12 May 2017
First Games of FIDE Grand Prix Played in Moscow
Hou Yifan is the only winner of the first round.
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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