16, 2017
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – Liren, Ding
E21 Nimzo-Indian, Three Knights variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 O-O 5.Qc2 d5 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bxf6 Qxf6 8.a3 Bxc3+ 9.Qxc3 c6 10.e3 Nd7 11.Rd1 dxc4 12.Bxc4 b6 13.O-O Bb7 14.e4 Rfd8 15.e5 1/2-1/2

- Damn, I paid money to see the match between Sakh and Liren and they finished before I managed to open my paid account and watch the broadcast. Damn.

Round 5, May 16, 2017
Svidler Peter – Radjabov, Teymur
D35 QGD, Exchange variation

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 c5 7.Rb1 Be7 8.Nf3 O-O 9.Bc4 Nc6 10.O-O b6 11.Bf4 Bb7 12.Re1 cxd4 13.cxd4 Nb4 14.Qd2 Nc6 15.d5 Na5 16.Bb5 exd5 17.exd5 Bc5 18.Rbd1 Bd6 19.Ne5 a6 20.Bf1 Rc8 21.Nc6 Bxf4 22.Qxf4 Bxc6 23.dxc6 Qc7 24.Rd6 Nxc6 25.Rc1 Qb8 26.Bxa6 Ne5 27.Rcd1 Rc5 28.Qb4 Nc6 29.Qb2 Rd8 30.Rxd8+ Nxd8 31.Rb1 1/2-1/2

Peter Svidler (on the manoeuvre 13..Nb4 14. Qd2 Nc6)

“I was going completely insane. I really couldn’t understand what was going on at all.”

Teymur Rajabov - What a terrible way to confuse your notes against Svidler, of course 13. Rc8 was the move and after Bf1 Nb4-Rb2-Nc6. Rest day!!!!!

Round 5, May 16, 2017
MVL – Salem, Saleh
B10 Caro-Kann, Two Knights variation

1.e4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.Nc3 dxe4 4.Nxe4 Nf6 5.Qe2 Nxe4 6.Qxe4 Qd5 7.Qh4 Qe6+ 8.Be2 Qg4 9.Qg3 Qxg3 10.hxg3 Bf5 11.b3 a5 12.Bb2 h6 13.O-O-O a4 14.Nd4 Bc8 15.Rde1 axb3 16.axb3 Nd7 17.Nf5 Nf6 18.g4 Be6 19.f4 Rg8 20.Ne3 g6 21.f5 gxf5 22.gxf5 Bd7 23.Bf3 Kd8 24.Bd4 Bg7 25.Kb2 Ne8 26.Bxg7 Nxg7 27.f6 exf6 28.Rxh6 Ne8 29.d4 Kc7 30.d5 Rg5 31.Rd1 Ra6 32.b4 Nd6 33.Rxf6 cxd5 34.Rxd5 Rxd5 35.Bxd5 Nc4+ 36.Bxc4 1-0

Round 5, May 16, 2017
Giri, Anish – Nakamura, Hikaru
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 a6 7.Re1 O-O 8.h3 Ba7 9.Bb3 Re8 10.Nbd2 Be6 11.Bc2 h6 12.Nf1 d5 13.exd5 Bxd5 14.Ng3 Qd7 15.Be3 Bxe3 16.Rxe3 Re7 17.Nh4 g6 18.c4 Be6 19.Qf3 Kg7 20.Ba4 Qd4 21.Bxc6 bxc6 22.Qxc6 Rae8 23.Nf3 Qxb2 24.Rae1 Qxa2 25.Nxe5 Bd5 26.cxd5 Rxe5 27.Rxe5 1/2-1/2

Round 5, May 16, 2017
Nepomniachtchi, Ian – Gelfand, Boris
B31 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rossolimo Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.O-O Bg7 5.Nc3 d6 6.e5 dxe5 7.Bxc6+ bxc6 8.Re1 Qc7 9.d3 c4 10.h3 Be6 11.Qe2 cxd3 12.cxd3 Nf6 13.Nxe5 Nd5 14.Na4 Bxe5 15.Qxe5 Qxe5 16.Rxe5 Bf5 17.Nc5 f6 18.Re2 Kf7 19.d4 g5 20.Bd2 Rab8 21.b3 h5 22.Rc1 Rhd8 23.Rce1 Re8 24.Kh2 Rg8 25.Rc1 Rgd8 26.Ba5 Rg8 27.Rc4 Nb6 28.Rb4 Nd7 29.Nxd7 Bxd7 30.Rc4 Rgc8 31.Bc3 Rb7 32.Bb2 Be6 33.Rc5 Rb5 34.Rec2 Bf5 35.R2c4 Rxc5 36.Rxc5 Bb1 37.Ra5 Rc7 38.h4 gxh4 39.Kh3 Kg6 40.Kxh4 Rd7 41.Bc3 Be4 42.Kh3 Bd3 43.f3 a6 44.Rc5 Rd6 45.Kh4 Re6 46.d5 1/2-1/2

Round 5, May 16, 2017
Hou Yifan – Grischuk, Alexander
B91 Sicilian Najdorf, Zagreb variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.g3 e5 7.Nb3 Be7 8.Bg2 O-O 9.O-O b5 10.a4 b4 11.Nd5 Nxd5 12.Qxd5 Ra7 13.Be3 Be6 14.Qd3 Ra8 15.f4 Qc7 16.Nd2 a5 17.Rf2 f6 18.f5 Bf7 19.Rc1 Na6 20.c4 bxc3 21.Qxc3 Qb8 22.Rff1 Nb4 23.Qc7 Qe8 24.Qb7 Rb8 25.Qa7 Ra8 26.Qb7 Rb8 27.Qa7 d5 28.exd5 Nxd5 29.Bc5 Ra8 30.Qb7 Rb8 31.Qa7 Ra8 32.Qb7 Bxc5+ 33.Rxc5 Rb8 34.Qxf7+ Rxf7 35.Bxd5 Kh8 36.Rfc1 Rd7 37.Bc6 Qd8 38.Bxd7 Qxd7 39.Ne4 h5 0-1

Round 5, May 16, 2017
Tomashevsky, Evgeny – Hammer, Jon Ludvig
A21 English, Kramnik-Shirov Counter-Attack

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.Nd5 Bc5 4.Nf3 c6 5.Nc3 d6 6.e3 Bb4 7.Qb3 Ba5 8.Be2 Nf6 9.d3 e4 10.dxe4 Nxe4 11.Bd2 Nxd2 12.Nxd2 Na6 13.Rc1 Bf5 14.Qd1 Nc5 15.O-O Qb6 16.Nb3 Nxb3 17.axb3 Rd8 18.Ra1 O-O 19.Nd5 cxd5 20.Qxd5 Qxb3 1/2-1/2

Round 5, May 16, 2017
Harikrishna, Pentala – Adams, Michael
D35 QGD, Exchange, positional line

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 Be7 8.Bd3 Nbd7 9.f3 O-O 10.Nge2 b5 11.O-O Nb6 12.Bf2 a5 13.Ng3 b4 14.Nce2 c5 15.dxc5 Bxc5 16.Rc1 Nbd7 17.Nd4 Qb6 18.Re1 Re8 19.Bb1 a4 20.Qc2 Ra5 21.Nge2 Nf8 22.Nf4 Bd7 23.Nd3 Bd6 24.Bg3 Bxg3 25.hxg3 Rc8 26.Qd2 Rb8 27.g4 Ne6 28.Ne5 Rc5 29.Nxe6 Rxc1 30.Rxc1 Qxe6 31.Qd4 Qd6 32.Nd3 Ne8 33.Rc5 Rb5 34.Rxb5 Bxb5 35.Qxb4 Qa6 36.Nc5 Qc6 37.Bf5 Nf6 38.b3 axb3 39.Nxb3 g6 40.Bb1 Nd7 41.Kf2 Bc4 42.Na5 Qc7 43.Nxc4 dxc4 44.a4 Nb6 45.Bc2 Nd5 46.Qd2 Qc6 47.Be4 c3 48.Qd1 Qb7 49.Kg1 c2 50.Qxc2 Qb4 51.Qb1 1-0

