Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix 2019

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 3rd November, 2019, 02:55 PM

Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix 2019

November 3, 2019

Final List of Entrants

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#	Player	Country
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1	Alexander Grischuk	Russia
2	Ian Nepomniachtchi	Russia
3	Maxime Vachier-Lagrave	France
4	Radoslaw Wojtaszek	Poland
5	Hikaru Nakamura	USA
6	Peter Svidler	Russia
7	Daniil Dubov	Russia
8	Wei Yi	China
9	Veselin Topalov	Bulgaria
10	Yu Yangyi	China
11	Jan-Krzysztof Duda	Poland
12	Teimour Radjabov	Azerbaijan
13	Nikita Vitiugov	Russia
14	Harikrishna Pentala	India
15	David Navara	Czech Republic
16	Dmitry Jakovenko	Russia
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Venue: FIDE Grand Prix for Chess in Hamburg 2019 will be hosted by the Kehrwieder Theater

Address: Kehrwieder 6, 20457 Hamburg, Germany

To Follow Online

99.9% of chess in the world is played and watched online. You can watch the Grand Prix for free on worldchess.com. On your computer or smartphone, you will follow the games live online, and also be able to see the multi-camera live feed as well as commentary in English and Russian.

Our commentators

Evgenij Miroshnichenko – english

Ilja Zaragatski – german

Elmira Mirzoeva – Russian

https://worldchess.com/news/guide-to...rand-prix-2019

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 4th November, 2019, 09:15 PM

Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix 2019

November 4, 2019

First Round Pairings

MVL – Wei Yi

Nakamura – Topalov

Navara – Vitiugov

Wojtaszek – Grischuk

Radjabov – Dubov

Svidler – Harikrishna

Jakovenko – Yu Yangyi

Duda – Nepomniachtchi

Two classical games then, a tiebreak of two 25+10 rapid games. If still tied, there are two 10+10 games, then two 5+3. Finally, an Armageddon is played.

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 5th November, 2019, 09:50 PM

Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix 2019

November 5, 2019

Round One

Game One

At the Opening Ceremony, Ilya Merenzon asked about the organizational costs of the tournament, noted that World Chess realized that Hamburg was one of the most expensive cities, and the organization of the tournament in Hamburg was significantly more expensive than other cities in which the company has staged events. On the other hand, it should be worth it; Hamburg is a very beautiful city in which to host a tournament.

World Chess chose Hamburg is the venue because it is a city with a great chess tradition, home to two major chess companies — ChessBase (founded in 1986) and chess24 (founded in 2014) are and because there is a large chess audience in Germany.

https://en.chessbase.com/post/hambur...ess-conference

From the FIDE website:

One of the favorites of the FIDE Grand Prix in Hamburg got off to a great start. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave outplayed his opponent Wei Yi from the very beginning to the end. The Chinese grandmaster boldly chose the Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian Defense with the black pieces against the world's leading expert of this opening. Vachier-Lagrave reacted with a rare idea on move seven. After the exchange of queens on move 19, he got a better ending and was gradually improving his position. On the move 29 Vachier-Lagrave won the crucial a-pawn, which proved to be decisive.

Jan-Krzysztof Duda opened his duel against Ian Nepomniachtchi by pushing his pawn to c4. "I just wanted a random game and to avoid any theoretical battle in the Grunfeld or Najdorf", he stated afterward. It was an equal fight until the Russian grandmaster played 23.e5-e4. "I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw this move," said Duda. It was just a terrible blunder. The Polish GM was not only a pawn up, but also had the bishop pair and the center. Nepomniachtchi tried to complicate things by sacrificing an exchange, but the outcome of the game was never in doubt.

Peter Svidler thanked his compatriot Kirill Alekseenko for showing him the line he used today to beat Pentala Harikrishna. In the second Italian Game of the day, Black seemed to have some initiative on the kingside, but Svidler parried all threats with precise counters and reached a favorable ending. White's advantage increased when the Russian grandmaster infiltrated the 7th rank with one of his rooks on move 29. Harikrishna sacrificed an exchange and tried to create some counterplay with his passed pawn on the a-file, but Svidler was always in command and seamlessly converted his advantage into a full point.

Radoslaw Wojtaszek and Alexander Grischuk split the point after an intense and open battle in a variation of the Catalan Opening. "We are both happy and unhappy", said Grischuk, meaning that both players missed their chances. In a highly complex middlegame, Black got the upper hand around move 30 when the white pieces were clumsily flocked up on the kingside. The Polish grandmaster nevertheless was able to turn the tables by giving some material for the black queen and forcing Grischuk's majesty to leave the corner and run to the center. He chased the black king over half of the board, but the position promised nothing more than a perpetual check, which he delivered after the first time control.

In a battle lasting nearly five hours, Hikaru Nakamura and Veselin Topalov played the longest game of the day, which ended in favor of the Bulgarian grandmaster. "I used a line, which Anand played against me once", Topalov explained. His decision was justified as he started a vicious attack against the white king right after the opening. Even if Topalov missed a win by force, the position on the board never raised serious doubts about the outcome.

David Navara and Nikita Vitiugov tested their theoretical knowledge in a deeply analyzed line of the Marshall Attack. The Czech grandmaster followed in the footsteps of Teimour Radjabov, who beat Ding Liren in the final of the World Cup. Vitiugov deviated on move 17 by putting the bishop on f5 instead of the queen. He sacrificed a pawn, but soon afterward Navara gave the pawn back and forced the draw after 25 moves. "This is modern chess", said Vitiugov later and added that Black has typical compensation in this position, which often leads to a draw.

The first game to end in the starting round was the one between Teimour Radjabov and Daniil Dubov. It was only twelve moves long and it concluded in less than an hour. In an Italian Game, the Russian grandmaster gave up castling short but advanced his pawns on the kingside. Just when the battle began to heat up, Radjabov offered a draw, which Dubov accepted.

Dmitry Jakovenko and Yu Yangyi shook hands shortly afterward. In a line of the rock-solid Petroff, Jakovenko decided to call it a day after 17 moves in a symmetrical and balanced position.

https://www.fide.com/news/186

Round 1, Game 1, Nov. 5
MVL – Wei, Yi
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.Bg5 Nbd7 9.a4 h6 10.Be3 b6 11.Bc4 Bb7 12.Nd2 O-O 13.O-O Qc7 14.Qe2 Rfc8 15.Rad1 Nc5 16.Bxc5 Qxc5 17.Rfe1 g6 18.Bb3 Kg7 19.Qc4 Qxc4 20.Nxc4 Rc6 21.Nd5 Nxd5 22.exd5 Rc7 23.Nxe5 dxe5 24.d6 Rd7 25.dxe7 Rxe7 26.Rd6 b5 27.a5 Rc8 28.c3 Bf3 29.Rxa6 Rd8 30.Rb6 Rd2 31.Rxb5 Rxb2 32.a6 Rc7 33.Bc4 Rxb5 34.Bxb5 Rxc3 35.Bf1 Rc5 36.Ra1 Ba8 37.Be2 e4 38.Kf1 Kf6 39.Ke1 Ke5 40.Kd2 f5 41.Rb1 g5 42.Rb5 Kd4 43.Rxc5 Kxc5 44.Ke3 Bc6 45.Bh5 Kd5 46.a7 Ke5 47.f4+ 1-0

Round 1, Game 1, Nov. 5
Nakamura, Hikaru – Topalov, Veselin
C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defence

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 Nf6 4.d3 Bc5 5.Bxc6 dxc6 6.h3 Nd7 7.Bg5 f6 8.Be3 Bxe3 9.fxe3 Qe7 10.Nc3 b6 11.O-O Bb7 12.Nh4 g6 13.Qe1 O-O-O 14.a3 Kb8 15.b4 c5 16.Na4 Bc6 17.Nb2 Rhg8 18.Rd1 Rdf8 19.c4 f5 20.b5 Bb7 21.exf5 gxf5 22.Rd2 Qg5 23.e4 fxe4 24.Rxf8+ Nxf8 25.dxe4 Ne6 26.Nf3 Qh5 27.Kh2 Nd4 28.Qe3 Bc8 29.Ne1 Qg6 30.Ned3 Re8 31.Nd1 Qg8 32.N3b2 Be6 33.Qd3 Rd8 34.Qc3 h5 35.Rf2 h4 36.a4 Qg6 37.Qe3 Rg8 38.Kh1 Qh5 39.a5 Kc8 40.Qe1 Rg3 41.Qf1 Kd7 42.Nd3 Ke7 43.N1b2 Rg8 44.a6 Qg5 45.Qg1 c6 46.bxc6 Nxc6 47.Rf1 Qg3 48.Qf2 Qxf2 49.Nxf2 Rd8 50.Nfd1 Rd2 51.Rf2 Rxf2 52.Nxf2 Na5 53.Kh2 Nxc4 54.Na4 Kd6 55.Nc3 Kc6 56.g3 hxg3+ 57.Kxg3 b5 58.Nd3 b4 59.Na4 b3 60.h4 Bf7 61.Kg4 Bg6 62.Nc3 b2 63.Kf3 Kd6 64.Nb5+ Kd7 65.Nxb2 Nxb2 66.Nxa7 Bh5+ 0-1

Round 1, Game 1, Nov. 5
Navara, David – Vitiugov, Nikita
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 Qh4 15.g3 Qh3 16.Be3 Bxd3 17.Nd2 Bf5 18.Bxd5 cxd5 19.Qxd5 Rfd8 20.Qg2 Qxg2+ 21.Kxg2 b4 22.Bd4 Bf8 23.Nb3 Be6 24.Bb6 Rdb8 25.Ba5 bxc3 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Game 1, Nov. 5
Wojtaszek, Radoslaw – Grischuk, Alexander
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 c5 9.dxc5 Bxc5 10.Bf4 Nc6 11.Nbd2 Nd5 12.Nxc4 Qe7 13.Bd2 Bd7 14.Ng5 f5 15.Nf3 Ncb4 16.Qd1 f4 17.Nce5 Be8 18.Rc1 a5 19.Rc4 b5 20.axb5 Bxb5 21.Re4 Rad8 22.Qc1 fxg3 23.hxg3 Nf6 24.Bg5 Qc7 25.Bxf6 gxf6 26.Ng4 Rc8 27.Kh1 Qg7 28.Nh6+ Kh8 29.Qf4 Bd7 30.g4 Nd5 31.Qh2 Rb8 32.g5 fxg5 33.Nf7+ Qxf7 34.Nxg5 Qg6 35.Nxh7 Qxh7 36.Rh4 Qxh4 37.Qxh4+ Kg7 38.Be4 Kf7 39.Rg1 Nf6 40.Qh6 Ke7 41.Rg7+ Kd8 42.Qd2 Bb4 43.Qd4 Rc8 44.Qb6+ Rc7 45.Qb8+ Rc8 46.Qb6+ Rc7 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Game 1, Nov. 5
Radjabov, Teimour – Dubov, Daniil
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 a6 7.a4 Ba7 8.Re1 h6 9.Nbd2 g5 10.Nf1 g4 11.N3d2 h5 12.Nb3 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Game 1
Svidler, Peter – Harikrishna, Pentala
C50 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 a6 7.a4 h6 8.a5 O-O 9.h3 Ba7 10.Be3 d5 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.Bxa7 Rxa7 13.Re1 Nf4 14.Nxe5 Qg5 15.Ng4 h5 16.Ne3 Bxh3 17.Qf3 Ne5 18.Qg3 Bg4 19.Nd5 Nxc4 20.Qxf4 Qxf4 21.Nxf4 Nxb2 22.Ra2 g5 23.Rxb2 gxf4 24.Re5 Rd8 25.d4 Rd6 26.f3 Bd7 27.Nd2 b6 28.Ne4 Rg6 29.Re7 Bb5 30.d5 f5 31.axb6 Rxb6 32.Nc5 Kf8 33.Rh7 Kg8 34.Rxh5 Bc4 35.Rd2 Rd6 36.Rxf5 c6 37.Ne4 Rxd5 38.Nf6+ Kg7 39.Nxd5 cxd5 40.Rd4 a5 41.Rdxf4 Kg6 42.Rf8 Kg7 43.Rb8 a4 44.Rff8 d4 45.cxd4 Bd5 46.Rfd8 a3 47.Rxd5 1-0

