Baku 03: Grischuk flags; Gelfand leads

by Alejandro Ramirez
10/4/2014 – Some interesting games in Baku. The highlights are Grischuk's frantic endgame against Gelfand. Due to time pressure neither side played particularly well, and in a drawn position Grischuk flagged! Gelfand now leads solo with 2.5/3. Missing a good chance to keep up was Caruana who was winning against Nakamura... who, in his own words, should have castled like a man.

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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

Round 03 – October 04 2014, 15:00h
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2701
½-½
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706
Karjakin, Sergey 2767
1-0
Dominguez, Leinier 2751
Gelfand, Boris 2748
1-0
Grischuk, Alexander 2797
Nakamura, Hikaru 2764
½-½
Caruana, Fabiano 2844
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764
½-½
Andreikin, Dmitry 2598
Radjabov, Teimour 2726
½-½
Svidler, Peter 2732

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

Round 01 – October 02 2014, 15:00h
Dominguez, Leinier 2751
½-½
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2701
½-½
Grischuk, Alexander 2797
Karjakin, Sergey 2767
0-1
Caruana, Fabiano 2844
Gelfand, Boris 2748
1-0
Andreikin, Dmitry 2598
Nakamura, Hikaru 2764
½-½
Svidler, Peter 2732
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764
½-½
Radjabov, Teimour 2726
Round 02 – October 03 2014, 15:00h
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706
½-½
Radjabov, Teimour 2726
Svidler, Peter 2732
1-0
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764
Andreikin, Dmitry 2598
0-1
Nakamura, Hikaru 2764
Caruana, Fabiano 2844
½-½
Gelfand, Boris 2748
Grischuk, Alexander 2797
½-½
Karjakin, Sergey 2767
Dominguez, Leinier 2751
½-½
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2701
Round 03 – October 04 2014, 15:00h
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2701
½-½
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706
Karjakin, Sergey 2767
1-0
Dominguez, Leinier 2751
Gelfand, Boris 2748
1-0
Grischuk, Alexander 2797
Nakamura, Hikaru 2764
½-½
Caruana, Fabiano 2844
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764
½-½
Andreikin, Dmitry 2598
Radjabov, Teimour 2726
½-½
Svidler, Peter 2732
Round 04 – October 05 2014, 15:00h
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706   Svidler, Peter 2732
Andreikin, Dmitry 2598   Radjabov, Teimour 2726
Caruana, Fabiano 2844   Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764
Grischuk, Alexander 2797   Nakamura, Hikaru 2764
Dominguez, Leinier 2751   Gelfand, Boris 2748
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2701   Karjakin, Sergey 2767
Round 05 – October 07 2014, 15:00h
Karjakin, Sergey 2767   Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706
Gelfand, Boris 2748   Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2701
Nakamura, Hikaru 2764   Dominguez, Leinier 2751
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764   Grischuk, Alexander 2797
Radjabov, Teimour 2726   Caruana, Fabiano 2844
Svidler, Peter 2732   Andreikin, Dmitry 2598
Round 06 – October 08 2014, 15:00h
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706   Andreikin, Dmitry 2598
Caruana, Fabiano 2844   Svidler, Peter 2732
Grischuk, Alexander 2797   Radjabov, Teimour 2726
Dominguez, Leinier 2751   Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2701   Nakamura, Hikaru 2764
Karjakin, Sergey 2767   Gelfand, Boris 2748
Round 07 – October 09 2014, 15:00h
Gelfand, Boris 2748   Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706
Nakamura, Hikaru 2764   Karjakin, Sergey 2767
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764   Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2701
Radjabov, Teimour 2726   Dominguez, Leinier 2751
Svidler, Peter 2732   Grischuk, Alexander 2797
Andreikin, Dmitry 2598   Caruana, Fabiano 2844
Round 08 – October 10 2014, 15:00h
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706   Caruana, Fabiano 2844
Grischuk, Alexander 2797   Andreikin, Dmitry 2598
Dominguez, Leinier 2751   Svidler, Peter 2732
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2701   Radjabov, Teimour 2726
Karjakin, Sergey 2767   Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764
Gelfand, Boris 2748   Nakamura, Hikaru 2764
Round 09 – October 12 2014, 15:00h
Nakamura, Hikaru 2764   Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764   Gelfand, Boris 2748
Radjabov, Teimour 2726   Karjakin, Sergey 2767
Svidler, Peter 2732   Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2701
Andreikin, Dmitry 2598   Dominguez, Leinier 2751
Caruana, Fabiano 2844   Grischuk, Alexander 2797
Round 10 – October 13 2014, 15:00h
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706   Grischuk, Alexander 2797
Dominguez, Leinier 2751   Caruana, Fabiano 2844
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2701   Andreikin, Dmitry 2598
Karjakin, Sergey 2767   Svidler, Peter 2732
Gelfand, Boris 2748   Radjabov, Teimour 2726
Nakamura, Hikaru 2764   Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764
Round 11 – October 14 2014, 13:00h
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764   Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706
Radjabov, Teimour 2726   Nakamura, Hikaru 2764
Svidler, Peter 2732   Gelfand, Boris 2748
Andreikin, Dmitry 2598   Karjakin, Sergey 2767
Caruana, Fabiano 2844   Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2701
Grischuk, Alexander 2797   Dominguez, Leinier 2751

Photos by Maria Emelianova

Links

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.

Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

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