Round 5, May 16, 2017
Vallejo Pons, Francisco – Inarkiev, Ernesto
A20 English (reversed Sicilian)

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 c6 4.d4 exd4 5.Qxd4 d5 6.Nf3 Be6 7.cxd5 cxd5 8.Be3 Nc6 9.Qa4 Bb4+ 10.Nbd2 O-O 11.O-O d4 12.Bg5 h6 13.Bxf6 Qxf6 14.Ne4 Qf5 15.a3 Qxe4 16.axb4 d3 17.b5 Qxa4 18.Rxa4 dxe2 19.Re1 Ne7 20.Nd4 Bd5 21.Rxe2 Bxg2 22.Kxg2 Rfe8 23.Nf3 Kf8 24.Ne5 Red8 25.Rc4 f6 26.Nf3 Rd7 27.b3 Rad8 28.Ra2 Nc8 29.h4 h5 30.Rac2 Nb6 31.Rc5 Nd5 32.Ra2 b6 33.Rc4 Ne7 34.Rf4 Kg8 35.Raa4 Nd5 36.Rfc4 a5 37.Rc6 Kf7 38.Rd4 Ke8 39.Rdc4 Rd6 40.Nd4 Ne7 41.Rxd6 Rxd6 42.Kf3 Kd7 43.Ke4 g6 44.f4 Rd5 45.b4 axb4 46.Rxb4 Rc5 47.Kd3 Rc1 48.Ra4 Rg1 49.Ne2 Rd1+ 50.Kc2 Re1 51.Kd2 Rb1 52.Ra7+ Ke6 53.Nd4+ Kd6 54.Rb7 Nd5 55.f5 gxf5 56.Nxf5+ Ke5 57.Ng7 Rxb5 58.Nxh5 Ke4 59.Kc1 Rc5+ 60.Kb2 f5 61.Rf7 Rb5+ 62.Kc1 Rb3 63.Ng7 Rxg3 64.Nxf5 Rh3 1/2-1/2

Someone commented – 64 moves and not one red (in Stockfish).

Standings after Round Five

1-2 Ding Liren, Mamedyarov 3.5
3-6 MVL, Svidler, Grischuk, Radjabov 3.0
7-13 Nakamura, Giri, Nepomniachtchi, Harikrishna, Gelfand, Tomashevsky, Hammer 2.5
14-16 Vallejo Pons, Hou Yifan, Salem 2.0
17 Inarkiev 1.5
18 Adams 1.0

Round Six Pairings (Thur. May 18, 2017)

1. Ding Liren-MVL
2. Radjabov-Mamedyarov
3. Grischuk-Svidler
4. Nakamura-Nepomniachtchi
5. Tomashevsky-Giri
6. Gelfand-Harikrishna
7. Hammer-Vallejo Pons
8. Salem-Hou Yifan
9. Adams-Inarkiev

**Wayne Komer** · Thursday, 18th May, 2017, 02:37 PM

Re: Moscow Grand Prix 2017

Moscow Grand Prix 2017

May 18, 2017

Round Six

The commentators are Evgeniy Miroshnichenko and Daniil Dubov. In a site with splendid graphics all over the place there are no readable nameplates for the commentators. You either know Dubov or you do not.

There are a couple of interesting interviews with Daniil. More so since he did commentary on the Candidates in 2016

https://www.chess.com/blog/Spektrows...h-daniil-dubov

“I like commenting work, but I wouldn't want to comment for more than three or four days - I'm trying to do play-by-play commentary, predicting the moves and explaining their meanings. After three or four days, it becomes quite hard to do, and there are many good color commentators who are much better at telling amusing stories than me. I'm not ready for a full-time commentator job: it's too hard.

My parents got me into a chess school at age six, which is almost too late by modern standards: there are some 5 years-old children already rated. We have some chess traditions in the family: my grandfather is a renowned chess arbiter, and my father played in his childhood, he's a Candidate Master. Then my grandfather and grandmother decided that he'd be better off studying mathematics - and my father is still grateful to them for that. He still likes chess, sometimes he plays blitz online.

I think I've been watching a game between father and grandfather... and so, I started pestering my father, like, can you teach me? That's how I got into a chess school. I studied in the Orienta chess school, in Perovo [a district of Moscow]. Right now, sadly, the situation changed, but back then, it all ran on enthusiasm. My first coach was Mikhail Grigorievich Ryvkin, who taught me to love the game, and then, when I was already a Candidate Master, I started to work with Vasily Vladimirovich Gagarin. He's my coach, friend and mentor - we're regularly talking about various subjects, he's often helping me at the tournaments. Particularly at the Tromso World Cup - I remember thinking that each of my wins made him more glad than me myself.”

And there is much more interesting material. Definitely worth a read.
_________

Grischuk-Svidler and Radjabov-Mamedyarov were drawn, as one might expect.
Nakamura beat Nepo in a Najdorf. Nepo plays very fast. A kibitzer on chessbomb gives this equation:

nepo = (jobava+topa+mame)

In the game, after 26….Nf7, there is a world of hurt for black.

Tomashevsky and the rest went to see a Spartak game on the rest day. Evgeniy is a life-long fan and his team after a decade reached the top spot.

“Spartak Moscow finally seized the elusive Russian Premier League (RPL) trophy when they were crowned 2016/17 champions after their game against Terek Grozny on Wednesday night, atoning for a 16-year wait for a Russian title.

Fans flocked to Otkrytie Arena in high spirits, eager to see Russia’s most successful club – who last became champions in 2001 when the iconic Oleg Romantsev led the Red-and-Whites to glory in the Russian Premier Division – finally end their title drought.”

Anastasiya felt that the organizers scheduled the rest day for the day of the game so they could take the players there.

Boris Gelfand, in a postgame interview, said that his favourite football team is Ajax. They are playing a final against Manchester United on May 24 but he is not sure if he will watch and bring them bad luck. His two recent books have been acclaimed and he is working on a third on Tactical Decisions in chess.

(Peter Diggers at chess.com) - On the rest day Nakamura made an appearance at the Central Chess Club on Gogolevsky Boulevard, where he was given a very nice watch by Natalia Shevando, the wife of Oleg Skortsov. For winning the Zurich Chess Challenge (sponsored by Skvortsov) three times in a row, the American player received a Rolex Sea-Dweller.

Nakamura wasn't alone in the club; he visited the chess museum, in the same building, together with Hou Yifan. The two players got a special tour by museum director Dimitry Oleynikov, who helped the players by reciting moves from memory when they were trying to remember the final Karpov-Kasparov game from the 1984-1985 match!

The games:

Moscow Grand Prix 2017
Round 6, May 18, 2017
Ding Liren – MVL
A20 English, Modern Nimzowitsch

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.O-O Nb6 7.Nc3 Be7 8.a3 O-O 9.b4 Re8 10.e3 a6 11.Qc2 Bg4 12.Ne4 f5 13.Nc5 e4 14.Ne1 Be2 15.d3 Bxf1 16.Kxf1 Bxc5 17.bxc5 Nd7 18.dxe4 fxe4 19.Bxe4 Qe7 20.Bxh7+ Kh8 21.Bg6 Rf8 22.Rb1 Nxc5 23.Ng2 Rad8 24.Nf4 Ne6 25.Rxb7 Ne5 26.Bb2 Nf3 27.Bh5 Nxf4 28.gxf4 Rd2 29.Qc3 Nxh2+ 30.Kg1 Rxf4 31.Qxg7+ Qxg7+ 32.Bxg7+ Kxg7 33.exf4 Kh6 34.Kxh2 Kxh5 35.Rxc7 Kg4 36.Kg2 Rd3 37.f3+ Kh5 38.a4 Rd4 39.Rc5+ Kh4 40.Kf2 Rxa4 41.Ke3 a5 42.Rg5 Ra3+ 43.Ke4 Ra4+ 44.Ke5 Rb4 45.Rg4+ Kh5 46.f5 Rb5+ 47.Ke6 Rb6+ 48.Ke7 Rb7+ 49.Ke6 Rb6+ 50.Kf7 Rb7+ 51.Kg8 Rb8+ 52.Kg7 Rb7+ 1/2-1/2