Round 1, Game 1, Nov. 5
Jakovenko, Dmitry – Yu, Yangyi
C42 Petrov, Classical Attack

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Nc6 7.O-O Be7 8.Nbd2 Nxd2 9.Qxd2 O-O 10.c3 Bd6 11.Qc2 h6 12.Re1 Qf6 13.Qb3 Ne7 14.Bd2 Bf5 15.Bxf5 Qxf5 16.Re2 Rab8 17.Rae1 Ng6 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Game 1, Nov. 5
Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – Nepomniachtchi, Ian
A22 English, Bremen, reverse Dragon

1.c4 e5 2.Nc3 Nf6 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.Bg2 Nb6 6.Nf3 Nc6 7.a3 Be7 8.b4 O-O 9.e3 a6 10.Qc2 Be6 11.O-O Bc4 12.Rd1 Bd3 13.Qb2 Qd7 14.Ne1 Bg6 15.d3 Rad8 16.Ne4 Nd5 17.Nc5 Bxc5 18.bxc5 Rb8 19.Qb3 Rfd8 20.Bb2 Nf6 21.Rac1 Qe7 22.Qc3 Bh5 23.Rd2 e4 24.Bxe4 Rd7 25.Bf5 Rd5 26.e4 Rxf5 27.exf5 Rd8 28.Qc4 Nd5 29.Qe4 Qg5 30.f4 Qh6 31.h3 f6 32.Ng2 Bf7 33.Kh2 Nde7 34.g4 Nd5 35.Re2 Re8 36.Qf3 Rxe2 37.Qxe2 g6 38.fxg6 hxg6 39.Kg3 Nd8 40.Qe4 c6 41.Bxf6 Nxf6 42.Qe7 Nh5+ 43.gxh5 Ne6 44.hxg6 1-0

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 6th November, 2019, 09:33 PM

Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix 2019

November 6, 2019

Round One

Game Two

From the FIDE website:

After winning the first game against Wei Yi in grand style, MVL was close to winning the second game as well. The rivals again discussed a line of the Najdorf Variation, but once again the Frenchman seemed to be better prepared. The critical moment arose after White's twelfth move. Vachier-Lagrave correctly pushed his h-pawn and then his e-pawn to destroy the pawn armada that threatened to overrun his position. Black's pieces exerted a lot of pressure, and although his king stayed in the centre for the whole game, it was the white king that was in much more danger. Instead of taking any chances, Vachier-Lagrave forced a draw by repetition at move 27. "So far the preparation before the tournament pays off", said the 29-year-old with a smile after the match.

A draw in the second game of the first round against Pentala Harikrishna was enough for Peter Svidler to qualify for the next round. With a strong pawn centre and well-placed pieces, the Indian grandmaster could hope for more than a half-point in the middlegame, but Svidler's position was very solid and "Hari" did not manage to find a way to breakthrough. After a massive exchange of pawns, there was no play left and the players agreed to a draw.

Hikaru Nakamura playing with the black pieces was not able to turn the tables in his match against Veselin Topalov. In a Queen´s Gambit Accepted White got an upper hand due to better development. Nakamura left his king in the centre and tried to create some play against the white king with his queen and the bishop pair, but it caused only a slight disturbance to White, who obtained a clear advantage. After 25 moves Topalov was a pawn up in an ending and could have continued without any risks, but decided that a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.

Ian Nepomniachtchi was in a must-win-situation after he lost the first game against Jan-Krzysztof Duda. The rising Polish star chose the Accelerated Dragon with Black but was never able to equalize. An ending that arose after only 15 moves favoured White due to the better structure and the more active pieces. After a long fight, Nepomniachtchi managed to win a pawn, but it was not enough to win the game due to the reduced material. This defeat in the first round of the FIDE Grand Prix in Hamburg substantially reduces the chances for the Russian grandmaster to qualify for the Candidates, but there is still hope for him to bounce back in the last leg of the series in Jerusalem.

In total contrast with their exciting first battle, Alexander Grischuk and Radoslaw Wojtaszek concluded the second game of their mini-match with a draw after just an hour of play. In a line of the Italian Game, the Polish grandmaster showed excellent preparation, whereas Grischuk weighed the pros and cons of the position in his typical tempo. After spending more than 50 minutes for the first 14 moves and realizing that his opponent still was blitzing out his analysis, he offered a draw which Wojtaszek accepted. Grischuk justified his decision by saying: "I didn't want to continue playing against a computer," and added with an ironic undertone: "Besides I don't want to spoil the spectators".

Nikita Vitiugov and David Navara will meet again on the tiebreak after drawing both games with classical time control. It seemed that the Russian grandmaster was applying pressure throughout the game, but afterwards, he denied doing so: "Actually this was nothing until David tried to lose the game". He was referring to the way the Czech grandmaster handled the position. Navara deliberately sacrificed material to enter a rook endgame a pawn down. Here he showed an excellent technique and apparently aware of how to save a half-point.

Yu Yangyi missed a big chance to win the second game against Dmitry Jakovenko. After only 18 moves, the two players had exchanged most of the pieces including the queens, but something went wrong for the 36-year-old Russian as he lost a pawn shortly thereafter. The battle headed into a knight ending where Yu Yangyi was completely winning but failed to convert his advantage. "It was a miracle, and it took several mistakes from my opponent to save the game", Jakovenko admitted.

Daniil Dubov tried to bedazzle Teimour Radjabov by using the Italian Gambit as White, a rare choice on top-level. The Azerbaijanian took his time to recall the critical lines, and after forcing the exchange of queens, the players reached an equal ending with two rooks and one minor piece respectively. The rising Russian star, who used only a bit more than 15 minutes for the whole game, penetrated the 7th rank with one of his rooks and forced Radjabov to oppose the threats with one of his own rooks. Daniil tried to continue battle after the exchange of the rooks, but in the emerging endgame a draw was unavoidable.

https://www.fide.com/news/189

Round 1, Game 2, Nov. 6
Wei, Yi – MVL
B90 Sicilian, Najdorf

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Nb3 e6 7.g4 b5 8.Bg2 Bb7 9.g5 Nfd7 10.h4 Nc6 11.f4 Be7 12.Ne2 h6 13.Ned4 Nxd4 14.Qxd4 hxg5 15.hxg5 Rxh1+ 16.Bxh1 e5 17.Qf2 exf4 18.Bxf4 Bxg5 19.Bxd6 Rc8 20.c3 Bh4 21.Bg3 Bxg3 22.Qxg3 b4 23.O-O-O Qf6 24.Rd6 Qf1+ 25.Rd1 Qf6 26.Rd6 Qf1+ 27.Rd1 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Game 2, Nov. 6
Topalov, Veselin – Nakamura, Hikaru
D27 QGA, Classical

1.d4 d5 2.c4 dxc4 3.e3 Nf6 4.Bxc4 e6 5.Nf3 a6 6.O-O c5 7.Bb3 Nbd7 8.e4 cxd4 9.e5 Ng4 10.Re1 Nc5 11.h3 Nh6 12.Nxd4 Nxb3 13.axb3 Nf5 14.Be3 Nxd4 15.Bxd4 Bd7 16.Nc3 Bc6 17.Re3 Qh4 18.Bb6 Be7 19.Rg3 Bd8 20.Bc5 Bc7 21.Rg4 Qh5 22.Bd6 Rd8 23.Rxg7 Qxd1+ 24.Rxd1 Bxd6 25.exd6 Rd7 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Game 2, Nov. 6
Vitiugov, Nikita – Navara, David
E05 Catalan, open, Classical line

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.Nf3 O-O 6.O-O dxc4 7.Qc2 a6 8.a4 Bd7 9.Qxc4 Bc6 10.Bg5 Nbd7 11.Nc3 h6 12.Bxf6 Nxf6 13.Rfd1 Bd5 14.Qd3 Bxf3 15.Bxf3 c6 16.h4 Qa5 17.Qc2 Rad8 18.Kg2 h5 19.Rab1 Rd7 20.Na2 Rfd8 21.b4 Qc7 22.e3 e5 23.dxe5 Qxe5 24.Rxd7 Rxd7 25.Nc3 g6 26.Rb3 Kg7 27.Qb2 Nd5 28.Nxd5 Qxb2 29.Rxb2 cxd5 30.b5 Bf6 31.Rd2 axb5 32.axb5 d4 33.Be2 Re7 34.exd4 Bxd4 35.Rxd4 Rxe2 36.Rd7 b6 37.Rd6 Rb2 38.Rxb6 Rb3 39.Kf1 Rb2 40.Ke1 f6 41.Rb7+ Kh6 42.f4 g5 43.hxg5+ fxg5 44.Rb6+ Kg7 45.fxg5 Rg2 46.Rh6 Rxg3 47.Rxh5 Rb3 48.g6 Kxg6 49.Rc5 Kf6 50.Kd2 Ke6 51.Kc2 Rh3 52.Rc3 Rxc3+ 53.Kxc3 Kd6 54.Kb4 Kc7 55.Ka5 Kb7 56.b6 Kb8 57.Ka6 Ka8 58.b7+ Kb8 59.Kb6 1/2-1/2

Position after White’s 53.Kxc3

Round 1, Game 2, Nov. 6
Grischuk, Alexander – Wojtaszek, Radoslaw
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 h6 9.b4 Ba7 10.a4 Ne7 11.Nbd2 Ng6 12.d4 exd4 13.cxd4 d5 14.exd5 Nxd5 15.b5 1/2-1/2

(to be continued)

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 6th November, 2019, 09:34 PM

Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix 2019

November 6, 2019

Round One

Game Two (continued)

Round 1, Game 2, Nov. 6
Dubov, Daniil – Radjabov, Teimour
C55 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.O-O Nf6 5.d4 Bxd4 6.Nxd4 Nxd4 7.Bg5 d6 8.f4 Bg4 9.Bxf6 Bxd1 10.Bxd8 Rxd8 11.c3 Be2 12.cxd4 Bxc4 13.Rc1 Bd3 14.Rxc7 Rd7 15.Rc8+ Rd8 16.Rxd8+ Kxd8 17.dxe5 Bxb1 18.Rxb1 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Game 2, Nov. 6
Harikrishna, Pentala – Svidler, Peter
C54 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.c3 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.a4 a6 7.O-O h6 8.Be3 Bxe3 9.fxe3 O-O 10.Nbd2 Be6 11.Bxe6 fxe6 12.Qb3 Qd7 13.d4 Kh7 14.Rad1 Rab8 15.Nc4 exd4 16.exd4 b5 17.axb5 axb5 18.Ne3 Ne7 19.Qc2 Kg8 20.Rde1 Rbe8 21.h3 Rf7 22.b3 Qc6 23.Nd2 Ref8 24.c4 bxc4 25.bxc4 e5 26.dxe5 dxe5 27.c5 Ng6 28.Nf5 Kh7 29.Nf3 Nxe4 30.Nxe5 Nxe5 31.Rxe4 Ng6 32.Re3 Kh8 33.Ree1 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Game 2, Nov. 6
Yu, Yangyi – Jakovenko, Dmitry
A34 English, symmetrical, Four Knights

