Hamburg GP: Grischuk and Vachier-Lagrave to meet in semis

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
11/10/2019 – Only one match-up will be decided in tiebreaks at the second round of the FIDE Grand Prix in Hamburg, as Russians Peter Svidler and Daniil Dubov drew for a second day in a row and will be playing rapid and blitz on Sunday. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Alexander Grischuk and Jan-Krzysztof Duda secured their spots in the semi-finals in the classical phase, thus getting one extra point at the overall GP standings. | Photo: Nadja Wittmann

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A crucial match-up


The third leg of the FIDE Grand Prix is being played in Hamburg, Germany. The 16-player knockout has a €130,000 prize fund, with the series as a whole having an additional prize fund of €280,000 plus two qualifying spots for the 2020 Candidates Tournament. The tournament takes place in the Kehrwieder Haus from November 5th to 17th. You can find more info here.


Saturday's round in Hamburg had ChessBase co-founder Frederic Friedel as the special guest. The Editor-in-Chief emeritus of our news page made the ceremonial first move in the only match-up that will go to tiebreaks in the quarter-finals, Peter Svidler versus Daniil Dubov. Following Svidler's quip from Friday, when he mentioned that he did not know whether his home preparation was older than Dubov, we can certainly say that ChessBase is actually ten years older than the young Russian — the company was born in 1986 and Dubov in 1996.

Peter Svidler, Frederic Friedel, Daniil Dubov

Frederic Friedel played pawn to king four | Photo: Nadja Wittmann

It was an exciting day of chess at the Theater Kehrwieder, as Alexander Grischuk and Jan-Krzysztof Duda obtained fine victories to get their passes to the semi-finals. Grischuk will be facing Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, who drew Veselin Topalov from a position of strength after having won their first encounter a day earlier.

For either 'MVL' or Grischuk, winning the face-off will go a long way in getting one of the two Candidates spots at stake. For example, if the Russian wins that match in tiebreaks, even if he loses in the final he will get a six-point advantage over current co-leader Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, who would need to at least reach the final in Jerusalem to tie Grischuk's score (depending on how many rounds he goes through without needing tiebreaks). The standings table on Wikipedia gets frequently updated even with partial results.    