Round 6, May 18, 2017
Radjabov, Teimour – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
D45 QGD, Semi-Slav

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.e3 e6 5.Nf3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.Bd3 O-O 8.O-O e5 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.e4 exd4 11.Nxd5 Nxd5 12.exd5 h6 13.b3 Nb6 14.Bb2 Nxd5 15.Qc4 Nb4 16.Rfd1 Nxd3 17.Qxd3 Bc5 18.Bxd4 Bxd4 19.Qxd4 Qxd4 20.Nxd4 Bd7 1/2-1/2

Round 6, May 18, 2017
Grischuk, Alexander – Svidler, Peter
A33 English, symmetrical, Geller variation

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 e6 6.g3 Qb6 7.Ndb5 Ne5 8.Bg2 a6 9.Na3 Bxa3 10.bxa3 Nxc4 11.O-O Qc5 12.Na4 Qb5 13.Nc3 Qc5 14.Na4 Qb5 15.Nc3 1/2-1/2

Round 6, May 18, 2017
Nakamura, Hikaru – Nepomniachtchi, Ian
B97 Sicilian, Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6 8.a3 Nc6 9.Nb3 Be7 10.Qd2 O-O 11.O-O-O Rd8 12.Bd3 h6 13.h4 Bd7 14.Qe2 Kf8 15.e5 dxe5 16.fxe5 hxg5 17.exf6 Bxf6 18.hxg5 Bxg5+ 19.Kb1 Qe3 20.Qh5 Bh6 21.Rhf1 Be8 22.Rde1 Qg5 23.Qh3 Ne5 24.Nc5 Kg8 25.Nxe6 fxe6 26.Qxe6+ Nf7 27.Bg6 Kh8 28.Bxf7 Bxf7 29.Qxf7 Qxg2 30.Rg1 Qd2 31.Rd1 Qf4 32.Qxb7 Rdb8 33.Qe4 Qf8 34.Rg6 Ra7 35.Qd4 1-0

Round 6, May 18, 2017
Tomashevsky, Evgeny – Giri, Anish
A62 Benoni, Fianchetto variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 c5 4.d5 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.Nc3 g6 7.Bg2 Bg7 8.Nf3 O-O 9.O-O Re8 10.Bf4 Bf5 11.Bg5 h6 12.Bxf6 Qxf6 13.Nd2 Qe7 14.e4 Bd7 15.a4 Na6 16.Nc4 Nc7 17.f4 b5 18.axb5 Bd4+ 19.Kh1 Nxb5 20.e5 dxe5 21.fxe5 Nxc3 22.bxc3 Bxc3 23.d6 Qe6 24.Bd5 Bxa1 25.Bxe6 Bxe6 26.Qxa1 Bxc4 27.Rc1 Bd5+ 28.Kg1 c4 29.Qa5 Be6 30.Rb1 Rec8 31.Rb7 1/2-1/2

Round 6, May 18, 2017
Gelfand, Boris – Harikrishna, Pentala
E05 Catalan, open, Classical line

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.a4 Bd7 9.Bg5 Bc6 10.Rd1 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 h6 12.Bxf6 Nxf6 13.Nxc4 Be4 14.Qc1 a5 15.Nfe5 Bxg2 16.Kxg2 c6 17.Qc2 Qc7 18.Rac1 Rfd8 19.Qb3 Bf8 20.Qf3 Rac8 21.e4 b5 22.Ne3 Qb7 23.b3 c5 24.d5 exd5 25.Nxd5 Rd6 26.axb5 Qxb5 27.Nxf7 Kxf7 28.e5 Re6 29.exf6 g6 30.Re1 Qc6 31.Rxe6 Qxe6 32.Ra1 Qf5 33.Rxa5 Qxf3+ 34.Kxf3 Rb8 35.Ke4 Rxb3 36.Ra7+ Ke6 37.Nf4+ Kxf6 38.Ra6+ Kf7 39.Ra7+ Kf6 40.Ra6+ Kf7 41.Nxg6 Bg7 42.f4 Rb2 43.h4 Rg2 44.Kf3 Rg1 45.h5 c4 46.Ra7+ Kg8 47.Ne7+ Kf8 48.Ng6+ Kg8 49.Rc7 Rc1 50.Ne7+ Kf8 51.Nf5 Bb2 52.Rc8+ 1-0

Round 6, May 18, 2017
Hammer, Jon Ludvig – Vallejo Pons, Francisco
A20 English, Kingside Fianchetto

1.c4 Nf6 2.g3 e5 3.Bg2 h6 4.Nf3 e4 5.Nd4 Nc6 6.Nc2 d5 7.cxd5 Qxd5 8.Nc3 Qe6 9.d4 exd3 10.Qxd3 Bd6 11.Nb5 O-O 12.Nxd6 Rd8 13.Bf4 Nh5 14.Be3 Rxd6 15.Qb5 Qg6 16.Nb4 Nd4 17.Bxd4 Rxd4 18.Nd5 Qd6 19.Qe8+ Kh7 20.Qxf7 Be6 21.Qxh5 Bxd5 22.Bxd5 Rxd5 23.Qf3 Qb4+ 24.Kf1 Rd2 25.Rc1 c6 26.Rc2 Rxc2 27.Qd3+ Kh8 28.Qxc2 Rd8 29.b3 Rd2 30.Qf5 Rxa2 31.Qc8+ Kh7 32.Qf5+ Kh8 33.Qc8+ Kh7 34.Qf5+ Kh8 1/2-1/2

Round 6, May 18, 2017
Salem, Saleh – Hou Yifan
D41 QGD, Semi-Tarrasch

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 O-O 11.Bc4 Nd7 12.O-O b6 13.a4 Bb7 14.Rfe1 Nf6 15.Bd3 h6 16.a5 bxa5 17.Rxa5 Qc7 18.Ne5 Rfc8 19.f3 Qd8 20.Bf1 Nd7 21.Nc4 Nb6 22.Ne3 Rc7 23.Rea1 Rd7 24.Nc2 Nc8 25.Bb5 Rd6 26.Qb4 Rb8 27.Bd3 Ne7 28.Rb5 a6 29.e5 Rc6 30.Rxb7 Rxb7 31.Qxb7 Rxc2 32.Qe4 Rc8 33.Rxa6 Nf5 34.Kf2 Qxd4+ 35.Qxd4 Nxd4 36.Be4 g6 1/2-1/2

Round 6, May 18, 2017
Adams, Michael – Inarkiev, Ernesto
C84 Ruy Lopez, Closed

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.d3 b5 7.Bb3 d6 8.a3 O-O 9.Nc3 Nb8 10.a4 b4 11.Nd5 Nxd5 12.Bxd5 c6 13.Bb3 Nd7 14.Be3 Bb7 15.a5 d5 16.d4 dxe4 17.Nxe5 Nf6 18.Qe2 Qc7 19.Bf4 Bd6 20.Bg3 c5 21.c3 Rac8 22.Rfd1 g6 23.Qe3 cxd4 24.cxd4 Nd5 25.Qh6 Qe7 26.Re1 f5 27.f3 Bxe5 28.Bxe5 exf3 29.gxf3 Rfe8 30.Rac1 Qf8 31.Qg5 Qf7 32.Kf2 h5 33.Bd6 Rxe1 34.Rxe1 Re8 35.Rc1 Re6 36.Bxd5 Bxd5 37.Rc8+ Re8 38.Rc7 Qe6 39.Be5 Rc8 40.Rg7+ Kf8 41.Qh6 Rc2+ 42.Kg1 1-0

Standing after Round Six

1-2 Ding Liren, Mamedyarov 4.0
3-8 MVL, Nakamura, Svidler, Grischuk, Gelfand, Radjabov 3.5
9-11 Giri, Tomashevsky, Hammer 3.0
12-16 Nepomniachtchi, Harikrishna, Vallejo Pons, Hou Yifan, Salem 2.5
17 Adams 2.0
18. Inarkiev 1.5

Round Seven Pairings

1. Nakamura-Ding Liren
2. Mamedyarov-Grischuk
3. MVL-Radjabov
4. Svidler-Gelfand
5. Giri-Salem
6. Harikrishna-Tomashevsky
7. Hou Yifan-Hammer
8. Vallejo Pons-Adams
9. Inarkiev-Nepomniachtchi

**Wayne Komer** · Friday, 19th May, 2017, 04:44 PM

Re: Moscow Grand Prix 2017

Moscow Grand Prix 2017

May 19, 2017

Round Seven

Almost all draws today. At his postmortem with Mamedyarov, Alexander Grischuk said this:

I have not played a single fighting game yet, maybe tomorrow. If I were a kid again and chess like it is now, I definitely would not start to play it and become a chess player. Chess is not enjoyable for either the player or the spectator.

