21 May 2017
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Ding Liren Maintain Lead Moscow FIDE Grand Prix
The last round is ahead.
On Saturday, May 20, the penultimate round of the FIDE Grand Prix leg was played in the Central Telegraph building.Anish Giri, who played Black against Ding Liren, sacrificed his central pawn for the initiative and got compensation. The Chinese grandmaster, in his turn, gave up a bishop in order to protect himself from the attack on white squares. The draw was agreed in the position of a dynamic balance.
In his game against Peter Svidler, Shakhriayr Mamedyarov sacrificed the exchange in the middlegame and managed to develop a dangerous initiative. White had to give back the material, and in the endgame it was Black who had to be precise in defense. All in all, the Azerbaijani grandmaster accomplished his task.
Alexander Grischuk got a promising position in the opening, but a direct way to win was hard to find. Playing precisely, Hikaru Nakamura equalized the position, and a draw was agreed on move 24.
Ian Nepmniachtchi managed to outplay Pentala Harikrishna in the opening and had a big advantage, however, his first mistake led to equality. Still trying to play for a win, Nepomniachtchi made a second mistake and his position immediately worsened. Harikrishna hid his king from all the checks and converted his extra material into victory.
In the game Radjabov - Gelfand a draw was agreed on move 22.
The game Hammer-Adams went on quite smoothly and logically ended in a draw.
Evgeny Tomashevsky and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave made more than 100 moves. Their fight was quite complex and eventually boiled down to the endgame where Black had the exchange. Evgeny found an ideal setup and made a draw.
Ernesto Inarkiev had good chances to win against Saleh Salem, who had sacrificed two pieces for a rook. However, the Russian chess player wasn’t playing quite precisely, and White managed to find a perpetual check.
Francisco Vallejo was likely to outplay Hou Yifan in the endgame, but the former Women’s World Champion still managed to hold the position with two pawns down.
Round 8 standings:
1-2. Ding Liren, Mamedyarov - 5
3-9. Svidler, Radjabov, Grischuk, Vachier-Lagrave, Nakamura, Gelfand, Giri - 4.5
10-12. Tomashevsky, Hou Yifan, Harikrishna - 4
13-14. Hammer, Vallejo - 3.5
15-17. Nepomniachtchi, Adams, Salem - 3
18. Inarkiev - 2.5
Round 9 pairings:
Gelfand - Ding Liren, Mamedyarov - Vachier-Lagrave, Nakamura - Svidler, Giri - Grischuk, Harikrishna - Radjabov, Adams - Tomashevsky, Inarkiev - Hou Yifan, Vallejo - Nepomniachtchi, Salem - Hammer
Event on Chess-Results
Official website
Photos by Eteri Kublashvili