Match results

Click or tap any result to open the game via Live.ChessBase.com

GM

1
GM
2724
1

1
GM
2724
½

2
GM
2736
1

2
GM
2736
½

3
GM
2759
½

3
GM
2759
0

Ø 2740
3.5/6
2777
-
-
-
-
-
-
1.5
GM
GM
2724


Ø 2777
0.5/2
2724
-
-
-
-
-
-
0.5
GM

1
GM
2736
½

1
GM
2736
0

Ø 2736
0.5/2
2745
-
-
-
-
-
-
0.5
GM
GM
2736


Ø 2761
2/4
2736
-
-
-
-
-
-
1.5
GM

1
GM
2748
½

1
GM
2748
½

1
GM
2748
1

1
GM
2748
½

2
GM
2717
½

2
GM
2717
1



4
GM
2734
½

4
GM
2734
½

4
GM
2734
0

4
GM
2734
1

4
GM
2734
1

4
GM
2734
½

Ø 2742
9/14
2759
-
-
-
-
2.5
GM

1
GM
2759
½

1
GM
2759
½

1
GM
2759
0

1
GM
2759
½

Ø 2759
1.5/4
2748
-
-
-
-
1.5
GM

1
GM
2717
½

1
GM
2717
0

1
GM
2717
½

1
GM
2717
0

Ø 2717
1/4
2732
-
-
-
-
1
GM
GM
2717

1
GM
2732
½

1
GM
2732
1

1
GM
2732
½

1
GM
2732
1

2
GM
2759
½

2
GM
2759
0

Ø 2741
3.5/6
2717
-
-
-
-
3
GM
GM
2753

1
GM
2681
½

1
GM
2681
1

1
GM
2681
½

1
GM
2681
½

2
GM
2734
½

2
GM
2734
0

Ø 2699
3/6
2753
-
-
-
-
2.5
GM

1
GM
2753
½

1
GM
2753
0

1
GM
2753
½

1
GM
2753
½

Ø 2753
1.5/4
2681
-
-
-
-
1.5
GM

1
GM
2734
½

1
GM
2734
0

Ø 2734
0.5/2
2776
-
-
-
-
-
-
0.5
GM
GM
2734



2
GM
2753
½

2
GM
2753
1

3
GM
2699
½

3
GM
2699
½

3
GM
2699
0

3
GM
2699
1

3
GM
2699
½

3
GM
2699
1

4
GM
2759
½

4
GM
2759
½

4
GM
2759
1

4
GM
2759
0

4
GM
2759
0

4
GM
2759
½

Ø 2738
9/16
2734
-
-
-
-
-
-
1.5
GM

1
GM
2729
½

1
GM
2729
0

Ø 2729
0.5/2
2748
-
-
-
-
-
-
0.5
GM
GM
2729

1
GM
2748
½


2
GM
2699
½

2
GM
2699
½

2
GM
2699
½

2
GM
2699
½

2
GM
2699
0

2
GM
2699
½

Ø 2711
4/8
2729
-
-
-
-
-
-
1.5
GM

1
GM
2699
½

1
GM
2699
½

1
GM
2699
½

1
GM
2699
½

1
GM
2699
½

1
GM
2699
½

1
GM
2699
0

1
GM
2699
½

Ø 2699
3.5/8
2758
GM
GM
2699

1
GM
2758
½

1
GM
2758
½

1
GM
2758
½

1
GM
2758
½

1
GM
2758
½

1
GM
2758
½

1
GM
2758
1

1
GM
2758
½

2
GM
2729
½

2
GM
2729
½

2
GM
2729
½

2
GM
2729
½

2
GM
2729
1

2
GM
2729
½

3
GM
2734
½

3
GM
2734
½

3
GM
2734
1

3
GM
2734
0

3
GM
2734
½

3
GM
2734
0

Ø 2742
10.5/20
2699
GM

1
GM
2724
1

1
GM
2724
½

2
GM
2736
1

2
GM
2736
½

3
GM
2759
½

3
GM
2759
0

Ø 2740
3.5/6
2777
-
-
-
-
1.5
GM
GM
2736


Ø 2761
2/4
2736
-
-
-
-
0.5
GM

1
GM
2748
½

1
GM
2748
½

1
GM
2748
1

1
GM
2748
½

2
GM
2717
½

2
GM
2717
1



4
GM
2734
½

4
GM
2734
½

4
GM
2734
0

4
GM
2734
1

4
GM
2734
1

4
GM
2734
½

Ø 2742
9/14
2759
-
-
-
-
1.5
GM
GM
2717

1
GM
2732
½

1
GM
2732
1

1
GM
2732
½

1
GM
2732
1

2
GM
2759
½

2
GM
2759
0

Ø 2741
3.5/6
2717
-
-
-
-
0.5
GM
GM
2753

1
GM
2681
½

1
GM
2681
1

1
GM
2681
½

1
GM
2681
½

2
GM
2734
½

2
GM
2734
0

Ø 2699
3/6
2753
-
-
-
-
0.5
GM
GM
2734



2
GM
2753
½

2
GM
2753
1

3
GM
2699
½

3
GM
2699
½

3
GM
2699
0

3
GM
2699
1

3
GM
2699
½

3
GM
2699
1

4
GM
2759
½

4
GM
2759
½

4
GM
2759
1

4
GM
2759
0

4
GM
2759
0

4
GM
2759
½

Ø 2738
9/16
2734
-
-
-
-
1.5
GM
GM
2729

1
GM
2748
½


2
GM
2699
½

2
GM
2699
½

2
GM
2699
½

2
GM
2699
½

2
GM
2699
0

2
GM
2699
½

Ø 2711
4/8
2729
GM
GM
2699

1
GM
2758
½

1
GM
2758
½

1
GM
2758
½

1
GM
2758
½

1
GM
2758
½

1
GM
2758
½

1
GM
2758
1

1
GM
2758
½

2
GM
2729
½

2
GM
2729
½

2
GM
2729
½

2
GM
2729
½

2
GM
2729
1

2
GM
2729
½

3
GM
2734
½

3
GM
2734
½

3
GM
2734
1

3
GM
2734
0

3
GM
2734
½

3
GM
2734
0

Ø 2742
10.5/20
2699
GM

1
GM
2724
1

1
GM
2724
½

2
GM
2736
1

2
GM
2736
½

3
GM
2759
½

3
GM
2759
0

Ø 2740
3.5/6
2777
-
-
-
-
0.5
GM