Mamedyarov who has been winning in his last three contests was of a different mind. His live rating as of today is 2799.9 One assumes that everyone will round that up to 2800

With all but two games drawn, Giri won against Salem and eventually Hou Yifan beat Hammer.

The start of a winning streak for Giri?

Moscow Grand Prix 2017
Round 7, May 19, 2017
Nakamura, Hikaru – Ding Liren
D41 QGD, Semi-Tarrasch

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c5 5.cxd5 Nxd5 6.e4 Nxc3 7.bxc3 cxd4 8.cxd4 Bb4+ 9.Bd2 Bxd2+ 10.Qxd2 O-O 11.Be2 b6 12.O-O Bb7 13.Qe3 Nc6 14.Rfd1 Rc8 15.Rac1 Qd6 16.h4 Rfd8 17.a3 h6 18.h5 Ne7 19.Rxc8 Rxc8 20.Ne5 Rc7 21.Bf3 b5 22.Qb3 a6 23.Qb4 Nc8 24.Nd3 Rc4 25.Qxd6 Nxd6 26.Nc5 Bc8 27.Be2 Rc3 28.a4 bxa4 29.Nxa4 Rc7 30.Nc5 Nb5 31.Bxb5 axb5 32.f4 Ra7 33.Rb1 Bd7 34.d5 exd5 35.exd5 Bg4 36.d6 Ra2 37.Rxb5 Rd2 38.Rb8+ Kh7 39.Rd8 Bxh5 40.Nd7 Rxd6 41.Nf8+ Kg8 42.Nd7+ Kh7 43.Nf8+ Kg8 44.Rxd6 Kxf8 45.f5 Bg4 46.f6 gxf6 47.Rxf6 h5 48.Kf2 Kg7 49.Rb6 f6 50.Ke3 Kf7 51.g3 Ke7 52.Kd4 Kf7 53.Kd5 Bf3+ 54.Kd6 Bg4 55.Rb7+ Kf8 56.Ra7 Ke8 57.Re7+ Kf8 58.Ra7 Ke8 59.Re7+ Kf8 60.Ra7 1/2-1/2

This question online: Someone please explain: In Nakamura vs. Ding, what is the principal behind the move 16. h4 The computer analysis also suggests this move as being one of the two strongest options, but how did white know that it was time to sacrifice his own castle integrity to push h4? He even ended up losing this pawn later and got no benefit that I can see, so why does a GM make this decision with Stockfish in agreement?

Round 7, May 19, 2017
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – Grischuk, Alexander
E16 Queen’s Indian, Riumin variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Nc3 c6 8.e4 d5 9.exd5 cxd5 10.Ne5 O-O 11.O-O Nc6 12.cxd5 Nxe5 13.dxe5 Nxd5 14.Rc1 Nxc3 1/2-1/2

Round 7, May 19, 2017
MVL – Radjabov, Teimour
B77 Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 g6 4.d4 cxd4 5.Nxd4 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 O-O 8.Bb3 d6 9.f3 Bd7 10.Qd2 Nxd4 11.Bxd4 b5 12.h4 a5 13.a4 bxa4 14.Nxa4 h5 15.Nb6 Ra6 16.Nxd7 Nxd7 17.Bxg7 Kxg7 18.Bc4 Ra8 19.Qd4+ 1/2-1/2

Round 7, May 19, 2017
Svidler, Peter – Gelfand, Boris
D45 QGD, Semi-Slav

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 c6 5.e3 Nbd7 6.Qc2 Bd6 7.b3 O-O 8.Be2 b6 9.O-O Bb7 10.Bb2 Qe7 11.Rad1 Rad8 12.Rfe1 Rfe8 13.Bf1 e5 14.dxe5 Nxe5 15.Nd4 dxc4 16.Nf5 Qe6 17.Nxd6 Rxd6 18.Rxd6 Qxd6 19.Rd1 cxb3 20.axb3 Qb8 21.Ne4 Nxe4 22.Qxe4 f6 23.Bxe5 Rxe5 24.Bc4+ Kh8 25.Qd4 Re7 26.Qd8+ Re8 27.Qd7 Qc8 28.Qf7 Rf8 29.Qe7 Re8 30.Qf7 1/2-1/2

Round 7, May 19, 2017
Giri, Anish – Salem, Saleh
B12 Caro-Kann, Advance variation

1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nd2 e6 5.Nb3 c5 6.dxc5 Bxc5 7.Nxc5 Qa5+ 8.c3 Qxc5 9.Be3 Qc7 10.f4 Ne7 11.Be2 O-O 12.Nf3 Nbc6 13.O-O Na5 14.Bf2 a6 15.Rc1 Rac8 16.b3 Nac6 17.Qd2 Rfd8 18.b4 Be4 19.a4 Nf5 20.g4 Nfe7 21.Ng5 Bg6 22.Bc5 Rd7 23.Nf3 Na5 24.Nd4 Nc4 25.Bxc4 dxc4 26.Bxe7 Rxe7 27.f5 exf5 28.gxf5 Bh5 29.Qg5 g6 30.e6 f6 31.Qxf6 Rg7 32.Rc2 Bg4 33.Qh4 Bxf5 34.Rg2 Re8 35.Re1 a5 36.bxa5 Qxa5 37.Nxf5 Qxf5 38.Qxc4 Rge7 39.Rf2 Qa5 40.Rf7 Qb6+ 41.Kg2 Qc6+ 42.Qxc6 bxc6 43.Rxe7 Rxe7 44.Kf3 Kf8 45.a5 Ra7 46.Re5 Ke7 47.Ke4 Rb7 48.Kd3 Rb1 49.Kc2 Ra1 50.Kb2 Ra4 51.Kb3 Ra1 52.Kb2 Ra4 53.Kb3 Ra1 54.c4 h6 55.Kb4 g5 56.Re3 c5+ 57.Kb5 g4 58.h3 gxh3 59.Rxh3 Kxe6 60.Rxh6+ Kd7 61.a6 Kc7 62.Rh8 Kd6 63.a7 Rxa7 64.Rh6+ Ke5 65.Kxc5 Ra8 66.Kb6 1-0