1.c4 c5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 e6 4.e4 Nc6 5.Be2 d5 6.exd5 exd5 7.d4 cxd4 8.Nxd4 dxc4 9.Be3 Nxd4 10.Bxd4 Be6 11.O-O Be7 12.Qa4+ Qd7 13.Qxd7+ Nxd7 14.Bxg7 Rg8 15.Bd4 Bc5 16.Bxc5 Nxc5 17.Rfd1 Rd8 18.Rxd8+ Kxd8 19.Rd1+ Kc8 20.f4 a6 21.f5 Bd7 22.Bxc4 Bc6 23.Bd5 Kc7 24.Bxc6 Kxc6 25.b4 Nd7 26.Ne4 Ne5 27.Rd6+ Kc7 28.Rd5 Nc6 29.a3 Rg4 30.Nf6 Rd4 31.Rxd4 Nxd4 32.Nxh7 Nxf5 33.Ng5 Nd6 34.Kf2 Kd7 35.Ke3 Nc4+ 36.Kd3 Nxa3 37.Nxf7 Nb5 38.h4 b6 39.Ne5+ Ke6 40.Nc4 Kf5 41.h5 Kg5 42.g4 Na7 43.Nxb6 Nc6 44.Nd5 Ne5+ 45.Kd4 Nxg4 46.Nc7 Nf6 47.Nxa6 Nd7 48.Nc5 Nb6 49.Ne4+ Kxh5 50.Kc5 Nd7+ 51.Kc6 Ne5+ 52.Kc7 Nc4 53.b5 Kg6 54.Nd6 Nb2 55.Kc6 Na4 56.Ne4 Nb2 57.Kd5 Na4 58.Kc6 Nb2 59.Nd2 Na4 60.Nb3 Kf7 61.Nc5 Nb2 62.Kd5 Ke7 63.b6 Kd8 64.Na6 Nd3 65.Kc6 Ne5+ 66.Kb5 Kc8 67.Nc5 Kb8 68.Ka6 Ka8 69.Kb5 Kb8 70.Ka6 Ka8 71.Ne6 Nd7 72.b7+ Kb8 73.Nd4 1/2-1/2

Position after White’s 65.Kc6

Round 1, Game 2, Nov. 6
Nepomniachtchi, Ian – Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
B35 Sicilian, Accelerated Fianchetto, Urodele variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 g6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nc6 5.Nc3 Bg7 6.Be3 Nf6 7.Bc4 Qa5 8.O-O O-O 9.Bb3 d6 10.Nd5 Qd8 11.f3 Nxd5 12.exd5 Nxd4 13.Bxd4 Bxd4+ 14.Qxd4 Qb6 15.Qxb6 axb6 16.Rfe1 Re8 17.Re4 Bd7 18.Rb4 b5 19.c3 Rac8 20.Kf2 Rc5 21.Rd1 Kg7 22.h4 h6 23.a3 Kf6 24.Re1 g5 25.Rd4 Rd8 26.Rh1 Bf5 27.g4 Bg6 28.f4 gxf4 29.Re1 Rd7 30.Rxf4+ Kg7 31.Re3 Rdc7 32.Ref3 f6 33.g5 fxg5 34.hxg5 h5 35.Re3 e5 36.dxe6 Rxg5 37.Rd4 Rf5+ 38.Ke2 Be8 39.Rxd6 Kf8 40.Rd4 Rg7 41.Bd5 b6 42.Be4 Re5 43.Rd6 h4 44.Bf3 Rxe3+ 45.Kxe3 h3 46.Kf2 h2 47.e7+ Kxe7 48.Rh6 Rf7 49.Rxh2 Bc6 50.Rh3 Bxf3 51.Rxf3 Rh7 52.Ke3 Kd6 53.Rf6+ Kc7 54.Rf2 Kc6 55.Re2 Kc5 56.Kd3 Rh3+ 57.Kc2 Rh5 58.Rg2 Kc6 59.Kb3 Rh4 60.Rd2 Kc5 61.Rc2 Rh3 62.Rg2 Rh5 63.Rg8 Rh2 64.Rg1 Kc6 65.Rc1 Kc5 66.Rc2 Rh4 67.Rf2 Kc6 68.Kc2 Rh3 69.Rf6+ Kb7 70.Rf7+ Kc6 71.Rf2 Kb7 72.Kb3 Rh4 73.Rd2 Kc6 74.Rd4 Rh2 75.a4 bxa4+ 76.Rxa4 b5 77.Ra6+ Kb7 78.Rg6 Rf2 79.Rg4 Kb6 80.Ka3 Rc2 81.Rg6+ Kb7 82.Rg3 Rh2 83.Rg4 Rc2 84.Rd4 Kc6 85.Rd3 Rh2 86.Kb3 Kc5 87.Rg3 Kb6 88.Rg6+ Kb7 89.Rg8 Rf2 90.Rg1 Kb6 91.Rc1 Kc5 92.Rc2 Rf4 93.Rd2 Rh4 94.Rd8 Rh2 95.Rb8 Rh4 96.Rd8 Rh2 97.Rc8+ Kb6 98.Rb8+ Kc6 99.Ka3 Rc2 100.Rh8 Kb6 101.Rh6+ Kb7 102.Rh3 Kb6 103.Rh6+ Kb7 104.Rh3 Kb6 105.Rd3 Rh2 106.Rd6+ Kc7 107.Rd4 Kb6 108.b3 Rh3 109.Kb4 Rh6 110.Rg4 Rf6 111.Ka3 Rh6 112.Rg2 Rf6 113.Kb2 Rf3 114.Kc2 Rh3 115.Rg6+ Kc7 116.Re6 Rg3 117.Re4 Kc6 118.Kd2 Kd5 119.Re3 Rg2+ 120.Kd3 Rb2 121.b4 Rh2 122.Rg3 Rh6 123.Rf3 Rg6 124.Rh3 Kc6 125.Rh4 Kb6 126.Rh8 Rd6+ 127.Kc2 Rc6 128.Rh5 Rc4 129.Kd3 Rc8 130.Rh6+ Kb7 131.Rd6 Rc7 132.Rd5 1/2-1/2

Final Position

Players on to Round Two

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave
Veselin Topalov
Peter Svidler
Jan-Krzysztof Duda

Players eliminated

Wei Yi
Hikaru Nakamura
Pentala Harikrishna
Ian Nepomniachtchi

Players going to tie-break tomorrow

David Navara – Nikita Vitiugov
Radoslaw Wojtaszek – Alexander Grischuk
Teimour Radjabov – Daniil Dubov
Dmitry Jakovenko – Yu Yangyi

Nepo doesn't hold back. This tweet after he was eliminated:

Hamburg Grand Prix organisation recipe from @theworldchess : choose the most expensive and nice hotel and the most cheap and unsuitable playing venue. At least I rejoice I shouldn't go there anymore. Good luck to remaining players :)

**Wayne Komer** · Thursday, 7th November, 2019, 10:34 PM

Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix 2019

November 7, 2019

Round One

Tiebreaks

After the opening, Vitiugov won a pawn at the queenside, but then greed pushed him to try his luck grabbing another pawn at the other side of the board. Navara used the open h-file to start a dangerous counterattack and with time running down, Vitiugov lost control of the action and went down in flames.

In this must-win-situation, Vitiugov chose the Dutch Opening for the second game, but he never came close to level the score. Navara broke through in the centre and repelled any attacking attempts by the Black player. After some tactical blows, the Czech won material and Vitiugov threw in the towel. As usual, Navara showed a lot of respect for his opponent: “Nikita played many other tournaments this year with very good results, and I considered him the favourite in the classical games. In rapid of course, everything can happen.”

Yu Yangyi made up for the missing win from the previous day against Dmitry Jakovenko. The first game of the tiebreak saw an exciting tactical fight which ended with a clear advantage for White due to his active heavy pieces. The Chinese grandmaster won material and transformed into an easily winning rook endgame with connected passed pawns at the queenside.

In the second game, Dmitry Jakovenko was close to equalizing the score. In a position, with opposite-coloured bishops, he was the one attacking, and chess experts know that this is the crucial factor. Jakovenko had a decisive advantage around move 50, but in rapid chess, everything can change in a blink of an eye. Yu Yangyi managed to exchange the queens and hold with ease the resulting endgame.

The first game between Radoslaw Wojtaszek and Alexander Grischuk was an unclear case from start to the end. Grischuk opted with Black for a dutch-like setup, but White chose to castle queenside. With no time on the clock, the Russian grandmaster decided to repeat moves, despite having the slightly more active pieces.

In the second game, the Russian grandmaster selected a Kings-Indian-like setup with White to confuse his adversary. In a position, with opposite-castled kings, both sides had their chances, but Grischuk prevailed after Wojtaszek went for a queen exchange in an unclear situation. The favourite won a pawn and converted his advantage safely, even being as usual short of time. “After my opponent completely out prepared me in the classical games I decided to play some… crap”, stated Grischuk afterwards.

After finishing the two classical games fast and leaving the stage early in the first two days of the FIDE Grand Prix Daniil Dubov and Teimour Radjabov spoiled the spectators with a long fight which lasted 4,5 hours, much longer than the rest of the tiebreak matches.

First, they continued their non-aggression pact with a quick draw, but the second game nearly brought a decision. After blundering a pawn, Dubov stood on the edge of a precipice. But the young Russian grandmaster showed all his resilience. Apart from playing much faster, he created constant confusion which saved him half the point.

As the two rapid games with the time control of 10 minutes + 10 seconds increment also ended in a draw, the spectators could enjoy the two grandmasters blitzing out the qualification for the next round. It was a question of nerves. The first game with the time control of 5 minutes + 5 seconds was a clear-cut win for Dubov. In the second game, Radjabov was dominating until he blundered one move before the end of the game.

https://www.fide.com/news/190

Round 1, Game 3
25+10
Vitiugov, Nikita – Navara, David
A14 English, Neo-Catalan declined

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.g3 d5 4.Bg2 Be7 5.O-O O-O 6.b3 d4 7.Bb2 c5 8.b4 a5 9.bxc5 Nc6 10.Na3 e5 11.Nb5 Bg4 12.d3 Bxc5 13.Rb1 Re8 14.Nd2 Qd7 15.Nb3 Bf8 16.Ba3 Nb4 17.Qd2 Bh3 18.Nxa5 Bxg2 19.Kxg2 Rxa5 20.Bxb4 Bxb4 21.Rxb4 h5 22.Rb2 Ra6 23.Qg5 Nh7 24.Qh4 g5 25.Qxh5 Kg7 26.Kg1 Rh6 27.Qf3 Nf6 28.e4 Reh8 29.Qf5 Qxf5 30.exf5 Rxh2 31.Rfb1 e4 32.dxe4 g4 33.Kf1 d3 34.f3 gxf3 35.Nd4 Rxb2 36.Rxb2 Rh1+ 37.Kf2 Rh2+ 0-1

Round 1, Game 4, Nov. 7
25+10
Navara, David – Vitiugov, Nikita
A89 Dutch, Leningrad, Modern main line

1.d4 f5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.c4 g6 4.g3 Bg7 5.Bg2 O-O 6.O-O d6 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.d5 Ne5 9.Nxe5 dxe5 10.c5 Kh8 11.Qb3 h6 12.Rd1 g5 13.a4 a6 14.a5 Qe8 15.d6 exd6 16.cxd6 cxd6 17.Rxd6 Qh5 18.Nd5 Ne4 19.Bf3 Qf7 20.Bxe4 fxe4 21.Qb6 Qh5 22.Bd2 Bg4 23.Bc3 Rae8 24.Nf6 Rxf6 25.Rxf6 Bxe2 26.Re6 Kh7 27.Bxe5 Bxe5 28.Qxb7+ Kh8 29.Rxe8+ Qxe8 30.Qxe4 Qb5 31.Re1 1-0

Navara goes on to play Grischuk in the next round

Round 1, Game 3, Nov. 7
25+10
Wojtaszek, Radoslaw – Grischuk, Alexander
A40 Queen’s Pawn, Keres Defence