1
GM
2748
½

1
GM
2748
½

1
GM
2748
1

1
GM
2748
½

2
GM
2717
½

2
GM
2717
1



4
GM
2734
½

4
GM
2734
½

4
GM
2734
0

4
GM
2734
1

4
GM
2734
1

4
GM
2734
½

Ø 2742
9/14
2759
-
-
-
-
1.5
GM
GM
2734



2
GM
2753
½

2
GM
2753
1

3
GM
2699
½

3
GM
2699
½

3
GM
2699
0

3
GM
2699
1

3
GM
2699
½

3
GM
2699
1

4
GM
2759
½

4
GM
2759
½

4
GM
2759
1

4
GM
2759
0

4
GM
2759
0

4
GM
2759
½

Ø 2738
9/16
2734
GM
GM
2699

1
GM
2758
½

1
GM
2758
½

1
GM
2758
½

1
GM
2758
½

1
GM
2758
½

1
GM
2758
½

1
GM
2758
1

1
GM
2758
½

2
GM
2729
½

2
GM
2729
½

2
GM
2729
½

2
GM
2729
½

2
GM
2729
1

2
GM
2729
½

3
GM
2734
½

3
GM
2734
½

3
GM
2734
1

3
GM
2734
0

3
GM
2734
½

3
GM
2734
0

Ø 2742
10.5/20
2699
GM

1
GM
2748
½

1
GM
2748
½

1
GM
2748
1

1
GM
2748
½

2
GM
2717
½

2
GM
2717
1



4
GM
2734
½

4
GM
2734
½

4
GM
2734
0

4
GM
2734
1

4
GM
2734
1

4
GM
2734
½

Ø 2742
9/14
2759
GM
GM
2734



2
GM
2753
½

2
GM
2753
1

3
GM
2699
½

3
GM
2699
½

3
GM
2699
0

3
GM
2699
1

3
GM
2699
½

3
GM
2699
1

4
GM
2759
½

4
GM
2759
½

4
GM
2759
1

4
GM
2759
0

4
GM
2759
0

4
GM
2759
½

Ø 2738
9/16
2734

Vachier-Lagrave 1½:½ Topalov

In a must-win situation, Topalov surprised his opponent with the French Defence, to which Vachier-Lagrave responded by going for a line that was "less theoretical and less direct". The strategy worked wonders for the Frenchman, who was in control all along, until signing the draw after 26 moves:

 
Vachier-Lagrave vs. Topalov
Position after 26...Rf8

White is clearly better, as he has more space, a safer king and the better minor piece — Topalov mentioned afterwards that he needs many tempi to activate his knight, awkwardly sitting on e7 at the moment. Vachier-Lagrave decided to call it a day and secured his second consecutive match win without tiebreaks. Smiling, he declared:

In the end I can play, but why would I? 

Perhaps he should have done it on the outside chance of getting Anish Giri to eat his hat. Martin Bennedik shared that Vachier-Lagrave needed to gain 36 rating points to surpass Giri in the race to get the Candidates spot for the player with the highest average rating of the year. The Dutchman wittily responded:

Of course, 'MVL' agrees with Giri that gaining so many rating points is totally unrealistic. Luckily for us spectators, however, seeing members of the elite joking around on Twitter is an added bonus fans of some other sports do not have.

 
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1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.exd5 exd5 4.Nf3 Bd6 5.c4 Nf6 6.c5 Be7 7.Qa4+ C01: French: Exchange Variation c6 8.Bd3 Ne4N Predecessor: 8...0-0 9.0-0 Re8 10.Nc3 Nbd7 11.Bf4 Nf8 12.h3 Ne6 13.Bh2 Nh5 14.Rfe1 Nhf4 1-0 (45) Bacrot,E (2725)-Socko,B (2593) Riadh 2017 9.0-0 White has an edge. 0-0 10.Nc3 f5 11.Ne5 Bf6 12.f4 Be6 13.Be3 Qe7 14.Rad1 Nd7 15.Nxe4 fxe4 16.Be2 g6 17.b4 a6 18.Qb3 Kg7 19.Qc3 h5 20.a4 Kh7 21.b5 21.Qd2 feels hotter. Bg7 22.Ra1 Qe8 23.Rfc1 Bh6 24.Rcb1 21...axb5 22.axb5 Bxe5 23.fxe5 Bg4 23...Ra2 24.Rd2 Ra7 24.Bxg4± White is clearly better. hxg4 25.Qb2 Rxf1+ 25...Kg7± 26.bxc6 bxc6 26.Rxf1+- Black must now prevent bxc6. Rf8 Accuracy: White = 60%, Black = 35%. ½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Vachier-Lagrave,M2774Topalov,V2736½–½2019Grand Prix Hamburg 20192.2