Round 7, May 19, 2017
Harikrishna, Pentala – Tomashevsky, Evgeny
C45 Scotch, Mieses variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 exd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nxc6 bxc6 6.e5 Qe7 7.Qe2 Nd5 8.c4 Ba6 9.Nd2 g6 10.b3 Bg7 11.Nf3 O-O 12.Qb2 Nb6 13.Qa3 Qxa3 14.Bxa3 Rfe8 15.O-O-O Bxe5 16.Nxe5 Rxe5 17.Bb2 Re7 18.h4 d5 19.h5 dxc4 20.Rh4 Rae8 21.hxg6 fxg6 22.bxc4 c5 23.Bd3 Rd7 24.Kc2 Bb7 25.Rg4 Bc6 26.Rh1 Red8 27.Rh3 Ba4+ 28.Kd2 Rd6 29.Rf4 Bd7 30.g4 h5 31.Bf6 Bxg4 32.Rxg4 Rxd3+ 33.Rxd3 Rxd3+ 34.Kxd3 hxg4 35.Be5 c6 36.Bb8 a6 37.Bc7 Nd7 38.Ke4 Kf7 39.Kf4 Kf6 40.a4 Ke6 41.Kxg4 Ne5+ 42.Kg5 Nd3 43.f4 Kf7 44.Bb6 Ke6 45.Ba7 Kf7 46.f5 gxf5 47.Kxf5 Nb2 48.Bxc5 Nxc4 49.Ke4 Ke6 50.Kd4 Nd6 51.Bb4 Nb7 52.Ba3 Kd7 53.Kc4 Kc7 54.Bb4 Kb6 55.Be7 Kc7 56.Bb4 Kb6 57.Be7 Ka5 58.Kb3 c5 59.Kc4 Kxa4 60.Bxc5 1/2-1/2

Round 7, May 19, 2017
Hou Yifan – Hammer, Jon Ludvig
D05 Catalan, open, Classical line

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.g3 Be7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O dxc4 7.Qa4 a6 8.Qxc4 b5 9.Qc2 Bb7 10.Bd2 Be4 11.Qc1 c6 12.Rd1 Nbd7 13.Nc3 Bg6 14.a3 c5 15.Be3 Qc7 16.Ne5 cxd4 17.Nxg6 hxg6 18.Bxa8 dxe3 19.Nd5 exf2+ 20.Kf1 Qc5 21.b4 Qxc1 22.Nxe7+ Kh7 23.Raxc1 Rxa8 24.Kxf2 a5 25.Rd4 g5 26.h4 g4 27.Rc8 Ra6 28.Rc7 axb4 29.axb4 Ne5 30.Rc5 Nc4 31.Rxb5 Nd6 32.Ra5 Rb6 33.Kg2 g6 34.Rc5 Nb5 35.Rdc4 Kg7 36.Nc8 Rb8 37.Rc6 Na3 38.Rc3 Nb5 39.R3c4 Na3 40.Rc3 Nb5 41.Rc1 Nd5 42.Kf2 Na3 43.Ra1 Nb5 44.Rc5 f5 45.Kf1 Kf6 46.Ra6 Nbc7 47.Rac6 Rxc8 48.Rxd5 Nxd5 49.Rxc8 Nxb4 50.Kf2 Nd5 51.Ke1 Ne3 52.Rb8 Ke5 53.Rb5+ Kf6 54.Rb3 Nc4 55.Rb4 Nd6 56.Kd2 Ke5 57.Kd3 Kd5 58.Ra4 Ke5 59.Ra5+ Kf6 60.Kd4 Ne4 61.Ra3 Nf2 62.Rb3 Ne4 63.Re3 Nd2 64.Rd3 Nf1 65.Ra3 f4 66.gxf4 Kf5 67.Ra1 Nd2 68.Kd3 Nb3 69.Rb1 Nc5+ 70.Ke3 e5 71.Rb5 Nd7 72.fxe5 Nf8 73.e6+ Kf6 74.Kf4 Nxe6+ 75.Kxg4 Nd4 76.Rb6+ Kf7 77.e4 Kg7 78.e5 Kf7 79.Rf6+ Kg7 80.Kg5 1-0

Round 7, May 19, 2017
Vallejo Pons, Francisco – Adams, Michael
D55 QGD, Neo-orthodox

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bxf6 Bxf6 7.e3 O-O 8.Qd2 a6 9.Rd1 b6 10.cxd5 exd5 11.g3 Bb7 12.Bg2 Qd6 13.Ne5 Nd7 14.f4 Rad8 15.O-O c5 16.dxc5 Nxc5 17.b4 Nd7 18.Ne4 Qe6 19.Nxd7 Rxd7 20.Nxf6+ Qxf6 21.Qd4 Qxd4 22.Rxd4 Re7 23.Kf2 Rc8 24.Rfd1 Rc2+ 25.R1d2 Rxd2+ 26.Rxd2 Rc7 27.h4 Kf8 28.Bxd5 Bxd5 29.Rxd5 Rc2+ 30.Kf3 Rxa2 31.Rd6 b5 32.h5 Ra4 33.e4 Ke7 34.e5 Rxb4 35.Rxa6 Rb3+ 36.Kg4 b4 37.Rb6 Kd7 38.Rb7+ Ke6 39.Rb6+ Kd7 40.Rb8 Ke7 41.Kf5 Rxg3 42.Rb7+ Kf8 43.Rxb4 Rg1 44.Rb8+ Ke7 45.Rg8 Rh1 46.Rxg7 Rxh5+ 47.Ke4 Rh1 48.Rg8 f6 49.Rg7+ Kf8 50.exf6 Rh5 51.Re7 Ra5 52.Rh7 Rb5 53.Ra7 Rc5 54.Re7 Ra5 55.Re5 Ra7 56.Kf5 Kf7 57.Re7+ Rxe7 58.fxe7 Kxe7 59.Kg6 h5 60.Kxh5 1/2-1/2

Round 7, May 19, 2017
Inarkiev, Ernesto – Nepomniachtchi, Ian
D80 Grunfeld, Stockholm variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Bg7 5.Bxf6 Bxf6 6.cxd5 c5 7.Nf3 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Qb6 9.Nb3 O-O 10.Qd2 Rd8 11.Rd1 Na6 12.e4 Bg4 13.Be2 Bxe2 14.Qxe2 Nb4 15.e5 Bg7 16.Nc1 Qa5 17.Nb3 Qb6 18.Nc1 Qa5 19.Nb3 1/2-1/2

Standing after Round Seven

1-2 Ding Liren, Mamedyarov 4.5
3-9 MVL, Nakamura, Giri, Svidler, Grischuk, Gelfand, Radjabov 4.0
10-11 Tomashevsky, Hou Yifan 3.5
12-15 Nepomniachtchi, Harikrishna, Vallejo Pons, Hammer 3.0
16-17 Adams, Salem 2.5
18 Inarkiev 2.0

Round Eight Pairings

1. Ding Liren – Giri
2. Svidler – Mamedyarov
3. Grischuk – Nakamura
4. Radjabov – Gelfand
5. Tomashevsky – MVL
6. Hou Yifan – Vallejo Pons
7. Nepomniachtchi – Harikrishna
8. Hammer – Adams
9. Salem - Inarkiev

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 21st May, 2017, 02:10 AM

Re: Moscow Grand Prix 2017

Moscow Grand Prix 2017

May 20, 2017

Round Eight

(Peter Doggers at chess.com) - Peter Svidler had the strange experience that also his second Azerbaijani opponent mixed up moves in the opening. Once again the grandmaster from St. Petersburg failed to profit.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov vaguely remembered that castling wasn't good on move nine, but he played too fast. Svidler was actually commenting live on the game MVL vs Giri from the Paris Grand Chess Tour last year, so he knew how good it was for White.

Svidler basically got a free exchange. He said that during the game he was thinking: "This is no good. If I don't win this people will laugh. OK, you can start laughing now."

