Third Leg of FIDE Grand Prix Starts in Berlin

Two participants of the Candidates Tournament will be determined.

The final, third, leg of the FIDE Grand Prix will be held in the German capital from the 21st of March to the 4th of April. Two best players of the Series qualify for the 2022 Candidates Tournament. 

Sixteen participants were divided into four groups. 

Pool A:

Levon Aronian (USA), 2785
Hikaru Nakamura, (USA), 2750
Andrey Esipenko (FIDE), 2723*
Grigoriy Oparin (FIDE), 2674

Pool B:

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan), 2776
Leinier Dominguez (USA), 2756
Daniil Dubov (FIDE), 2711
Vincent Keymer (Germany), 2655

Pool C: 

Wesley So (USA), 2778
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France), 2761
Sam Shankland (USA), 2704
Alexandr Predke (FIDE), 2682

Pool D:

Anish Giri (Netherlands), 2771
Nikita Vitiugov (FIDE), 2726
Yu Yangyi (China), 2713
Amin Tabatabaei (Iran), 2623.

*Andrey Esipenko replaced Dmitry Andreikin, who had withdrawn due to personal reasons. 

At the group stage, the participants will compete in four double-round-robin tournaments, with only the winners of each pool advancing. The group stage is followed by a knockout semi-final and final. Both the semi-finals and final will consist of two games, plus tiebreaks, if needed. 

Schedule: 21 March - Opening ceremony, 22-25 March and 27-28 March - Group stage, 29 March - Tie-break, if needed, 30 March - 3 April - Play-off, 4 April - Tie-break, if needed, and Closing ceremony. 

The games will start at 5 PM Moscow time.

Richard Rapport is leading the Series after two GP legs with 20 points scored. Hikaru Nakamura got 13 points, Levon Aronian and Dmitry Andreikin 10 points, while Santosh Vidit, Leinier Dominguez, and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 7. 

Official website