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is in the semis | Photo: Nadja Wittmann

Grischuk 1½:½ Navara

Out of a Ragozin Defence, the contenders followed fifteen moves of a game Navara himself had played against Kacper Piorun in last year's Bundesliga. The Czech star had won that encounter, but this time around he had to deal with a novelty that changed the nature of the struggle to a certain extent:

 
Navara vs. Grischuk
Position after 15...g6

Later on, Grischuk mentioned that 15...g6 is a rather logical move that leads to a struggle in which White needs to play carefully. Navara spent a little over four minutes on the correct 16.e4 — perhaps he knew the move, as he actually was doing fine out of the opening.

With the kings castled on opposite flanks, the players went for parallel expansions against the opposite monarchs. It turned out that Black's attack was stronger though, with Grischuk later mentioning that he was proud of his 27...b4:

 
Position after 27...b4

There followed 28.axb4 b5 29.b3 a5, further opening lines against the white king. Navara tried his chances against the king, but Grischuk managed to transfer it to safety on c8. At that point, with mate-in-nine on the board, Navara resigned.

 
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Bb4 5.Qa4+ Nc6 6.e3 0-0 7.Qc2 D38: Queen's Gambit Declined: Ragozin Defence (4 Nf3 Bb4) Re8 8.Bd2 Bf8 9.a3 The position is equal. e5 10.dxe5 Nxe5 11.cxd5 Nxf3+ 12.gxf3 Nxd5 13.Bd3 Nxc3 14.Bxc3 Qh4!
15.0-0-0N g6 16.Be4 Black must now prevent Qa4. Bg7 17.Qa4 Qe7 18.Bxg7 Kxg7 19.h4 Qc5+ 20.Kb1 Bf5 21.h5 b5 22.Qa6 22.h6+ Kf8 23.Qd4 Qxd4 24.Rxd4 22...Rxe4-+ Inferior is 22...Bxe4+ 23.fxe4 Qb6 24.Qxb6= 23.h6+ Kf8! 24.fxe4 Bxe4+ Double Attack 25.Ka1 Hoping for Qf6! Bxh1 26.Qf6? 26.Rxh1 Qb6 27.Qxb6 axb6 28.Kb1 26...Bc6 27.e4 intending e5. b4 28.axb4 Qb5 ( -> ...Qa4+) 29.b3 and the idea Rc1 leaves White hopeful. a5 30.Kb2 axb4 31.Rd2 Qc5 32.Rd3 Re8 33.Qg7+ Ke7 34.Rf3 Kd8 34...Bxe4 35.Rxf7+ Kd8 36.Rd7+ Kc8 37.Rxc7+ Qxc7 38.Qxc7+ Kxc7 39.Kc1 Rf8 40.Kd2 Rf3 41.Ke2 Rxb3 42.Kf1
42...Rf3! 43.Kg2 b3 44.Kg1 b2 45.Kg2 b1Q 46.Kh2 Qc2! 47.Kh1 Rh3+! Double Attack, Discovered Attack (Double check) 48.Kg1 Rh1#
35.Rxf7 Bxe4 36.Qf6+ Kc8 Accuracy: White = 51%, Black = 80%.
0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Navara,D2717Grischuk,A27590–12019Grand Prix Hamburg 20192.2

David Navara, Alexander Grischuk

David Navara versus Alexander Grischuk | Photo: Nadja Wittmann

Duda 1½:½ Yu Yangyi

In this encounter, Yu Yangyi was the first one to deviate from theory, going for a move that the masters of the (distant) past perhaps would not have even considered:

 
Duda vs. Yu Yangyi
Position after 9.Nd2

Advancing the c-pawn for a second time in less than ten moves with 9...c5 is a suggestion of the engines. Duda was ready to face this and did not take long before continuing with 10.dxc5. The queens left the board four moves later, but despite their absence a sharp struggle ensued. Duda had the initiative, and Yu Yangyi kept finding the right moves to keep a tense dynamic balance. On move 32, however, the Chinese faltered:

 
Position after 32...Kh3

Yu Yangyi's 32...h3 gave way to the lethal 33.xg4+. When Grischuk strolled around the playing hall and saw this move, he sort of shrugged, noticing what had just happened — Black cannot capture the bishop with 33...hxg4 due to 34.♖h8#, while capturing with the bishop would leave Black in a losing position an exchange and two pawns down.