1.d4 e6 2.c4 b6 3.a3 Bb7 4.Nc3 f5 5.Bf4 Nf6 6.e3 Be7 7.Nf3 O-O 8.Be2 Ne4 9.Nxe4 Bxe4 10.h3 d6 11.Bd3 Bf6 12.Bxe4 fxe4 13.Nd2 Bxd4 14.Qc2 Nd7 15.Nxe4 Bf6 16.h4 a5 17.O-O-O Qe8 18.g4 Nc5 19.g5 Be7 20.Bg3 Qc6 21.Nc3 a4 22.Kb1 Rf3 23.Nb5 e5 24.Nc3 Raf8 25.Rd5 Qe8 26.Ne4 Nxe4 27.Qxe4 Qf7 28.Rhd1 Qh5 29.Qc2 h6 30.gxh6 Qxh6 31.Rh1 Ra8 32.Qe4 Raf8 33.Qc2 Ra8 34.Qe4 Raf8 35.Qc2 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Game 4, Nov. 7
25+10
Grischuk, Alexander – Wojtaszek, Radoslaw
A05 Reti Opening

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 c5 3.Bg2 Nc6 4.O-O e5 5.d3 d5 6.e4 d4 7.a4 Bd6 8.Na3 h6 9.Nh4 g6 10.f4 exf4 11.gxf4 Ng4 12.Nf3 g5 13.e5 Be7 14.Qe2 gxf4 15.Bxf4 Rg8 16.Nc4 Be6 17.Kh1 Qd7 18.Nfd2 O-O-O 19.a5 Bd5 20.Ne4 Qe6 21.Rae1 Kb8 22.Ncd6 Ne3 23.Bxe3 dxe3 24.Qxe3 Nxe5 25.Nf5 Rg6 26.Re2 Ka8 27.Neg3 Bxg2+ 28.Rxg2 Bf8 29.a6 bxa6 30.Re1 f6 31.Qe4+ Qd5 32.Rf2 Qb7 33.Qxb7+ Kxb7 34.Ne4 c4 35.d4 Nc6 36.c3 Kc7 37.Ne3 a5 38.Ref1 a4 39.Nxc4 Be7 40.Ne3 a5 41.Ra1 a3 42.bxa3 a4 43.Rf5 Rb8 44.Nd5+ Kd7 45.Nb4 Nd8 46.Ra5 Rg4 47.Re1 Rb6 48.Ra7+ Rb7 49.Rxa4 Ne6 50.Ra6 Rb5 51.Rxe6 1-0

Round 1, Game 3, Nov. 7
25+10
Dubov, Daniil – Radjabov, Teimour
C50 Giuoco Piano, Italian Four Knights variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 Nf6 5.Nc3 h6 6.Be3 Bb6 7.d4 exd4 8.Nxd4 O-O 9.O-O Ne5 10.Be2 d5 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.Nxd5 Qxd5 13.Nb5 Qxd1 14.Rfxd1 Bg4 15.Bxg4 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Game 4, Nov. 7
25+10
Radjabov, Teimour – Dubov, Daniil
B31 Sicilian, Nimzowitsch-Rossolimo Attack

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.O-O Bg7 6.Re1 Qc7 7.c3 d6 8.h3 Nf6 9.d4 cxd4 10.cxd4 O-O 11.Nc3 Rd8 12.Bf4 Nh5 13.Bh2 Qb6 14.Qc2 Rb8 15.b3 Qa5 16.Rad1 Nf6 17.Qd2 Nd7 18.e5 Nb6 19.exd6 exd6 20.Bxd6 Ra8 21.Bc7 Rf8 22.Ne5 Bb7 23.Bd6 Rfe8 24.b4 Qa6 25.Ne4 Na4 26.Nd7 Rxe4 27.Rxe4 c5 28.Qe3 Bxe4 29.Qxe4 Rc8 30.bxc5 Nc3 31.Qd3 Ne2+ 32.Kf1 Qxd3 33.Rxd3 Nxd4 34.Nb8 h5 35.Na6 Kh7 36.g3 g5 37.Nb4 g4 38.hxg4 hxg4 39.Nd5 Rc6 40.Kg2 Ra6 41.Rd1 Rxa2 42.Rh1+ Kg6 43.Nf4+ Kf5 44.Rh7 Bf6 45.Rxf7 Nf3 46.Be7 Ra1 47.Rxf6+ Ke4 48.Ne2 Ne1+ 49.Kh2 Nf3+ 50.Rxf3 Kxf3 51.Nc3 Kxf2 52.Bg5 Ra3 53.Bd2 Ra6 54.Bf4 Kf3 55.Nb5 Ra2+ 56.Kg1 Ra1+ 57.Kh2 Ra2+ 58.Kg1 Ra1+ 59.Kh2 Ra5 60.Nd4+ Ke4 61.Nb3 Rb5 62.Nd2+ Kd5 63.Nf1 a5 64.Ne3+ Kxc5 65.Nxg4 a4 66.Bg5 Kc4 67.Be7 Rb7 68.Bf8 Kb3 69.Kg2 Rb8 70.Bd6 Rb6 71.Bf8 Rb4 72.Ne5 a3 73.Nd3 Rb8 74.Bxa3 1/2-1/2

Final Position

Round 1, Game 5, Nov. 7
10+10
Radjabov, Teimour – Dubov, Daniil
C54 Giuoco Piano

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.d3 d6 5.c3 Nf6 6.Nbd2 Bb6 7.Bb3 O-O 8.Nc4 Ne7 9.h3 Ng6 10.O-O h6 11.Re1 Re8 12.Nxb6 axb6 13.Bc2 Nh7 14.Be3 Qf6 15.Nh2 Qh4 16.Qf3 Ng5 17.Qg3 Qxg3 18.fxg3 Be6 19.a3 Rad8 20.Nf3 f6 21.c4 Nf8 22.Nd2 Ra8 23.g4 Bd7 24.Nb1 Nfe6 25.Nc3 Nf7 26.b4 Nfd8 27.Reb1 Nc6 28.a4 Ncd4 29.Bd1 Ra6 30.Ra2 Rea8 31.Rba1 Kf7 32.Kh2 Kg8 33.Kg3 Kf7 34.Kf2 Kg8 35.Ke1 Kf7 36.Kd2 Kg8 37.Kc1 Kf7 38.Kb1 Kg8 39.Nd5 R6a7 40.g3 Kh8 41.h4 Be8 42.Bxd4 exd4 43.Bb3 Bd7 44.Rf2 b5 45.a5 bxc4 46.Bxc4 b6 47.Rfa2 b5 48.Bb3 Nd8 49.g5 fxg5 50.hxg5 Nc6 51.gxh6 Ne5 52.hxg7+ Kxg7 53.Nf4 c5 54.Bd5 Rh8 55.Rc2 c4 56.Kb2 cxd3 57.Rf2 Rc8 58.Rh1 Rac7 59.Nh5+ Kg6 60.Nf4+ Kg7 61.Nh5+ Kg6 62.Nf4+ 1/2-1/2

(to be continued)

**Wayne Komer** · Thursday, 7th November, 2019, 10:35 PM

Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix 2019

November 7, 2019

Round One

Tiebreaks (continued)

Round 1, Game 6, Nov. 7
10+10
Dubov, Daniil – Radjabov, Teimour
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.e3 Nbd7 11.Nbd2 h6 12.Bxf6 Nxf6 13.Nxc4 Be4 14.Qe2 c5 15.Rfd1 Qc7 16.Rac1 Rac8 17.a5 cxd4 18.Nxd4 Bxg2 19.Kxg2 Qc5 20.Qf3 Qb4 21.Nb6 Rxc1 22.Rxc1 Bc5 23.Qxb7 Bxd4 24.exd4 1/2-1/2

Round 1, Game 7, Nov. 7
5+3
Radjabov, Teimour – Dubov, Daniil
B00 King’s Pawn Opening

1.e4 g6 2.Nf3 d6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.h3 c5 5.Bc4 Nc6 6.O-O Nf6 7.d3 O-O 8.a4 b6 9.Nd5 Bb7 10.c3 Nxd5 11.Bxd5 e6 12.Ba2 d5 13.Bg5 Qd7 14.Qc1 d4 15.Rd1 Rae8 16.h4 f5 17.exf5 Rxf5 18.Nh2 Ne5 19.f3 Ba6 20.c4 Bb7 21.a5 Nf7 22.Bf4 Qd8 23.Bg3 Bf6 24.axb6 axb6 25.Qd2 Bxh4 26.Qf2 Bg5 27.Nf1 h5 28.Re1 h4 29.Bh2 h3 30.Ng3 Be3 31.Rxe3 dxe3 32.Qxe3 hxg2 33.f4 Rf6 34.Bb3 e5 35.Ne4 Bxe4 36.dxe4 exf4 37.Bxf4 Qd4 0-1

Chessbomb kibitzers:

- Black is up an exchange.
- Ba2 not the best Bishop haha
- black is up an exchange is a very generous assessment for the white pieces
- black is also up a B because of the a2 bishop
- You are right.
- wow what a game!
- finally radjabov decided to gift Dubov a win and get out of this event
- what a game
- is it over for radjabov ?
- one game remaining

Round 1, Game 8, Nov. 7
5+3
Dubov, Daniil – Radjabov, Teimour
E17 Queen’s Indian

1.d4 Nf6 2.Nf3 e6 3.c4 b6 4.g3 Bb7 5.Bg2 Be7 6.O-O O-O 7.d5 Na6 8.Nd4 Rb8 9.e4 e5 10.Nf5 d6 11.Nc3 Bc8 12.Nxe7+ Qxe7 13.a3 Nc5 14.b4 Ncd7 15.Ra2 Ra8 16.f4 a5 17.f5 axb4 18.axb4 Rxa2 19.Nxa2 Ba6 20.Qd3 Ra8 21.Nc3 Bb7 22.Bb2 c6 23.h3 cxd5 24.cxd5 Ba6 25.b5 Nc5 26.Qe3 Bc8 27.g4 Ne8 28.g5 f6 29.h4 Bd7 30.Rf2 Nc7 31.Bf1 Ra5 32.Rg2 Nxb5 33.Bxb5 Bxb5 34.h5 Be8 35.Bc1 b5 36.Kh2 b4 37.Nd1 Bxh5 38.Nf2 Ra2 39.Qh3 g6 40.Qxh5 Rxf2 41.fxg6 Rxg2+ 42.Kxg2 Nxe4 43.gxh7+ Qxh7 44.Qe8+ Kg7 45.gxf6+ Nxf6 46.Qe7+ Kg6 47.Qxd6 Qh5 48.Qc5 Qe2+ 49.Kg1 Qd1+ 50.Kg2 Qxd5+ 51.Qxd5 Nxd5 52.Kf3 Kf5 53.Bb2 e4+ 54.Ke2 Kf4 55.Bd4 e3 56.Kd3 Kf3 57.Bc5 b3 58.Bxe3 1/2-1/2

Dubov goes on to the next round and meets Peter Svidler

Round 1, Game 3, Nov. 7
25+10
Yu Yangyi – Jakovenko, Dmitry
A30 English, symmetrical, hedgehog System

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 c5 3.g3 e6 4.Nf3 b6 5.Bg2 Bb7 6.O-O Be7 7.Re1 d5 8.d4 dxc4 9.e4 cxd4 10.Nxd4 O-O 11.e5 Bxg2 12.Kxg2 Nd5 13.Qg4 Kh8 14.Rd1 Na6 15.Nf5 exf5 16.Qxf5 Nab4 17.Nxd5 Nd3 18.Nf4 g6 19.Qg4 Nxe5 20.Qe2 Nd3 21.Nxd3 cxd3 22.Rxd3 Qc7 23.Bh6 Rfe8 24.Qf3 Bf8 25.Rc1 Qe7 26.Re3 Qd7 27.Rd1 Qc7 28.Bxf8 Rxf8 29.Qf6+ Kg8 30.Re7 Qc2 31.Rdd7 Qf5 32.Qxf5 gxf5 33.Rxa7 Rxa7 34.Rxa7 Rd8 35.Ra6 Rd6 36.Kf3 Kg7 37.Ke3 Re6+ 38.Kd3 f4 39.a4 Rh6 40.a5 Rxh2 41.Rxb6 Rxf2 42.gxf4 Rxf4 43.b4 h5 44.a6 Rf3+ 45.Ke2 Ra3 46.b5 f6 47.Rb7+ Kg6 48.a7 Ra2+ 49.Kd3 h4 50.b6 h3 51.Rb8 1-0