9…. O-O 10. Nxf6+

The game of the day was clearly Ian Nepomniachtchi and Pentala Harikrishna, which had everything: a knight sacrifice on e6, two white pawns on d6 and e6 in the middlegame, a steel king running from f8 all the way to c2, and eventually a loser turning into a winner.

https://www.chess.com/news/view/mosc...atic-game-3619

The games:

Moscow Grand Prix
Round 8, May 20, 2017
Ding, Liren – Giri, Anish
E00 Catalan Opening

1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 O-O 7.O-O Nbd7 8.Qc2 c6 9.Rd1 b6 10.b3 a5 11.Bc3 Ne4 12.Ne5 Nxe5 13.Bxe4 f5 14.Bxd5 exd5 15.dxe5 f4 16.cxd5 cxd5 17.Bd4 Ba6 18.Qc6 Bxe2 19.Re1 Qc8 20.Qxd5+ Kh8 21.Nc3 Ba6 22.e6 Rd8 23.Qe4 Bb7 24.Qxf4 Qc6 25.Bxg7+ Kxg7 26.Qf7+ Kh8 27.Ne4 Qe8 28.Ng5 1/2-1/2

Round 8, May 20, 2017
Svidler, Peter – Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar
C77 Ruy Lopez, Anderssen variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.d3 b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.Nc3 d6 8.Nd5 h6 9.c3 O-O 10.Nxf6+ Qxf6 11.Bd5 Bd7 12.Rg1 Ne7 13.Bxa8 Rxa8 14.g4 Qe6 15.Nh4 d5 16.Nf5 Bc6 17.Qe2 dxe4 18.dxe4 Ng6 19.Kf1 Nf4 20.Bxf4 exf4 21.Re1 Re8 22.b4 Bb6 23.f3 Bxg1 24.Kxg1 Bd7 25.Rd1 Qb6+ 26.Qf2 Bxf5 27.gxf5 Qxf2+ 28.Kxf2 a5 29.a3 axb4 30.axb4 Ra8 31.Rd7 c6 32.Rc7 Ra2+ 33.Kg1 Ra1+ 34.Kg2 Ra2+ 35.Kg1 Ra1+ 36.Kg2 Ra2+ 37.Kh3 h5 38.Rxc6 f6 39.c4 1/2-1/2

Round 8, May 20, 2017
Grischuk, Alexander – Nakamura, Hikaru
E01 Catalan, Closed

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Bb4+ 5.Nd2 O-O 6.Nf3 dxc4 7.a3 Bxd2+ 8.Bxd2 Nc6 9.e3 Rb8 10.O-O b5 11.b3 cxb3 12.Qxb3 Bb7 13.Rfc1 Ne7 14.Bb4 Re8 15.Ne5 Nd7 16.Bxe7 Rxe7 17.Nc6 Bxc6 18.Rxc6 Nf6 19.Ra6 c5 20.dxc5 Qc8 21.Rc6 Rc7 22.Rxc7 Qxc7 23.c6 a5 24.Rc1 h6 1/2-1/2

Round 8, May 20, 2017
Radjabov, Teimour – Gelfand, Boris
E11 Bogo-Indian Defence

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Nf3 O-O 7.O-O c6 8.Qc2 Nbd7 9.Rd1 b6 10.Bf4 Bb7 11.Ne5 Nh5 12.Bd2 Nhf6 13.cxd5 cxd5 14.Nc6 Bxc6 15.Qxc6 Rc8 16.Qb5 Ne8 17.Qd3 Nd6 18.Nc3 Nf6 19.b3 Qd7 20.Rac1 Rfd8 21.Rc2 Nde4 22.Be1 1/2-1/2

Round 8, May 20, 2017
Tomashevsky, Evgeny – MVL
D80 Grunfeld, Stockholm variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.Bg5 Ne4 5.Bh4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 dxc4 7.e3 Be6 8.Be2 Nd7 9.Nf3 Bg7 10.O-O Nb6 11.Qc2 O-O 12.Rfb1 Bd7 13.a4 a5 14.Bg3 Bc6 15.e4 Qd7 16.Rxb6 cxb6 17.d5 Bxa4 18.Rxa4 b5 19.Ra2 b4 20.cxb4 axb4 21.Bxc4 Ra3 22.Rxa3 bxa3 23.Qa2 Qa4 24.h4 Qd1+ 25.Kh2 Qa1 26.e5 Qxa2 27.Bxa2 Rc8 28.d6 exd6 29.exd6 Bf6 30.Ng5 Rc2 31.Bxf7+ Kg7 32.Bb3 a2 33.Ne6+ Kh8 34.Bxa2 Rxa2 35.d7 Rd2 36.Nc5 Be7 37.Nxb7 Rxd7 38.Na5 Rd5 39.Nc4 Kg8 40.Ne3 Rd4 41.Kh3 h5 42.f3 Kf7 43.Bf2 Rd2 44.Bg3 Ke6 45.Bf4 Rd3 46.Nf1 Rd1 47.Ng3 Rb1 48.Bc7 Bf6 49.Bf4 Bd8 50.Be3 Bc7 51.Bg5 Kd5 52.Bf6 Kc4 53.Bg5 Kd3 54.Bh6 Be5 55.Bf8 Ra1 56.Be7 Ra6 57.Bf8 Rc6 58.Bh6 Bxg3 59.Kxg3 Ke2 60.Kf4 Kf2 61.g4 Rc4+ 62.Kg5 Kxf3 63.gxh5 Rg4+ 64.Kf6 gxh5 65.Bg5 Re4 66.Kf5 Re8 67.Bf6 Rf8 68.Ke5 Kg4 69.Bg5 Re8+ 70.Kd4 Kf3 71.Kd3 Re4 72.Bf6 Re6 73.Bg5 Rd6+ 74.Kc3 Ke4 75.Kc2 Rd3 76.Bh6 Kd4 77.Bg5 Rf3 78.Kd2 Rf2+ 79.Ke1 Ra2 80.Bf6+ Kd3 81.Bg5 Re2+ 82.Kf1 Re5 83.Kf2 Rf5+ 84.Ke1 Rf7 85.Bh6 Re7+ 86.Kf2 Re2+ 87.Kf1 Rh2 88.Bg5 Ke4 89.Ke1 Kf3 90.Kd1 Re2 91.Bh6 Kf2 92.Bg5 Re5 93.Kd2 Rd5+ 94.Kc3 Ke2 95.Kc4 Rd3 96.Bh6 Ra3 97.Bg5 Kf3 98.Kd4 Kg4 99.Ke4 Rh3 100.Bf6 Rh1 101.Bg5 1/2-1/2

Round 8, May 20, 2017
Hou Yifan – Vallejo Pons, Francisco
C12 French, McCutcheon variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Nf6 4.Bg5 Bb4 5.exd5 Qxd5 6.Bxf6 Bxc3+ 7.bxc3 gxf6 8.Qd2 Qa5 9.Bd3 Bd7 10.Ne2 Bc6 11.f3 Nd7 12.c4 Qxd2+ 13.Kxd2 Nb6 14.h4 Rg8 15.Rhg1 Rd8 16.Ke3 Ke7 17.g4 h6 18.Rab1 Nc8 19.Nc3 b6 20.a4 Nd6 21.Nb5 Ne8 22.a5 Bxb5 23.Rxb5 f5 24.axb6 axb6 25.c5 Nf6 26.cxb6 cxb6 27.Be2 Nd5+ 28.Kd2 Nf4 29.c3 Rc8 30.Bf1 h5 31.c4 hxg4 32.fxg4 fxg4 33.Rxb6 f5 34.Ke3 Nh3 35.Bxh3 gxh3 36.Rxg8 Rxg8 37.Rb1 Rh8 38.d5 exd5 39.cxd5 Rxh4 40.Kf2 Kd6 41.Kg3 Rh5 42.Kh2 Kxd5 43.Rb5+ Ke4 44.Rb4+ Ke5 45.Rb5+ Kf6 46.Rb1 Rh4 47.Rb3 Ke5 48.Rb5+ Kf4 49.Rb3 Rh8 50.Rb1 Ke3 51.Rb3+ Kd2 52.Rb2+ Kc3 53.Rb5 Rh5 54.Rd5 Kc4 55.Rd8 Kc5 56.Rd7 Kb6 57.Rd3 Kc6 58.Rd8 Rh4 59.Rf8 f4 60.Rd8 Kc5 61.Rd7 Kc6 62.Rd3 Rh8 63.Rxh3 Rxh3+ 64.Kxh3 Kd5 65.Kg2 Ke4 66.Kf2 f3 67.Kf1 Ke3 68.Ke1 f2+ 69.Kf1 Kf3 1/2-1/2

