GP in Astrakhan: Eljanov wins by a full point

The Sixth Grand Prix is took place from May 10th to 25th in the new State Drama Theatre of the city of Astrakhan. The stakes were extremely high, not only due to high prestige of winning the event, but also because one can win here a ticket to the candidates matches.

Round twelve – May 23, 2010

Vugar Gashimov vs. Teimour Radjabov ½:½
This game could determine a second qualifier for the candidates matches: the winner could more or less secure the ticket. However, it ended in a draw, and the issue was postponed to the final round.

Teimour Radjabov and Vugar Gashimov check out their game in the press conference

Evgeny Alekseev vs. Ernesto Inarkiev 1-0
This duel of the two Russian players became the longest game of the 12th round. After interesting complications in the Slav Defense the players arrived at a very original position, in which White had three minor pieces against a rook and three pawns. White slowly but surely consolidated his pieces and launched the attack on the king. Consequently he won a pawn and advanced to a winning ending. Despite Black’s stubborn resistance, Alekseev won the game on the 88th move.

Peter Svidler vs. Boris Gelfand 1-0
The five-time Russian champion won his first game at the Astrakhan FIDE Grand Prix stage. In the Four Knights Opening both players were eager to complicate things. Gelfand’s sharp f-pawn push on the 21st move proved to be a big mistake. Svidler delivered a nice tactical blow, and Black’s position collapsed. Gelfand resigned on the 31st move.

Peter Svidler, winner of five Russian Championships, with is first victory in Astrakhan

Svidler,P (2735) - Gelfand,B (2741) [C48]
FIDE GP Astrakhan RUS (12), 23.05.2010
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.Nc3 Nc6 4.Bb5 Nd4 5.Bc4 d6 6.Nxd4 exd4 7.Nd5 Nd7 8.0-0 g6 9.a3 Bg7 10.d3 0-0 11.Ba2 Nc5 12.Nf4 Kh8 13.Bd2 c6 14.Kh1 a5 15.f3 a4 16.Bb4 Na6 17.Be1 Nc7 18.Bf2 Bd7 19.Qd2 Qg5 20.h4 Qa5 21.Qc1 f5?

22.Bxd4! Bxd4 23.Nxg6+! Kg7 24.Nxf8 Kxf8 25.Qh6+ Ke7 26.c3 Bf6 27.Rfe1 f4 28.d4 Ne6 29.e5 dxe5 30.Qxh7+ Kd8 31.Qf7 1-0.

Vladimir Akopian vs. Vassily Ivanchuk 1-0
Ivanchuk lost this game surprisingly quickly – on the 23rd move! The Ukrainian handled the Ragozin Variation of the Queen’s Gambit too passively. Akopian comfortably arranged his pieces and launched a kingside attack. On the 21st move the Armenian sacrificed an exchange, which turned out to be a very unpleasant surprise for Black. In two more moves Ivanchuk abandoned his resistance. It is curious to note that despite White’s dangerous attack the computer assesses the final position as equal – at least on a shallow depth.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov vs. Peter Leko ½:½
Mamedyarov improved his first round game against Dmitry Jakovenko. Leko did not find the right way to counter White’s novelty and ended up in a difficult position. Perhaps Mamedyarov did not find all the best moves, but nevertheless managed to transpose to the ending with a big advantage, which he effectively converted to the full point, winning the game on the 73rd move.

Shakh Mamedyarov and Peter Leko after their game

Pavel Eljanov vs. Dmitry Jakovenko ½:½
This game was rather uneventful. Both players were content with a draw, and they found the move repetition already on the 13th move in the Catalan Opening.

Wang Yue vs. Ruslan Ponomariov ½:½
Ponomariov, playing Black, misplayed the Gruenfeld Defense and ended up in a worse position. However, in the subsequent game he showed his excellent defensive skill, tenacity and creativity, and gradually equalized by the first control. A draw was agreed on the 44th move.

Former FIDE World Champion Ruslan Ponomariov

Info on the tournament: GM Evgeny Sveshnikov, IM Eldar Mukhametov

Round thirteen – May 24, 2010

Before the final round six players – Ponomariov, Jakovenko, Mamedyarov, Alekseev, Radjabov and Gashimov, 6.5/12 (and 23 syllables in all) – had theoretical chances to catch the leading Pavel Eljanov, 7.5/12. But it required the Ukrainian GM to lose his final game. Eljanov, wielding the black pieces against Israeli GM Boris Gelfand, did not oblige and and the matter was settled. So the sole winner – and in the final score by a full point – was the dominant player in this tournament.

Boris Gelfand, Pavel Eljanov – after their decisive game

With his second Teimour Radjabov qualifies for the Candidates' matchs (with Aronian)

Final standings (after thirteen rounds)

Statistics Of the 91 games played in this event: 67% (61 games) have ended in draws White won 18 games = 20% Black won 12 games = 13%

A youthful commmentator on the FIDE Grand Prix in Astrakhan

And not to forget the helpers behind the scenes...

A young lady taking her first steps in chess...

... and following the games on the flat screen

Photos by Nikita Kim and Eldar Mukhametov by courtesy of FIDE.

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!