Round 1, Game 4, Nov. 7
25+10
Jakovenko, Dmitry – Yu, Yangyi
A10 English, Adorjan Defence

1.c4 g6 2.e4 e5 3.d4 Nf6 4.Nf3 exd4 5.e5 Nh5 6.Qxd4 Nc6 7.Qe4 Bb4+ 8.Nc3 O-O 9.Bg5 f6 10.Qd5+ Kh8 11.exf6 Nxf6 12.Qd3 d6 13.Be2 Bf5 14.Qd1 Qd7 15.O-O Bxc3 16.bxc3 Qg7 17.Qc1 Rfe8 18.Bh6 Qg8 19.Re1 Ng4 20.Bg5 Qg7 21.Nd4 Nxd4 22.cxd4 Qxd4 23.Bxg4 Bxg4 24.Be3 Qf6 25.c5 Kg8 26.h3 Bd7 27.cxd6 cxd6 28.Qc4+ Qf7 29.Qd4 Bc6 30.Rad1 Re6 31.Bd2 Qf6 32.Qc4 d5 33.Qb3 Rae8 34.Be3 h5 35.Rd4 Re4 36.Red1 Kh7 37.Qb4 a6 38.Rxe4 Rxe4 39.Bd4 Qe7 40.Qc3 Bb5 41.Bf6 Qf7 42.Bd4 Re2 43.a3 Re4 44.Qc8 Re8 45.Qc5 Qe7 46.Qc3 Qe2 47.Rc1 Bc6 48.Be3 Re4 49.Kh2 d4 50.Bxd4 Qb5 51.Bc5 Re2 52.Qf6 Qb3 53.Bd4 Qg8 54.Rc5 Re6 55.Qf4 Qe8 56.Be3 Qe7 57.Kg1 Qf6 58.Qh6+ Kg8 59.Rg5 Qg7 60.Qxg7+ Kxg7 61.Rc5 Kf7 62.Kh2 Re4 63.Rc3 Ke6 64.f3 Re5 65.g4 1/2-1/2

Yu Yangyi wins the match and goes on to meet Duda tomorrow

Round Two Pairings

MVL – Topalov
Navara – Grischuk
Dubov – Svidler
Yu Yangyi – Duda

Discussion

Yesterday, it was reported that, after losing, Nepo, sent out this tweet:

Hamburg Grand Prix organisation recipe from @theworldchess : choose the most expensive and nice hotel and the most cheap and unsuitable playing venue. At least I rejoice I shouldn't go there anymore. Good luck to remaining players.

Asked if he wanted to explain what was wrong with the playing hall, Nepomniachtchi declined to comment.

Organizer Ilya Merenzon of World Chess responded in a way that only added fuel to Nepomniachtchi's fire:

@lachesisq - sorry you lost bro.

To which Nepo replied:

Fortunately, I'm not your bro, Mr. Golden Standard of pathetic organisation. You should be put to the weights and measures department.

Comments on twitter about Nepo’s blasting of worldchess:

- Side note: if you paid for the $25 pass for the world championship last year @theworldchess is going to AUTOMATICALLY charge another year with no way to cancel on their website. Organization is horribly managed, borderline theft. Just trying to get the word out.

- You're lucky the website works at all. It was down during the first WC they had and they had to redirect paying customers to other sites to watch the games. Shortly before that, that they were suing other sites for carrying the games

- Nepomniachtchi, remember that time @theworldchess f**ed up the spelling of your name on a Grand Prix announcement, and then raged at everyone that loves you enough to know how to spell your name? Good times... /s World Chess is an embarrassment to chess and @FIDE_chess

- Thanks for all the great chess you treat us to, Nepo. Too bad worldchess does not treat GMs with respect. The org should be embarrassed

**Wayne Komer** · Friday, 8th November, 2019, 10:44 PM

Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix 2019

November 8, 2019

Round Two

Game One

From the official site:

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is the only winner of the day. The French grandmaster chose his beloved Grünfeld Defence with Black against Veselin Topalov who opted for a sideline which transposes the position into a Benoni-like-structure. In a highly complex middlegame, the Bulgarian grandmaster used one of his trademark exchange sacrifices to complicate matters even more.

In time trouble, both players attacked the enemy's king and risked everything. Topalov committed the final mistake on move 36. He could have sacrificed a piece and hide his king in the corner, but this was extremely difficult to spot. Instead, he allowed his opponent to win very important b-pawn. In the end, Vachier-Lagrave found a lovely combination to force a queen exchange and promote his passed pawn.

Yu Yangyi demonstrated a fantastic preparation once again. In the main line of the Petrov's Defence, which the Chinese grandmaster often uses himself, he presented an interesting novelty on move twelve, which immediately put pressure on his opponent. Duda spent about an hour for the next six moves but landed in an inferior position. Yu Yangyi played a perfect game until 27th move. In a heavy piece endgame, he had a strong passed pawn on e6 and could dominate the situation with a quiet queen move. Instead, he lost two tempi with unnecessary rook moves. Duda was able to activate his queen and force a draw by a perpetual. "When I played my rook to e5 I completely missed that he can activate his queen", Yu Yangyi confessed after the game.

Alexander Grischuk and David Navara followed the main line in the Catalan Opening that the Russian grandmaster used to beat Leinier Dominguez Perez in the third round of the World Cup in Khanty Mansiysk. After exchanging three minor pieces, Grischuk pinned his hopes on slight space advantage and a better minor piece, but Navara's position remained solid. Alexander spent a lot of time, but he couldn't find a way to put Black under serious pressure. Navara countered with a well-timed centre push, and the position soon petered out into an equal queen endgame.

In a battle of generations, the Russians Daniil Dubov and Peter Svidler discussed an important theoretical line of the Grünfeld Defence. White started to build up a strong centre but Svidler timely undermined it with typical counters even at the cost of a pawn. Afterwards, both players agreed that objectively White should hold an advantage. Over the board, Dubov wasn´t able to demonstrate this statement to be the case. With his time running down, Dubov decided to avoid unnecessary risks and offered a draw on move 23.

https://www.fide.com/news/192

Round 2, Game 1, Nov. 8
Topalov, Veselin – MVL
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.Nd2 Na6 9.O-O Re8 10.e4 Nc7 11.a4 b6 12.Re1 Na6 13.h3 Nb4 14.Ra3 exd5 15.cxd5 a6 16.Bf1 Nd7 17.Na2 Ra7 18.Nc4 Ne5 19.Nxe5 Bxe5 20.Nxb4 cxb4 21.Rf3 Bd7 22.b3 b5 23.Be3 Ra8 24.axb5 axb5 25.Bd4 Ra2 26.Re2 Rxe2 27.Bxe2 Qe7 28.Re3 Bf4 29.Bf3 Bxe3 30.Bxe3 Rc8 31.Qd4 Qe5 32.Qa7 Be8 33.g3 Rc3 34.Bd4 Qg5 35.Be2 Qd2 36.Bf1 Rxb3 37.Kg2 Ra3 38.Qb6 Ra6 39.Qxa6 Qxd4 40.Qc8 Qxe4+ 41.f3 Qe3 42.Bxb5 b3 43.Bxe8 Qe2+ 44.Kg1 Qd1+ 0-1

Position after Black’s 35….Qd2

Chess24 - The computer says Topalov could draw here with the bizarre 36.Kh2!!, but after 36.Bf1 it looks like MVL might again win the 1st game of a quarterfinal against Veselin, just as he did in Riga!

Round 2, Game 1, Nov. 8
Grischuk, Alexander – Navara, David
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.Qxc4 Bc6 10.Bg5 Nbd7 11.Nc3 h6 12.Bxf6 Nxf6 13.Rfd1 Bd5 14.Qd3 Bxf3 15.Bxf3 c6 16.e3 Qa5 17.Nb1 Bb4 18.Na3 Bxa3 19.Qxa3 Rad8 20.Kg2 Rfe8 21.b4 Qf5 22.h3 h5 23.h4 e5 24.dxe5 Qxe5 25.Qb3 Ne4 26.Rxd8 Rxd8 27.Rd1 Rd2 28.Rxd2 Nxd2 29.Qd3 Nxf3 30.Kxf3 Qf6+ 31.Kg2 c5 32.bxc5 Qc6+ 33.Kg1 Qxc5 34.Qd8+ Kh7 35.a5 Qc1+ 36.Kg2 Qc6+ 37.Kg1 Qc1+ 38.Kg2 Qc6+ 39.Kg1 Qc1+ 1/2-1/2

Round 2, Game 1, Nov. 8
Dubov, Daniil – Svidler, Peter
D86 Grunfeld, Exchange, Classical variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9.Be3 O-O 10.O-O Qc7 11.Bf4 Qd8 12.Be3 Qc7 13.Rc1 Rd8 14.Bf4 Qd7 15.d5 Na5 16.Bd3 e6 17.c4 b5 18.cxb5 exd5 19.Qa4 Nc4 20.Bxc4 dxc4 21.Qxc4 Qb7 22.Be3 Be6 23.Qxc5 1/2-1/2

Round 2, Game 1, Nov. 8
Yu, Yangyi – Duda, Jan-Krzyztof
C42 Petrov, Classical Attack, Marshall variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nxe5 d6 4.Nf3 Nxe4 5.d4 d5 6.Bd3 Bd6 7.O-O O-O 8.c4 c6 9.Re1 Bf5 10.Ng5 Re8 11.Bxe4 dxe4 12.Nc3 h6 13.Ngxe4 Bxe4 14.Nxe4 Bxh2+ 15.Kf1 f5 16.Nc5 b6 17.Nd3 Bc7 18.Bf4 Bxf4 19.Nxf4 Na6 20.Rxe8+ Qxe8 21.Qd3 Qf7 22.Re1 g5 23.Ne6 Re8 24.d5 cxd5 25.cxd5 Nc7 26.Qc4 Nxe6 27.dxe6 Qe7 28.Re5 Qd6 29.Re1 Kg7 30.Kg1 Kf6 31.Qc3+ Kg6 32.Qe3 Kf6 33.Qh3 Kg6 34.g4 fxg4 35.Qxg4 Qf4 36.Qd1 h5 37.Qd3+ Qf5 38.Re4 Re7 39.f3 Kh6 40.Qd8 Qxf3 41.Qxe7 Qg3+ 42.Kh1 Qh3+ 43.Kg1 Qg3+ 44.Kh1 Qh3+ 45.Kg1 1/2-1/2

**Wayne Komer** · Saturday, 9th November, 2019, 10:01 PM

Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix 2019

November 9, 2019

Round Two

Game Two

After his loss in the first game of the second round, Veselin Topalov needed a win to equal the score against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. He chose the French Defence, and after some thought, the French grandmaster opted for the Exchange Variation to avoid any theoretical battles. Nevertheless, the game became quite sharp with both sides installing strong knights in the center. As the game developed, White started an attack on the queenside, whereas Black had no realistic chances to attack the white king on the other side of the board. After some exchanges before move 30, Topalov realized that his position was worse and offered a draw. Vachier-Lagrave saw no reason to play on as a half-point was enough to promote him into the next round and enjoy another free day before the semi-finals.

David Navara and Alexander Grischuk followed a critical line of the Queen's Gambit Declined which the Czech grandmaster had used in the past year in the German Bundesliga. After Grischuk deviated on move 15, both players spent a lot of time evaluating a sharp position with kings castled on opposite sides of the board. Navara went astray when he prematurely pushed his h-pawn that allowed Grischuk to deliver a deadly counter punch on the other side of the board. The Russian grandmaster timely sacrificed an exchange and ripped big rewards. Navara had to choose between entering an inferior rook endgame or playing a piece down but having some threats to the black king. He picked the second option but the risk did not pay off. Navara fought on for several moves, but Grischuk confidently fended off all the threats and advanced to the semis.