Round 8, May 20, 2017
Nepomniachtchi, Ian – Harikrishna, Pentala
A18 English, Mikenas-Carls, Flohr variation

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 e6 3.e4 d5 4.e5 d4 5.exf6 dxc3 6.bxc3 Qxf6 7.d4 e5 8.Nf3 exd4 9.Bg5 Qe6+ 10.Be2 Be7 11.cxd4 Bxg5 12.Nxg5 Qg6 13.f4 O-O 14.O-O Nc6 15.Rb1 h6 16.Nf3 Qd6 17.d5 Ne7 18.Nd4 c6 19.f5 Qf6 20.Ne6 fxe6 21.fxe6 Qe5 22.Rxf8+ Kxf8 23.Qf1+ Qf6 24.d6 b6 25.Bg4 Ng6 26.Re1 Bxe6 27.Bxe6 Rd8 28.g3 Rxd6 29.Qe2 Qc3 30.Kh1 Rd2 31.Rf1+ Ke7 32.Qe4 Ne5 33.Bh3 Kd6 34.Qf5 Kc5 35.Bg2 Qd4 36.Qf8+ Qd6 37.Qf4 Qd4 38.Qf8+ Qd6 39.Qf4 Re2 40.Qc1 Qd3 41.Qf4 g5 42.Qf8+ Qd6 43.Qf5 Qd2 44.Bxc6 Rxh2+ 45.Kg1 Re2 46.Bb7 Qe3+ 47.Kh1 Re1 48.Qf8+ Kd4 49.Qd6+ Kc3 50.Qa3+ Kc2 51.Qxe3 Rxe3 52.Rf2+ Kc3 53.Kg2 Nxc4 54.g4 Rd3 55.Rf6 Ne3+ 0-1

Round 8, May 20, 2017
Hammer, Jon Ludvig – Adams, Michael
A20 English, Modern Nimzowitsch

1.c4 e5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Nf3 Nc6 6.O-O Nb6 7.b3 Be7 8.Bb2 f6 9.Nc3 O-O 10.d4 Nxd4 11.Nxd4 exd4 12.Nb5 d3 13.Nd4 c5 14.Nb5 Bf5 15.a4 Qd7 16.exd3 Bh3 17.Bxh3 Qxh3 18.Qe2 Qd7 19.Rfe1 Rfe8 20.Qe6+ Qxe6 21.Rxe6 Nd5 22.d4 Kf7 23.Rd6 Red8 1/2-1/2

Round 8, May 20, 2017
Salem, Saleh – Inarkiev, Ernesto
C53 Guioco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 O-O 6.Bg5 h6 7.Bh4 Be7 8.Bg3 d6 9.Nbd2 g6 10.a3 Nh5 11.Nf1 Kh7 12.Ne3 f5 13.exf5 gxf5 14.d4 f4 15.Nh4 Nxg3 16.Qc2+ Kh8 17.Ng6+ Kg7 18.Nxf8 Qxf8 19.fxg3 fxe3 20.Rf1 Bf6 21.Qe4 exd4 22.Bd3 Qf7 23.O-O-O e2 24.Qh7+ Kf8 25.Qxh6+ Ke7 26.Bxe2 Qg7 27.Rxf6 Qxf6 28.Qh7+ Qf7 29.Qh4+ Qf6 30.Qh7+ Qf7 31.Qh4+ 1/2-1/2

Standing after Round Eight

1-2 Ding Liren, Mamedyarov 5.0
3-9 MVL, Nakamura, Giri, Svidler, Grischuk, Gelfand, Radjabov 4.5
10-12 Harikrishna, Tomashevsky, Hou Yifan 4.0
13-14 Vallejo Pons, Hammer 3.5
15-17 Nepomniachtchi, Adams, Salem 3.0
18 Inarkiev 2.5

Final Round Pairings

1. Gelfand-Ding Liren
2. Mamedyarov-MVL
3. Nakamura-Svidler
4. Giri-Grischuk
5. Harikrishna-Radjabov
6. Adams-Tomashevsky
7. Inarkiev-Hou Yifan
8. Vallejo Pons-Nepomniachtchi
9. Salem-Hammer

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 21st May, 2017, 01:24 PM

Re: Moscow Grand Prix 2017

Moscow Grand Prix 2017

May 21, 2017

Round Nine

Daniil Dubov is again assisting Miro.

Mamedyarov drew with MVL to be at the top of the leader board at the start of today’s action but Ding Liren has been playing very good chess throughout the tournament and has just beaten Boris Gelfand to be the sole winner of the Moscow Grand Prix.

23.Rd7 was the best of bad alternatives and gave some chances but Black was already lost.

Ding Liren is a very quiet, soft-spoken player and now No. 9 in the Live Ratings. Asked who helped him, he answered that it was his mother, who prepared his meals so that he would have more time on his chess. He shied away from saying who his seconds were.

Svidler and Nakamura come on for the postmortem. They both had chances for a good result. Peter played very slowly and spotted Hikaru an hour’s time. Hikaru saw that Boris Gelfand suddenly lost his mind with that rook sacrifice and he knew that Ding Liren would win the game and take top spot. He seemed a bit bitter about that even though he and Peter seemed to be in good moods otherwise. Peter made an oblique reference to the fact that he couldn’t convert two good positions against the members of the Azerbaijani School of Chess (Mamedyarov and Radjabov.)

Hou Yifan beats Ernesto Inarkiev for the other win so far. Giri – Grischuk grinds on because a tie for second place goes to the winner. They have an endgame with B and 3p for Giri and N and 4p for Grischuk. Finally, this last game finishes in a draw. Giri says in the postmortem that he did not lose in this game was a miracle.

Grischuk looked much better at the end of the tournament than at the first when he was sick. Anish of this says, “Generally draws are good for your health” and Alexander responds, “That’s why you look so healthy”.

The games:

Moscow Grand Prix 2017
Round 9, May 21, 2017
Gelfand, Boris – Liren, Ding
E01 Catalan, Closed

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Nf3 O-O 7.O-O Nbd7 8.a4 a5 9.Qc2 c6 10.Na3 Ne4 11.Bf4 g5 12.Be3 f5 13.Rad1 Bf6 14.Nb1 Qe7 15.Nc3 b6 16.Ne5 Nxe5 17.dxe5 Bxe5 18.Bxb6 Qb4 19.Nxe4 fxe4 20.cxd5 Qxb6 21.Qxe4 Qxb2 22.dxc6 Bc7 23.Rd7 Bxd7 24.cxd7 Qf6 25.Bh3 Rab8 26.Qxe6+ Qxe6 27.Bxe6+ Kg7 28.Rc1 Kf6 29.Bg4 Bd8 30.Rc6+ Kg7 31.Bh5 Rb2 32.Rc8 Rd2 33.Be8 Bb6 34.Rb8 Rf6 35.e3 g4 0-1

Round 9, May 21, 2017
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar – MVL
E60 King’s Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 d5 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Nf3 Bg7 7.Nc3 Ne4 8.Qa4+ Nc6 9.Ne5 Nxc3 10.bxc3 O-O 11.Nxc6 bxc6 12.O-O Qb6 13.Ba3 Qa6 14.Qxa6 Bxa6 15.Rfb1 Rfb8 16.Bxe7 1/2-1/2

Round 9, May 21, 2017
Nakamura, Hikaru – Svidler, Peter
E60 King’s Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nf3 Bg7 4.e3 O-O 5.Be2 c5 6.d5 d6 7.Nc3 e6 8.O-O Re8 9.e4 exd5 10.exd5 Ne4 11.Nxe4 Rxe4 12.Bd3 Re8 13.Bg5 Bf6 14.Qd2 Nd7 15.Rfe1 Ne5 16.h4 Nxf3+ 17.gxf3 Bd7 18.Rxe8+ Bxe8 19.Qf4 Bxg5 20.hxg5 h6 21.gxh6 Qe7 22.a3 a5 23.Rc1 Bd7 24.Rc3 Re8 25.Kg2 Qd8 26.Rb3 Bc8 27.Bc2 Re5 28.Re3 Rh5 29.Ba4 Bd7 30.Bxd7 Qxd7 31.Kf1 Qd8 32.Ke2 Rh4 33.h7+ Kg7 34.h8=B+ Rxh8 35.Re4 1/2-1/2