The Chinese went for 33...♚h4, but he most likely knew that there was no way out. Resignation came after 34.♖xc8 ♜a1+ 35.♔g2 hxg4 36.♖e8.

 
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1.c4 c6 2.Nf3 d5 3.e3 Nf6 4.Nc3 g6 5.d4 Bg7 6.Be2 0-0 7.0-0 Ne4 8.Nxe4 dxe4 9.Nd2 c5 10.dxc5 f5 11.Rb1 a5 12.a3 a4 13.b4 axb3 14.Nxb3 Qxd1 15.Rxd1 Nd7 16.Kf1 h5 17.Bd2 Rxa3 18.Na5 Nxc5 19.Bb4 Ra2 20.Bxc5 Rxa5 21.Bxe7 Rf7 22.Bb4 Ra8 23.Rd8+ Kh7 24.Bd6 Rd7 25.Rxd7 Bxd7 26.g4 fxg4 27.Rxb7 Bc8 28.Re7 Kh6 29.Bf4+ g5 30.Bxg5+ Kxg5 31.Rxg7+ Kh4 32.Rg8 Kh3 33.Bxg4+ Kh4 34.Rxc8 Ra1+ 35.Kg2 hxg4 36.Re8 1–0
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Duda,J2734Yu,Y27531–02019Grand Prix Hamburg 20192.2

Jan-Krzysztof Duda

Poland's number one Jan-Krzysztof Duda | Photo: Nadja Wittmann

Svidler 1:1 Dubov

Once again the all-Russian encounter was the shortest of the day. Out of a Sicilian Rossolimo, Dubov blitzed out all his moves until the draw was agreed on move 21. Svidler spent more than ten minutes more than once, demonstrating that he was not as well-prepared as his younger opponent. The veteran later declared:

I knew this was probably not the greatest idea in the world, but on the other hand every now and again you feel like playing a central line and actually asking the question, but Daniil is probably not the person to be asking that question to. [...] Daniil is one of the leading experts on this line, and against him probably 1.a3 is arguably a better choice.

Svidler and Dubov will play the only tiebreaker on Sunday, and the winner will be facing Duda in the semi-finals.

 
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 g6 4.Bxc6 bxc6 5.0-0 Bg7 6.Re1 Nh6 7.c3 0-0 8.h3 B31: Sicilian: 2...Nc6 3 Bb5 g6 f5 9.e5 Nf7 10.d4 White has an edge. cxd4 11.cxd4 Bb7 12.Na3 c5 13.dxc5
13...Qa5N Predecessor: 13...Rc8 14.Be3 Bxf3 15.Qxf3 Nxe5 1/2-1/2 (29) Wang,H (2702)-Gelfand,B (2729) Tbilisi 2017 14.Be3 Qb4 15.Qd4 Qxd4 16.Bxd4 Bxf3 17.gxf3 Ng5 18.Kg2 Ne6 19.Rad1 Rfc8 20.b4 Rab8! 21.Nc2 Accuracy: White = 48%, Black = 85%.
½–½
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Svidler,P2729Dubov,D2699½–½2019Grand Prix Hamburg 20192.2

Peter Svidler, Daniil Dubov, Frederic Friedel

Svidler, Friedel and Dubov in good spirits | Photo: Nadja Wittmann


Commentary webcast

Commentary by GM Evgeny Miroshnichenko


Schedule

Nov. 5–7 Round 1 + Tie-breaks
Nov. 8–10 Round 2 + Tie-breaks
Nov. 11-13 Semi-final + Tie-breaks
Nov. 14 Rest day
Nov. 15-17 Final + Tie-breaks

Links


Carlos Colodro is a Hispanic Philologist from Bolivia. He works as a freelance translator and writer since 2012. A lot of his work is done in chess-related texts, as the game is one of his biggest interests, along with literature and music.

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