Jan-Krzysztof Duda also qualified for the semi-finals. His game against Yu Yangyi was more or less decided by one terrible blunder. After an equal opening, the players exchanged queens on move 14 and soon reached an almost equal endgame. The encounter was heading towards a peaceful finish despite the Chinese grandmaster being down a pawn. However, Yu Yangyi went for a deadly walk with his king to the h3-square. Duda surprisingly captured the black pawn on g4 with a check and it turned out it was immune because of the pinned black bishop on c8 and a deadly checkmate threat. As a result, Yu Yangyi losing two pawns, resigned shortly afterward. Evgeny Miroshnichenko, who is commentating on the games in the official live coverage, said: "It's one of those moves which are easy to calculate but hard to come up with."

The day started with a quick draw between Peter Svidler and Daniil Dubov in a game that only lasted an hour. Svidler chose the Rossolimo Variation against Dubov's Sicilian Defence and regretted it afterwards. "It was not the wisest choice to play this, but these things happen," he admitted. After the opening, the younger of the two Russian players gave a pawn to free up his light-squared bishop, which he then exchanged for the white knight on f3 and ruined white's pawn structure. After 21 moves, the players reached an endgame in which Svidler was a pawn up, but Dubov had active pieces and was still in his preparation. Svidler had seen enough and offered a draw which his compatriot accepted. In the end, Dubov had gained five minutes on the clock compared to his starting time, whereas Svidler burned over 50 minutes.

These two grandmasters will meet again in the tiebreak on Sunday to determine the fourth player of the semi-final.

From the FIDE site: https://www.fide.com/news/194

Round 2, Game 2, Nov. 9
MVL – Topalov, Veselin
C01 French, Exchange variation

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Bd6 5.c4 Nf6 6.c5 Be7 7.Qa4+ c6 8.Bd3 Ne4 9.O-O O-O 10.Nc3 f5 11.Ne5 Bf6 12.f4 Be6 13.Be3 Qe7 14.Rad1 Nd7 15.Nxe4 fxe4 16.Be2 g6 17.b4 a6 18.Qb3 Kg7 19.Qc3 h5 20.a4 Kh7 21.b5 axb5 22.axb5 Bxe5 23.fxe5 Bg4 24.Bxg4 hxg4 25.Qb2 Rxf1+ 26.Rxf1 Rf8 1/2-1/2

Round 2, Game 2, Nov. 9
Navara, David – Grischuk, Alexander
D38 QGD, Ragozin variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Qa4+ Nc6 6.e3 O-O 7.Qc2 Re8 8.Bd2 Bf8 9.a3 e5 10.dxe5 Nxe5 11.cxd5 Nxf3+ 12.gxf3 Nxd5 13.Bd3 Nxc3 14.Bxc3 Qh4 15.O-O-O g6 16.Be4 Bg7 17.Qa4 Qe7 18.Bxg7 Kxg7 19.h4 Qc5+ 20.Kb1 Bf5 21.h5 b5 22.Qa6 Rxe4 23.h6+ Kf8 24.fxe4 Bxe4+ 25.Ka1 Bxh1 26.Qf6 Bc6 27.e4 b4 28.axb4 Qb5 29.b3 a5 30.Kb2 axb4 31.Rd2 Qc5 32.Rd3 Re8 33.Qg7+ Ke7 34.Rf3 Kd8 35.Rxf7 Bxe4 36.Qf6+ Kc8 0-1

Round 2, Game 2, Nov. 9
Svidler, Peter – Dubov, Daniil
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 Bb7 12.Na3 c5 13.dxc5 Qa5 14.Be3 Qb4 15.Qd4 Qxd4 16.Bxd4 Bxf3 17.gxf3 Ng5 18.Kg2 Ne6 19.Rad1 Rfc8 20.b4 Rab8 21.Nc2 1/2-1/2

Round 2, Game 2, Nov. 9
Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – Yu, Yangyi
A11 English

1.c4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3 Nf6 4.Nc3 g6 5.d4 Bg7 6.Be2 O-O 7.O-O Ne4 8.Nxe4 dxe4 9.Nd2 c5 10.dxc5 f5 11.Rb1 a5 12.a3 a4 13.b4 axb3 14.Nxb3 Qxd1 15.Rxd1 Nd7 16.Kf1 h5 17.Bd2 Rxa3 18.Na5 Nxc5 19.Bb4 Ra2 20.Bxc5 Rxa5 21.Bxe7 Rf7 22.Bb4 Ra8 23.Rd8+ Kh7 24.Bd6 Rd7 25.Rxd7 Bxd7 26.g4 fxg4 27.Rxb7 Bc8 28.Re7 Kh6 29.Bf4+ g5 30.Bxg5+ Kxg5 31.Rxg7+ Kh4 32.Rg8 Kh3 33.Bxg4+ Kh4 34.Rxc8 Ra1+ 35.Kg2 hxg4 36.Re8 1-0

Position after Black’s 32….Kh3?

Svidler and Dubov go to tie-breaks tomorrow. The winner will play a match in the next round against Duda.

The other match will be MVL-Grischuk

There is no rest day scheduled until Thursday, November 14.

**Wayne Komer** · Sunday, 10th November, 2019, 10:11 PM

Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix 2019

November 10, 2019

Round Two

Tiebreaks

As Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Alexander Grischuk and Jan-Krzysztof Duda qualified through the classical portion of the knockout round, the remaining spot of the semi-final would either go to Daniil Dubov or Peter Svidler based on the results of the tiebreaks played with shorter time control.

The players repeated the same line from their first classical game until Svidler deviated on move ten by pushing his pawn to b6. Dubov reacted with a rarely played advance of the h-pawn. Svidler reacted perfectly by bringing his queen to h4. The crisis erupted on the 21st move when Dubov allowed an excellent tactical shot by Svidler to force an endgame with a bishop and two pawns against a rook. The older of the two Russian grandmasters pushed for a win, but Dubov was able to save a half-point.

Svidler opened the second encounter with 1.c4, but the game transposed into a sharp line of the Queen's Gambit Declined. Dubov opted for a risky setup that involved weakening his kingside and castling queenside. After both players finished their development, Svidler had the upper hand due to better control over the center. Peter managed to win a pawn, but Dubov, who was playing much faster, started to bother the white king on f2.

Svidler was controlling the course of the game. He exchanged pieces and even threatened mate in one with his queen. Dubov parried the mate and Svidler could have gone for a second pawn. Instead, he preferred to continue the attack, but Dubov found a tactical way to complicate matters. The players reached a queen and rook endgame with White being a pawn up. Svidler had a weak king and Dubov created enough counterplay to hold the balance. In the end, it was a question of nerves. The game turned in favor of Svidler, but in severe time trouble, he allowed a perpetual after having a winning position for several moves.

After starting the day with two draws, the tiebreak rules required two further rapid games with a time control of 10 minutes + 10 seconds per move.

Svidler avoided theory by playing a rare line of the Queen's Pawn Opening but soon found himself in a worse position. After finishing his development, Dubov was in total control of the game. He won a central pawn and was ahead on the clock with four minutes against three minutes. Daniil forced a rook endgame that was winning due to his four vs two pawn majority on the queenside. White could not salvage his position and soon threw in the towel.

In a must-win-situation, Svidler chose the Dutch Defense with Black. Dubov offered the chance to simplify the position in the opening, but this was not Svidler's intention. Instead, he undertook some risky maneuvers. but did not get closer to achieving his goal. Dubov was on the verge of winning this game as well but offered a draw after 18 moves that Svidler accepted.

https://www.fide.com/news/196

Evgeniy Miroshnichenko was joined as commentator by Eteri Kublashivili. I suppose I have been watching too many old episodes of Friends lately, because she strongly reminded me of Courtney Cox! When one player moved the same piece two times in a row, she said, “The postman always knocks twice”, which surprised me too.

Tiebreak Round
Game 1, Nov. 10
25+10
Dubov, Daniil - Svidler, Peter
D86 Grunfeld, Exchange, Classical variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nxc3 6.bxc3 Bg7 7.Bc4 c5 8.Ne2 Nc6 9.Be3 O-O 10.O-O b6 11.h4 e6 12.h5 Qh4 13.hxg6 hxg6 14.f3 cxd4 15.cxd4 Rd8 16.Qd2 Bb7 17.Rac1 Be5 18.f4 Bg7 19.Rf3 Rac8 20.Rh3 Qg4 21.Qe1 Nxd4 22.Nxd4 Bxd4 23.Bxd4 Rxd4 24.Rh4 Rxe4 25.Rxg4 Rxe1+ 26.Rxe1 Rxc4 27.Re3 Bd5 28.a3 Kg7 29.Rh4 b5 30.g3 a5 31.Rh2 Rc1+ 32.Kf2 b4 33.axb4 axb4 34.g4 g5 35.fxg5 Kg6 36.Re5 Rc2+ 37.Kg3 Rxh2 38.Kxh2 b3 39.Re2 Bc4 40.Rd2 e5 41.Kg3 e4 42.Rd4 b2 43.Rd6+ Kxg5 44.Rb6 Be2 1/2-1/2

Game 2, Nov. 10
25+10
Svidler, Peter – Dubov, Daniil
D35 QGD, Exchange, positional line

1.c4 e6 2.Nc3 d5 3.d4 Nf6 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 Bb4 6.e3 h6 7.Bh4 g5 8.Bg3 Ne4 9.Qc2 h5 10.f3 Bxc3+ 11.bxc3 Nxg3 12.hxg3 Qd6 13.Kf2 Nc6 14.Rb1 b6 15.c4 dxc4 16.Bxc4 Bd7 17.Ne2 O-O-O 18.Bxf7 h4 19.gxh4 gxh4 20.Qg6 Qf8 21.Be6 Ne7 22.Bxd7+ Rxd7 23.Qe4 Nd5 24.Nf4 Qa3 25.Rbc1 Kb8 26.Nxd5 Qxa2+ 27.Rc2 Qxd5 28.Rxh4 Rxh4 29.Qxh4 a5 30.Qe4 Qg8 31.Qc6 Rg7 32.g4 Qh8 33.Kg3 Rh7 34.g5 Rh3+ 35.Kf4 Qh4+ 36.Kf5 Qh7+ 37.g6 Qe7 38.Rg2 Qxe3 39.f4 Rh4 40.Qe4 Qh3+ 41.Kf6 Qd7 42.g7 Qd6+ 43.Kf5 Qd7+ 44.Kf6 Qd6+ 45.Kf5 Qd7+ 46.Kf6 1/2-1/2

Position after Black’s 40….Qh3+

White would win by playing 41.Kg5, 41...Rh6 42.d5 Qh4+ 43.Kf5 Qh3+ 44.Kf6 Qc8 45.Qe7 a4 46.f5

Game 3, Nov. 10
10+10
Svidler, Peter – Dubov, Daniil
A07 Reti, King’s Indian Attack

1.Nf3 d5 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.d4 Nf6 5.O-O O-O 6.Be3 Nc6 7.h3 Re8 8.Bf4 Nh5 9.Bg5 h6 10.Bc1 Nf6 11.Nbd2 e5 12.dxe5 Ne4 13.c4 Nxd2 14.Qxd2 dxc4 15.Qc3 Be6 16.Be3 Qe7 17.Rfd1 Rad8 18.Rac1 b5 19.a3 Bd5 20.Qc2 a6 21.Bf4 Bxf3 22.Bxf3 Nd4 23.Qe4 Bxe5 24.Bxe5 Qxe5 25.Qxe5 Nxf3+ 26.exf3 Rxd1+ 27.Rxd1 Rxe5 28.Kf1 Kg7 29.Rd8 a5 30.f4 Rc5 31.Ke2 c3 32.bxc3 Rxc3 33.a4 bxa4 34.Rd4 a3 35.Ra4 Rc2+ 36.Ke3 a2 37.Rxa5 Kf6 38.g4 Ke6 39.h4 Kd6 40.f5 gxf5 0-1

Game 4, Nov. 10
10+10
Dubov, Daniil – Svidler, Peter
A81 Dutch Defence

1.d4 f5 2.g3 Nf6 3.Bg2 g6 4.Nd2 Bg7 5.e4 fxe4 6.Nxe4 Nxe4 7.Bxe4 d5 8.Bg2 Nc6 9.c3 e5 10.dxe5 Nxe5 11.Nf3 Nc4 12.O-O O-O 13.b3 Nb6 14.Bg5 Qd6 15.Re1 Bxc3 16.Be7 Qd7 17.Bxf8 Bxe1 18.Qd4 1/2-1/2

In the semi-finals then, it will be

MVL – Alexander Grischuk

Jan-Krzysztof Duda – Daniil Dubov

Game 1 of these matches, tomorrow.