Round 9, May 21, 2017
Giri, Anish – Grischuk, Alexander
A21 English, Kramnik-Shirov Counter-Attack

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Bb4 3.Nd5 Bc5 4.e3 Nf6 5.b4 Nxd5 6.bxc5 Nf6 7.Nf3 Qe7 8.Be2 e4 9.Nd4 Na6 10.g4 Nxc5 11.Nf5 Qf8 12.g5 d6 13.Ng3 Nfd7 14.Qc2 Qe7 15.Bb2 Ne5 16.Nxe4 Bf5 17.f3 Nxf3+ 18.Bxf3 Bxe4 19.Bxe4 Qxe4 20.Qxe4+ Nxe4 21.Rg1 O-O 22.Bd4 f6 23.gxf6 Nxf6 24.Ke2 b6 25.a4 a5 26.Raf1 Nh5 27.e4 Rxf1 28.Rxf1 Rf8 29.Rxf8+ Kxf8 30.e5 Ke7 31.Kf3 dxe5 32.Bxe5 Kd7 33.d4 Nf6 34.Kf4 Ne8 35.Ke4 Nd6+ 36.Kd3 g6 37.Bf4 Nf5 38.Bd2 Nd6 39.c5 Nb7 40.Be3 bxc5 41.dxc5 Kc6 42.Kc4 Nd8 43.Bd2 Nb7 44.Be3 g5 45.Bxg5 Nxc5 46.Bd2 Nxa4 47.Bxa5 Nb6+ 48.Kd4 Kd6 49.Ke4 Ke6 50.Kd4 Kf5 51.Kc5 Kg4 52.Kc6 Kh3 53.Kxc7 Nc4 54.Bc3 Kxh2 55.Kc6 Ne3 56.Bd2 Ng4 57.Kd5 h5 58.Bg5 1/2-1/2

Round 9, May 21, 2017
Harikrishna, Pentala – Radjabov, Teimour
D73 Neo-Grunfeld

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.Nf3 O-O 5.g3 c6 6.Bg2 d5 7.cxd5 cxd5 8.Ne5 e6 9.O-O Nfd7 10.Nf3 Nf6 11.Ne5 Nfd7 12.Nf3 Nc6 13.e4 dxe4 14.Nxe4 Qb6 15.Qe2 e5 16.dxe5 Ndxe5 17.Nxe5 Bxe5 18.Nc3 Be6 19.Bh6 Bg7 20.Bxg7 Kxg7 21.Rfd1 Rad8 22.b3 Rxd1+ 23.Rxd1 Rd8 24.Bd5 Qa5 25.Bxe6 Rxd1+ 26.Qxd1 Qxc3 27.Bd5 b6 28.Bxc6 Qxc6 29.Qd3 h5 1/2-1/2

Round 9, May 21, 2017
Adams, Michael – Tomashevsky, Evgeny
C88 Ruy Lopez, Closed, anti-Marshall

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 O-O 8.a4 b4 9.d4 d6 10.dxe5 Nxe5 11.Nxe5 dxe5 12.Qxd8 Rxd8 13.Nd2 Bc5 14.Nf3 Re8 15.Be3 Bxe3 16.Rxe3 h6 17.Rd1 Be6 18.Kf1 Kf8 19.Nd2 Nd7 20.Bxe6 Rxe6 21.Nc4 Nb6 22.Nxb6 cxb6 23.c3 Rc8 24.cxb4 Rc4 25.b5 Rxa4 26.bxa6 Rxa6 27.Rc3 Ra7 28.Ke2 Ke7 29.Rd5 Rd7 30.Rxd7+ 1/2-1/2

Round 9, May 21, 2017
Inarkiev, Ernesto – Yifan, Hou
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 a6 7.Re1 O-O 8.Bb3 h6 9.Nbd2 Ng4 10.Re2 Kh8 11.h3 f5 12.exf5 Nxf2 13.Rxf2 Bxf2+ 14.Kxf2 Bxf5 15.Qe2 d5 16.Kg1 Qd6 17.Bc2 Rf7 18.b4 a5 19.Bb2 axb4 20.cxb4 Nxb4 21.Nxe5 Re7 22.Ndf3 Kg8 23.Qd2 Nxc2 24.Qxc2 c5 25.Qb3 Kh7 26.Kh1 d4 27.Bc1 Rxe5 28.Bf4 Qd5 29.Rb1 Qxb3 30.Rxb3 Rd5 31.Ne5 Rxa2 32.Rxb7 Re2 33.g4 Be6 34.Nc4 Rd8 0-1

Round 9, May 21, 2017
Vallejo Pons, Francisco – Nepomniachtchi, Ian
E60 King’s Indian Defence

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Bg5 Bg7 4.Nc3 d5 5.Bxf6 Bxf6 6.cxd5 c5 7.dxc5 Nd7 8.c6 Nc5 9.Rc1 Qb6 10.Nf3 O-O 11.e3 Qxb2 12.Nd4 bxc6 13.Be2 cxd5 14.Nxd5 Bxd4 15.Nxe7+ Kg7 16.Qxd4+ Qxd4 17.exd4 Re8 18.Rxc5 1/2-1/2

Round 9, May 21, 2017
Salem, Saleh – Hammer, Jon Ludvig
A20 English Opening

1.c4 e5 2.g3 c6 3.Nf3 e4 4.Nd4 d5 5.d3 Bc5 6.Nb3 Bb4+ 7.Bd2 Bxd2+ 8.Qxd2 dxc4 9.dxc4 Qxd2+ 10.N1xd2 f5 11.c5 Nf6 12.e3 g6 13.Nc4 Ke7 14.Nd6 Nbd7 15.Rc1 b6 16.Be2 1/2-1/2

Final Standings

1 Ding Liren 6.0
2 Mamedyarov 5.5
3-9 MVL, Svidler, Radjabov, Nakamura, Hou Yifan, Grischuk, Giri 5.0
10-12 Tomashevsky, Harikrishna, Gelfand 4.5
13-14 Vallejo, Hammer 4.0
15-17 Salem, Nepomniachtchi, Adams 3.5
18 Inarkiev 2.5

Grand Prix Standings (Top Ten)

Name Sharjah Moscow Overall
1. Mamedyarov 140 140 280
2. Ding Liren 70 170 240
3. Grischuk 140 71.4 211.4
4. MVL 140 71.4 211.4
5. Nakamura 70 71.4 141.4
6. Hou Yifan 7 71.4 78.4
7. Adams 70 3 73
8. Nepo 70 3 73
9. Svidler 0 71.4 71.4
10. Radjabov 0 71.4 71.4

Ilya Merenzon was pleased with the way the tournament went. He notes that with the two Chinese players here, there has been a rise in interest in China and the number of paid subscriptions to watch online.

**Garland Best** · Sunday, 21st May, 2017, 04:22 PM

Re: Moscow Grand Prix 2017

Originally posted by Wayne Komer View Post

Grischuk looked much better at the end of the tournament than at the first when he was sick. Anish of this says, “Generally draws are good for your health” and Alexander responds, “That’s why you look so healthy”.

LOL! Oh, BURN!

**Laurentiu Grigorescu** · Sunday, 21st May, 2017, 06:15 PM

Re: Moscow Grand Prix 2017

Great day for the Chinese, the only players with 3 wins!. If Ding Linren is a deserving winner, Hou Yifan is the hero of the tournament. I watched live her 28..Qd5 and felt the cold on Inarkiev's spine :-)

Moscow Grand Prix 2017

Moscow Grand Prix 2017

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