12 May 2017
First Games of FIDE Grand Prix Played in Moscow
Hou Yifan is the only winner of the first round.
On Friday, May 12, the Central Telegraph hosted the first round of the FIDE Grand Prix.The only decisive game of the round was played between Hou Yifan and Ian Nepomniachtchi. The Russian played White and took risks in the opening by grabbing a poisoned pawn on b7 followed by sacrificing an exchange. Ian probably expected to get strong counterplay, however, Hou Yifan skilfully downplayed White's initiative, returned an exchange and kept a healthy extra pawn. White was forced to defend with his pieces awkwardly placed. The Ex-World Champion played very precisely and eventually won.
Ernesto Inarkiev went for a sharp line against Hikaru Nakamura and followed his preparation for a while. However, the American found all the strongest responses over the board, and the game ended in a draw by move repetition.
Maxim Vachier-Lagrave, who played White with Michael Adams, avoided the most principal continuation in the middlegame, allowing Black to equalize the game. A draw was agreed on the 27th move.
Evgeny Tomashevsky and Peter Svidler played a sharp game. White developed a swift pawn attack on the kingside, however, Tomashevsky took the risk he could not afford and gave Black a chance to grab the initiative. However, Svidler preferred to accept the piece sacrifice, which led to an immediate draw by perpetual.
White had a small advantage in Mamedyarov-Vallejo, but failed to develop it into something more substantial. After the queens were traded, the game simplified, and the players agreed to a draw on the 30th move in a rook ending.
Boris Gelfand, playing black against Anish Giri, went for a very sharp Dragonlike Sicilian. Giri got a certain advantage in the middlegame, but eventually Boris managed to equalize. The game ended in a draw by perpetual.
Radjabov-Ding Liren was a rather quiet draw. White exerted pressure on Black's isolani, Black defended carefully and without much trouble.
The game between Harikrishna and Hammer lasted seven hours and also ended in a draw. The Indian grandmaster patiently defended a difficult position with a queen against rook, bishop, and two pawns. Hammer agreed to a draw on the move 93 only after exhausting all possible resources of playing for a win.
Salem-Grischuk was a quick and uneventful draw.
Round 1 standings:
Hou Yifan 1
Vachier-Lagrave, Giri, Svidler, Grischuk, Inarkiev, Vallejo, Radjabov, Mamedyarov, Nakamura, Salem, Harikrishna, Hammer, Ding Liren, Gelfand, Tomashevsky, Adams 0.5
Nepomniachtchi 0
Round 2 Pairings:
Hou Yifan-Vachier-Lagrave, Nakamura-Radjabov, Adams-Giri, Ding Liren-Inarkiev, Gelfand-Mamedyarov, Svidler-Salem, Grischuk-Tomashevsky, Vallejo-Harikrishna, Hammer-Nepomniachtchi.
Event on Chess-Results
Official site
Photos by Eteri Kublashvili