**Wayne Komer** · Monday, 11th November, 2019, 09:11 PM

Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix 2019

November 11, 2019

Semi-Finals

Game One

Today, FIDE published the dates for the next Candidates Tournament. It will take place from March 15 till April 5, 2020, in Yekaterinburg (Russia). Two spots are reserved for the top finishers of the FIDE Grand Prix, and only a few grandmasters remain who can qualify via this tournament series.

Two of the aspirants are facing off in the semi-final of the third leg in Hamburg. So far, Alexander Grischuk has collected 14 points, but Hamburg is the last stop on his Grand Prix journey. His opponent, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave has 13 points under his belt but he will have an additional opportunity to earn more points in December during the fourth leg of FIDE Grand Prix in Jerusalem.

Considering these circumstances, the Russian player is under more pressure to win their encounter. In the first game, Grischuk chose the Modern Arkhangelsk Defense with Black, which is considered to be a highly theoretical line of the Ruy Lopez. The last time he played this line was in 2007. After some thought, Vachier-Lagrave reacted with a sideline to avoid a theoretical battle.

Alexander had no problems equalizing and around move 20 the pawn structure was nearly symmetrical with equal material. After the exchange of two minor pieces, there was little play left in the position and the players agreed to a draw after 27 moves.

The game between Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Daniil Dubov started as an English Opening but soon transposed into a line of the Tarrasch Defense which Dubov has played several times this year against high-rated opponents. Duda did not show up empty-handed and introduced a new idea by developing the bishop on g5 on move eleven.

The 23-year-old Russian seemed to be surprised. Dubov had some reservations about a key tactical sequence and spent over half an hour in thought. However, Duda avoided the sharpest variations and steered the game towards a double rook and opposite-colored bishops endgame. The position became completely equal and the players agreed to a draw after nearly two hours of play.

From the FIDE website:

https://www.fide.com/news/201

Semi-finals
Game 1, Nov. 11
MVL – Grischuk, Alexander
C78 Ruy Lopez, Archangel variation

1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.O-O b5 6.Bb3 Bc5 7.c3 d6 8.a4 Rb8 9.d4 Bb6 10.axb5 axb5 11.Na3 O-O 12.Nxb5 Bg4 13.Be3 exd4 14.cxd4 Nxe4 15.h3 Bf5 16.Nc3 h6 17.Bd5 Nxc3 18.bxc3 Ne7 19.Bb3 c5 20.Re1 cxd4 21.Nxd4 Bg6 22.Bf4 Bc5 23.Ba4 Rb2 24.Qf3 Bxd4 25.cxd4 Nf5 26.Be3 Nxe3 27.Qxe3 1/2-1/2

Semi-finals
Game 1, Nov. 11
Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – Dubov, Daniil
D33 QGD, Tarrasch, Prague variation

1.c4 Nf6 2.Nc3 c5 3.Nf3 e6 4.g3 d5 5.cxd5 exd5 6.d4 Nc6 7.Bg2 cxd4 8.Nxd4 Bc5 9.Nxc6 bxc6 10.O-O O-O 11.Bg5 h6 12.Bxf6 Qxf6 13.Rc1 Bb6 14.e3 Ba6 15.Re1 Rad8 16.Qc2 d4 17.Ne4 Qf5 18.exd4 Rxd4 19.Nc5 Qxc2 20.Rxc2 Bc4 21.Nb3 Bxb3 22.axb3 Rb4 23.Bxc6 Rxb3 24.Bd5 Rd3 25.Bc4 Rd7 26.Rce2 Rfd8 27.Re8+ Rxe8 28.Rxe8+ Kh7 29.b3 1/2-1/2

**Wayne Komer** · Tuesday, 12th November, 2019, 10:01 PM

Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix 2019

November 12, 2019

Semi-Finals

Game Two

Alexander Grischuk celebrated a great victory at the FIDE Grand Prix in Hamburg on Wednesday evening. He won the second game of the semi-final against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and advanced into the final. At the same time, he collected valuable points for the overall standings of the Grand Prix Series. The other encounter of the day ended in a draw. Daniil Dubov was pressing throughout the whole game against Jan-Krzysztof Duda but had to split the point after the Polish grandmaster defended well in a slightly inferior endgame. These two players will meet again in the tiebreak of the semi-final to determine the second finalist.

Alexander Grischuk opened his game against Maxime Vachier-Lagrave with the non-committal 1.Nf3, but after just five moves, the players reached a position of the English Opening which the French grandmaster has played 18 times within the past two years! In his first game, played in 2017, he had beaten none other than Magnus Carlsen at the Sinquefield Cup. Later, however, he had experienced some problems. The last time Maxim played this line, he suffered a loss at the hands of Teimour Radjabov at the World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk about a month and a half ago.

This time around, ‘MVL’ clearly had some improvements prepared. Grischuk, however, was not surprised and continued quickly until move twelve. He created a strong centre and pushed the h-pawn attempting to create some weaknesses on the kingside. The game sharpened soon, as Vachier-Lagrave started an attack of his own by advancing his b-pawn on the other side of the board. This lead to a liquidation of the pawn centre but the French grandmaster committed an error by allowing White to continue the fight with a strong bishop pair in an open position. Additionally, he had to deal with a knight stranded at the rim of the board.

Grischuk developed a dangerous initiative and after finding a convincing sequence of moves, reached a winning position. His rook had entered the seventh rank, and he could have placed his queen in the middle of the board, dominating his opponent. With time running short, he chose to threaten a mate in one instead, which Vachier-Lagrave parried easily and got back in the game. Nevertheless, he was still the defending party as Grischuk had a bishop vs. knight in an open position and a passed pawn on the a-file.

As the technical part of the game began, Vachier-Lagrave had a sidelined knight blocking the white passed pawn. Grischuk now had to find a way to break black's defence. He did so by exchanging queens and penetrating with his king into black's camp. By this time, Grischuk's time trouble was the last straw Vachier-Lagrave was grasping on, but the experienced Russian grandmaster managed to navigate through the remaining obstacles with fantastic precision and scored a well-deserved victory.

Jan-Krzysztof Duda chose the solid Slav Defence against Dubov's 1.d4. The players followed theory until move thirteen and reached an endgame after an early queen exchange. Over the next few moves, the Polish grandmaster stabilized his position and kept a sound pawn structure. Dubov, on the other hand, had an active dark-squared bishop and slightly better prospects in the centre.

Duda handled the position a bit carelessly and permitted White to gain better control of important squares and lines. Both sides had only a rook and two minor pieces left, but the young Russian was the one exerting some pressure. He attacked a weak pawn on f6, but Duda activated a knight and counterattacked one of white's weak pawns as well. This counterplay turned out to be enough for Duda to save a half-point after three hours of play.

From the FIDE site:

https://www.fide.com/news/203

Semi-finals
Game 2, Nov. 12
Grischuk, Alexander – MVL
A34 English, symmetrical, Three Knights System

1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e3 e6 6.Bc4 Be7 7.O-O O-O 8.Qe2 Nc6 9.Rd1 b6 10.d4 Nxc3 11.bxc3 Qc7 12.e4 Rd8 13.Be3 Na5 14.Bd3 Bb7 15.h4 b5 16.Bxb5 Bxe4 17.dxc5 Bxf3 18.Qxf3 Bxc5 19.Bf4 Qb7 20.Qe2 Qe7 21.h5 Bd6 22.Bxd6 Rxd6 23.Rxd6 Qxd6 24.Rd1 Qc5 25.Rd7 Qxc3 26.Qd1 h6 27.g3 Rf8 28.Rxa7 Nc6 29.Rd7 Ne5 30.Rd8 Qc7 31.Rxf8+ Kxf8 32.a4 Ke7 33.Be2 Qc3 34.Qb1 Nc6 35.Qb7+ Kf6 36.Bf1 Na5 37.Qd7 g5 38.hxg6 Kxg6 39.Kg2 Kg7 40.Bb5 Qe5 41.Qd3 Qc5 42.Qf3 Qd4 43.Be8 Qd5 44.Qxd5 exd5 45.Kf3 Kf6 46.Kg4 Ke7 47.Bb5 Kf6 48.Kh5 Kg7 49.Bf1 Nb3 50.Bg2 d4 51.Bf1 Nd2 52.Bd3 Nb3 53.Bf1 Nd2 54.Bd3 Nb3 55.Bb5 f6 56.Bf1 Na5 57.Ba6 Nb3 58.Bb5 Na5 59.Kg4 Nb7 60.Kf4 Nc5 61.a5 d3 62.Ke3 d2 63.Be2 1-0

Position after 43.Be8

Semi-finals
Game 2, Nov. 12
Dubov, Daniil – Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
D23 QGA

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.Qb3 dxc4 5.Qxc4 Bf5 6.g3 e6 7.Bg2 Be7 8.O-O O-O 9.Qb3 Qb6 10.Nbd2 Nbd7 11.Nc4 Qxb3 12.axb3 Be4 13.Bf4 c5 14.Rfc1 Rfc8 15.Nd6 Bxd6 16.Bxd6 cxd4 17.Nxd4 Bxg2 18.Kxg2 a6 19.f3 Ne8 20.Bb4 g6 21.e4 e5 22.Ne2 Rxc1 23.Rxc1 f6 24.Rd1 Nf8 25.f4 exf4 26.Nxf4 Rc8 27.Kh3 g5 28.Nh5 Ne6 29.Rf1 Nc5 30.Nxf6+ Nxf6 31.Rxf6 Nxe4 32.Re6 Nf2+ 33.Kg2 1/2-1/2

The players will return to the Theater Kehrwieder on Wednesday, when a series of rapid games will decide who will be facing Grischuk in the final.

**Wayne Komer** · Wednesday, 13th November, 2019, 03:51 PM

Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix 2019

November 13, 2019

Semi-Finals

Tiebreaks

From the FIDE site:

https://www.fide.com/news/207

Having concluded the classical leg of their semi-final match at the Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix with two draws, Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Daniil Dubov had to fight it out once again on Wednesday to determine a winner who will meet Alexander Grischuk in the final.

The modus of the tiebreak at the FIDE Grand Prix demands two rapid games with the time control of 25 minutes + 10 seconds increment as the first step.

Game 1 saw Duda playing with white pieces. The reaction to his 1.e4 was the Kalashnikov variation of the Sicilian Defence. Dubov chose a sideline and played much faster than his opponent. Before move 20, the players had exchanged queens and several minor pieces to reach an equal endgame with a rook and a light-squared bishop respectively.

But while the position looked stable, Dubov stirred things up by offering a pawn on his twenty-fourth move. Perhaps, it was best for Duda to avoid taking the pawn, but he decided to take the risk. In turn, the black forces immediately sprang into action. A passed pawn soon appeared on the ‘e’ file, and the active black pieces fully backed up its advance. Duda struggled to keep this pawn under control and ended up resigning on the 54th move.

The Polish GM needed a win in the second game to level the score. With the black pieces, he opted for the Modern Defence and got an unbalanced position. In contrast to the first game, the players reached a closed setup in the middlegame which gave Duda chances to fight for the win.

