Climbing the rating ladder
During the month of March, Amin Tabatabaei has scored 7½ points in 14 classical games, all played against higher-rated opposition — in fact, all his rivals were rated 2700 or above. His excellent run of good form has gained him no less than 27.8 rating points, allowing him to climb a whopping 61 places in the live ratings list.
The fact that the 21-year-old from Tehran is heavily underrated was made clear during last year’s World Cup in Khanty-Mansiysk. Tabatabaei, who entered the event with a 2613 rating, made it all the way to the quarterfinals after knocking out the likes of Yu Yangyi and Pentala Harikrishna. The Iranian was eliminated by Vladimir Fedoseev, after blundering in a slightly inferior yet seemingly defensible endgame.
On this DVD GM Nick Pert shows you typical mistakes by 1800-200 players. Themes as when to exchange pieces, how to convert an advantage, passive pieces, anticipating your opponents plan, openings and pawn structure are shown throughout the DVD.
Exactly eight months later — he was knocked out of the World Cup on July 31 — Tabatabaei has managed to even the score in his match against world number 6 Wesley So. The semifinal encounter will be decided in Friday’s rapid and blitz tiebreakers.
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Hikaru Nakamura will also return to the playing hall at Berlin’s Unter der Linden on Friday, as they drew both classical games in their semifinal. The result already secured Nakamura overall victory in the Grand Prix series, something he was not aware of when he finished his game. When Anastasiya Karlovich informed him of the success, Nakamura replied with a smile on his face:
But there’s no bonus prize, so it doesn’t mean anything. In past Grands Prix there actually were prizes for overall winner, for second and third, but now there are no prizes (laughs).

The winner of the 2022 FIDE Grand Prix series — Hikaru Nakamura
Tabatabaei 1 - 0 So
Out of a fighting system in the Nimzo-Indian, So found a nice resource to neutralize his opponent’s relative dominance in the centre.
After 16...b5, Tabatabaei correctly considered that Black had solved most of his problems, as the move “worked perfectly for him”.
So soon found himself a pawn up, but White still had the more active pieces. In an equal position, the Filipino-born star blundered by going for what seems to be a nice tactical shot.
23...Nh4 threatens a deadly check on f3 and gets control of the long, light-squared diagonal (note that 24.gxh4 fails to 24...Qg4+ and mate next move). Tabatabaei, however, had a winning reply in 24.Rd3.
The Iranian initially thought he was losing after the knight manoeuvre, but he was shocked when he realized he had instead reached a winning position:
In the first moment, I thought it’s completely lost, but then I have a move which is completely winning for me. It just happens like once in a blue moon, it’s just so rare. I was incredibly lucky.
So tried 24...Qg4, but the problem for Black is that 25.Qc3 both defends the third rank and creates a strong battery on the dark-squared diagonal.
The game lasted five more moves, as there was nothing So could do to prevent his opponent from getting the full point.
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Nf3 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5 7.g3 b6 8.Bg2 Bb7 9.d5 d6 10.0-0 Qe7 11.Nh4 11.e4 11...Nbd7= 12.Re1N 12.Bf4 Ne5 13.Bxe5 dxe5 14.e4 Rfd8 15.Re1 Qc7 16.g4 Ne8 17.g5 Qe7 18.Qg4 12...Ne5 13.e4! Nxc4 14.Bf1! Ne5 14...exd5 15.exd5 Ne5 16.f4± 14...b5!? 15.c4 Ng6 16.Ng2 b5 17.cxb5 exd5 18.exd5 Qd7 19.Ne3 Rfe8 20.Bb2 20.Re2 20...Nxd5! 21.Nxd5 Rxe1 22.Qxe1 Bxd5 23.Rd1 Nh4? 24.Rd3! 24.Qc3 Nf3+ 25.Kh1 Nd4+ 26.Kg1 Qf5 24...Qg4 24...Nf3+ 25.Rxf3 Bxf3 25.Qc3! Be4 25...Nf3+ 26.Rxf3 Bxf3 26.Be2! Qg5 27.Rxd6 Nf5 28.Qe5 28.Qxc5 Qe7 29.Rc6 Bxc6 30.Qxc6 Rd8 28...Qe7 29.Qxe7 Nxe7 30.a4 1–0 - Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Tabatabaei,M | 2623 | So,W | 2772 | 1–0 | 2022 | | FIDE Grand Prix-III KO 2022 | 1.2 |
Please, wait...
Mamedyarov ½ - ½ Nakamura
Out of a Queen’s Gambit Declined, Mamedyarov pushed his pawn to c5, creating a long, strategic battle instead of going for some of the more forcing lines in the system. By move 23, Black was for choice, as he had better coordinated pieces than his opponent.
Smyslov cultivated a clear positional style and even in sharp tactical positions often relied more on his intuition than on concrete calculation of variations. Let our authors introduce you into the world of Vasily Smyslov.
Both contenders agreed that White needs to be careful here, although it is also difficult to find a winning plan for Black. In the ensuing struggle, Mamedyarov continued to play sensible moves until getting a valuable half point against the winner of the series.
Replay and check the LiveBook here |
Please, wait...
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 0-0 6.e3 6.a3 Nbd7 7.Nb5 Ne8 8.e3 dxc4 9.Bxc4 a6 10.Nc3 b5 11.Be2 c5 12.dxc5 Nxc5 13.Qxd8 Bxd8 14.b4 Bf6 15.Ne5 Nd7 16.Bf3 Nc7 17.Nxd7 Bxc3+ 6...Nbd7 7.c5 c6 8.b4 b6 9.h4 a5 10.a3 10...Ng4N 10...Ne4 11.Nxe4 dxe4 12.Ne5 Nxe5 13.Bxe5 f6 14.Bg3 Qd5 15.Be2 Ba6 16.0-0 axb4 17.axb4 Bxe2 18.Qxe2 11.Be2 h5 11...Ba6= 12.b5 Bb7 13.cxb6 Qxb6 14.0-0 Rfc8 15.bxc6 15.Ng5 15...Bxc6 16.Ng5 16.a4 16...Nf8 16...a4!= 17.Bd3 17.a4 17...Be8 18.Rb1 Qd8 19.Na4 Ra7 20.Qb3 Bd6 21.Bxd6 Qxd6 22.Nf3 Rac7 23.Nc5 23.Qb6!? Qxa3 24.Nc5= 23...Nd7 24.Nxd7 Bxd7 25.a4 25.Qb6 Qxb6 26.Rxb6 25...Rc3 26.Qd1 Bxa4 27.Qxa4= 27...Rxd3 28.Qxa5 Rdc3 29.Qa7 R3c6 30.Rb2 Rc1 31.Rb1 R1c6 32.Rb2 Ra6 33.Qb7 Raa8 34.Rfb1 Qc7 35.Qxc7 Rxc7 36.Nh2 Nh6 37.Nf3 f6 38.Ne1 Ra3 39.g3 Rac3 40.Rb3 Rxb3 41.Rxb3 Rc1 42.Kf1 g5 43.Rb8+ Kg7 44.Rb7+ Kg6 45.hxg5 fxg5 46.Ke2 Ra1 47.Nd3 Ra2+ 48.Rb2 Rxb2+ 49.Nxb2 h4 50.gxh4! gxh4 51.Kf3 ½–½ - Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Mamedyarov,S | 2767 | Nakamura,H | 2736 | ½–½ | 2022 | | FIDE Grand Prix-III KO 2022 | 1.2 |
Please, wait...
Links