Baku 03: Grischuk flags; Gelfand leads

The first stage of the 2014-2015 FIDE Grand Prix is taking place in Baku, Azerbaijan. The tournament will run from October 1st to October 15, 2014. Some of the strongest players in the world will compete in a Round Robin event. The winner and runner-up of the Grand Prix series will earn their spot at the 2016 Candidate's Tournament.

Round Three

It's no secret who they are rooting for: Firuza Kasimdzhanova
and Galia Kamalova (Karjakin's wife)

Tomashevsky, Evgeny ½-½ Kasimdzhanov, Rustam
A Grunfeld game that simplified quickly into a position neither side had an advantage. White's passed d-pawn was weak but could not be taken, and it could not be advanced.

Kasdimzhanov: "And here, my main objective was not to lose on time."
Grischuk might have wanted to take his advice.

Karjakin, Sergey 1-0 Dominguez, Leinier
Karjakin's minimalistic approach to the opening left him with not very much. Even his pair of bishops did not give him a clear edge. However Dominguez committed some serious mistakes and trading off Karjakin's central pawn for his h-pawn was certainly one of them. Then, in time pressure, he misjudged the resulting bishop endgame and lost.

Karjakin patiently waited for his opponent to crack, and it happened

Gelfand, Boris 1-0 Grischuk, Alexander
Grischuk made a mistake in the middlegame and had to enter a suffering endgame because of it. He was a pawn down in the rook endgame that should be a draw with perfect play. However, due to time pressure, neither side played perfect. Gelfand was winning at some point, but the final position was a draw... except Grischuk flagged!

Spotted in the audience! GM Eltaj Safarli

Nakamura, Hikaru ½-½ Caruana, Fabiano
Fabi forgives Nakamura yet again! After letting him go in the Sinquefield Cup in their second game, Caruana blundered a big advantage again. The Italian outplayed the American from the opening and White's king was ugly and vulnerable. Black had to bring in his queen to the attack, but he did not find a way. Instead his clumsy knight maneuvers left him in an almost lost position, but he had the saving grace of a perpetual to seal the draw.

Nakamura explained in the press conference that he should have castled queenside and attack, risking a potential loss.

Caruana meanwhile was upset with his "terrible" move Ng2, but that he could live with the rest.

This is Nakamura's second lucky escape to Caruana in a row

Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar ½-½ Andreikin, Dmitry
White's opening did not work out and it was only Black that could claim an advantage. Andreikin might have been too careful in his approach, and although he nurtured the position to a slightly better endgame, Mamedyarov was never in any real danger. Perhaps with a more risky continuation Black could have found better winning chances.

Mamedyarov had trouble even equalizing with White

But Andreikin didn't want to risk enough to capitalize on his advantage

Radjabov, Teimour ½-½ Svidler, Peter
White obtained nothing from the opening and the game ended in a peaceful draw after many simplifications.

A very happy Radja!

Round Three Games

Select from the dropdown menu to replay the games

Standings

Photos by Maria Emelianova

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 a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase 12 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.