Dubov used his space advantage to launch a kingside attack, whereas Duda obtained a long-lasting edge on the other side of the board. The position soon became very complex, and with time running down both grandmasters failed to find the best continuations.

After a bit more than 40 moves, time-trouble was making an even bigger impact on the evaluation of the position. First, Duda reached a winning position, but an oversight on his part allowed an equal rook endgame. Then, it was Dubov's turn to blunder. He permitted the black king to penetrate into his camp and get to his key b2-pawn.

Dubov’s loss meant that the tiebreak was to continue. Another mini-match of two further rapid games with an even faster time control of 10 minutes + 10 seconds soon began.

The first game was a short and painless affair. Dubov offered a draw after only twelve moves, and Duda accepted it.

The second game, however, was a completely different story. Duda chose the Torre Attack and went out for the K.O. For the most part, the Polish grandmaster had the upper hand but Dubov, again, was playing faster. At some point, Daniil silently offered a draw by repetition, but Jan-Krzysztof to continue the fight. With only two minutes on the clock, Duda managed to force a better rook endgame and finally overcame the resistance of his opponent.

Tomorrow is a rest day. On Friday, the match Duda-Grischuk starts.

Semifinals
Tiebreaks
Game 1, Nov. 13
25+10
Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – Dubov, Daniil
B32 Sicilian, Labourdonnais-Loewenthal variation

1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 e5 5.Nb5 d6 6.N1c3 a6 7.Na3 Be6 8.Nc4 Rb8 9.a4 Nf6 10.Bg5 Nb4 11.a5 d5 12.exd5 Nbxd5 13.Nxd5 Qxd5 14.Bxf6 gxf6 15.Qxd5 Bxd5 16.O-O-O Bc6 17.Nd6+ Bxd6 18.Rxd6 Ke7 19.Rd3 Rbd8 20.Rg1 f5 21.g3 Kf6 22.Be2 Rxd3 23.Bxd3 e4 24.Bc4 Ke5 25.Bxf7 Rf8 26.Bc4 f4 27.Rf1 Rf6 28.b3 Rh6 29.h4 fxg3 30.fxg3 Rg6 31.Rg1 e3 32.g4 Bf3 33.g5 Kf4 34.Bd3 Rg7 35.b4 Rd7 36.Re1 Re7 37.Rg1 Rd7 38.Re1 Bh5 39.b5 axb5 40.Bxb5 Rd5 41.Rf1+ Kg3 42.Bd3 Rxa5 43.Rf6 Re5 44.Rb6 Re7 45.Rh6 Bg6 46.Kd1 Kf2 47.h5 Rd7 48.Kc1 Rxd3 49.cxd3 e2 50.hxg6 e1=Q+ 51.Kc2 Qe2+ 52.Kc3 Qe5+ 53.d4 Qc7+ 54.Kd2 hxg6 0-1

Game 2, Nov. 13
25+10
Dubov, Daniil – Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
B06 Robatsch Defence

1.d4 g6 2.e4 Bg7 3.Nf3 d6 4.Bc4 a6 5.O-O b5 6.Bb3 Bb7 7.Re1 e6 8.c3 Nd7 9.a4 Ngf6 10.Nbd2 O-O 11.Bc2 c5 12.Nf1 Qc7 13.Ng3 Rfc8 14.Bd3 b4 15.a5 c4 16.Bf1 b3 17.Ra4 d5 18.e5 Ne8 19.h4 Bc6 20.Ra1 Rcb8 21.h5 Rb5 22.Ng5 Nf8 23.Qf3 Ra7 24.Nh1 h6 25.Nh3 g5 26.Qd1 Rxa5 27.Rxa5 Qxa5 28.f4 g4 29.N3f2 f5 30.exf6 Nxf6 31.Ng3 Rf7 32.Be2 Bd7 33.Nxg4 Nxg4 34.Bxg4 Qc7 35.Ne2 a5 36.f5 exf5 37.Bf3 Bc6 38.Bf4 Qd8 39.Qc1 Kh7 40.Be5 Ne6 41.Bxg7 Rxg7 42.Nf4 Ng5 43.Qe3 Qd6 44.Ng6 Qg3 45.Rf1 Rf7 46.Qe5 Nxf3+ 47.Rxf3 Qxe5 48.Nxe5 Rf6 49.Nxc6 Rxc6 50.Rxf5 a4 51.Rf7+ Kg8 52.Ra7 Re6 53.Kf2 Rf6+ 54.Ke2 Rf5 55.Rxa4 Rxh5 56.Ra1 Rg5 57.Kf3 Rf5+ 58.Ke2 Kg7 59.Ke3 h5 60.Ke2 Kg6 61.Ra8 Rf7 62.Ra5 Rd7 63.Kf3 Kg5 64.g3 Rd8 65.Rb5 Rf8+ 66.Kg2 Kf5 67.Rxd5+ Ke4 68.Re5+ Kd3 69.d5 Kc2 70.Re2+ Kd1 71.Re5 Kc1 72.Re4 Rd8 73.Rxc4 Rxd5 74.Rd4 Rc5 75.c4 Kxb2 76.Rd5 Rxc4 77.Rxh5 Kc3 78.Rh1 b2 79.Kh3 Kb3 80.Rb1 Rc1 81.Rxb2+ Kxb2 82.Kg4 Kc3 83.Kf5 Rf1+ 84.Ke5 Rg1 85.Kf4 Kd4 0-1

Position after Black’s 67…Ke4

Should White have taken h5 instead?

Game 3, Nov. 13
10+10
Dubov, Daniil – Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
D14 QGD Slav, Exchange variation

1.d4 d5 2.c4 c6 3.Nf3 Nf6 4.cxd5 cxd5 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Bf4 Bf5 7.Qb3 Na5 8.Qa4+ Bd7 9.Qc2 e6 10.e3 Nc6 11.a3 Nh5 12.Bg5 f6 13.h4 Qc7 14.g4 fxg5 15.gxh5 gxh4 16.Rg1 1/2-1/2

Dubov offered the draw

Game 4, Nov. 13
10+10
Duda, Jan-Krzysztof – Dubov, Daniil
A45 Queen’s Pawn game

1.d4 Nf6 2.c3 g6 3.Bg5 Bg7 4.Nd2 d5 5.e3 O-O 6.Ngf3 Nbd7 7.Be2 Re8 8.Qb3 c6 9.O-O e5 10.Rfd1 h6 11.Bh4 Qe7 12.Rac1 exd4 13.cxd4 a5 14.h3 Qb4 15.Qc2 Ne4 16.Nxe4 Rxe4 17.Bd3 Re8 18.a3 Qf8 19.Rb1 a4 20.Bg3 Nf6 21.Ne5 Be6 22.Rf1 Ne4 23.Bh2 Qe7 24.Rbc1 Nd6 25.Qc5 Nf5 26.Qb6 Nh4 27.Bg3 Nf5 28.Bh2 Nh4 29.Bg3 Nf5 30.Bf4 Nh4 31.Rc5 Bxe5 32.dxe5 Bf5 33.Be2 g5 34.Bg3 Ng6 35.f4 gxf4 36.exf4 d4 37.Rd1 Rad8 38.Rc4 d3 39.Bf3 Nh4 40.Bxh4 Qxh4 41.Qf2 Qxf2+ 42.Kxf2 Be6 43.Rc3 d2 44.Ke3 f6 45.Rxd2 fxe5 46.fxe5 Rxd2 47.Kxd2 Bd5 48.Bxd5+ cxd5 49.Rc7 Rxe5 50.Rxb7 Rf5 51.Ke3 Re5+ 52.Kd4 Rg5 53.g4 h5 54.gxh5 Rxh5 55.Kc5 Rxh3 56.Kxd5 Kf8 57.Kc5 Ke8 58.Rb4 Rh5+ 59.Kb6 Rh2 60.Kb5 1-0

Position after Black advances the d-pawn – 36….d4

Lots of jokes from the chessbomb kibitzers because both players have a last name beginning with “D”. And there is the d-pawn above…

- to be fair Daniil Dubov is more "D" than Jan-Krazysorttof Duda
- this is everything but 0-1
- yeah but the d-pawn just got disintegrated again so he will lose
- dude
- who's commenting?
- Some dude
- obviously
- learn rook endgames dubov
- yeah...!!!
- congrats dudu
- This is over
- OVER
- D

**Wayne Komer** · Friday, 15th November, 2019, 10:31 PM

Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix 2019

November 15, 2019

Final

The FIDE Grand Prix in Hamburg has reached the home stretch. After starting the event with 16 grandmasters, only Alexander Grischuk and Jan-Krzysztof Duda have remained to determine the winner and runner-up of the third leg of the series.

Grischuk would like to increase his lead in the Grand Prix by as much as possible since this Hamburg leg will be his last one in the series. The 36-year-old grandmaster has collected 17 points so far, but with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (13 points), Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (10 points) and Ian Nepomniachtchi (9 points), there are three players left who could theoretically surpass him in the last instalment of the series in Jerusalem.

For the first encounter in classical chess between these two players, Grischuk decided to open the game with 1.d4.
Duda responded with the Queen's Indian Defence, which is one of his favourite openings. The opponents followed one of the main lines where Grischuk seemed better prepared. By moving his rook to c2 on move 13, he adopted an idea of Ivan Cheparinov which the Bulgarian grandmaster played three weeks ago at the Chess.com FIDE Grand Swiss on the Isle of Man. This, clearly, came as a surprise for the 21-year-old Polish player who thought for more than 50 minutes for his next two moves.

Grischuk returned the favour and sank into deep thought. He used 47 minutes for his next two moves to find a forced sequence that yielded him a better position. He managed to resolve the situation in the centre and ruin black's kingside pawn structure. At this point, it was clear that both players would suffer severe clock pressure.

Time trouble became more evident when less than four minutes remained and the time control mark was still 13 moves away. White still held an advantage due to a better pawn structure and a strong knight, but Black activated all of his heavy pieces on the open e-file. Duda's counterplay seemed to be sufficient to distract Grischuk. Shortly before time control on move 40, Alexander had the chance to get a clear advantage with a strong knight move 35.Ne5. Instead, he exchanged the queens and forced an endgame where Black was a pawn down but had enough counterplay thanks to his active rooks.

After the time control, Grischuk spent 25 minutes evaluating the situation on the board. As there was no advantage on the horizon, he forced matters by exchanging a rook and simplifying the position. Duda also didn't see a path leading to advantage, so the players agreed to a draw after 46 moves in an equal rook endgame.

https://www.fide.com/news/210

Final, Game 1, Nov. 15
Grischuk, Alexander – Duda, Jan-Krzysztof
E15 Queen’s Indian, Nimzowitsch variation

1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 b6 4.g3 Ba6 5.b3 Bb4+ 6.Bd2 Be7 7.Bg2 d5 8.cxd5 exd5 9.O-O O-O 10.Nc3 Re8 11.Ne5 Bb7 12.Rc1 Nbd7 13.Rc2 Bf8 14.Bf4 c5 15.Nxd7 Qxd7 16.dxc5 bxc5 17.Bg5 d4 18.Bxb7 Qxb7 19.Bxf6 gxf6 20.Na4 Re5 21.Nb2 Rae8 22.Nc4 Re4 23.e3 f5 24.Qh5 Qd7 25.Rd2 Bg7 26.Rd3 Qe6 27.exd4 cxd4 28.Rf3 Re2 29.Rxf5 Rxa2 30.Rd5 Qg6 31.Qf3 Ra6 32.Rd7 h5 33.h4 Rf6 34.Qd5 Re2 35.Qg5 Qxg5 36.hxg5 Rf5 37.f4 Rb5 38.Rf3 a5 39.Ra7 Rc2 40.Rxa5 Rb8 41.Kf1 Rc3 42.Rxc3 dxc3 43.Ne3 Rxb3 44.Ke2 Bd4 45.Ra8+ Kh7 46.Rc8 Bxe3 1/2-1/2

Position after Black’s 34…Re2, 35.Ne5 is recommended