Mamedyarov wins World Rapid Chess Championship

6/9/2013 – For most of the 15-round FIDE Championship in Khanty-Mansiysk Russian GM Ian Nepomniachtchi was leading – after the first two days by two full points. But on the final day Azerbaijani GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov won five games in the row and finished the tournament with 11.5/15 points, a 2903 performance and the title. Once again our report has a lot of instructive analysis by GM Efstratios Grivas.

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The FIDE World Rapid Championship 2013 and FIDE World Blitz Championship 2013 are being held in Khanty-Mansiysk (Russia) from June 06 to 10, 2013. The total prize fund of the championship is US $400,000, which also shows the high status of the tournament. The event is being held in the Ugra Chess Academy, which is located in the city center. This unique three-level building, which has no sharp edges, was designed by the famous Dutch architect Erick Van Egeraat and constructed using modern energy conserving technologies. The games will be held in the tournament hall on the first floor.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is World Rapid Chess Champion

Azerbaijani GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov won the title of World Rapid Chess Champion. On the final day of the event he won five games in the row and finished the tournament with 11.5/15 points.

The silver medalist is Ian Nepomniachtchi. The Russian grandmaster was leading after two days, two points ahead of his competitors. But he lost to Alexander Grischuk in round 13 and could not overcome the resistance of Alexander Riazantsev in the last round. As a result he is placed second, half a point behind the winner.

Alexander Grischuk took bronze with 10.5/15 points.

Top final standings

Place Name Fed. FIDE Total
1 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar AZE 2726 11.5
2 Nepomniachtchi, Ian RUS 2762 11.0
3 Grischuk, Alexander RUS 2825 10.5
4 Le, Quang Liem VIE 2681 10.0
5 Guseinov, Gadir AZE 2640 9.0
6 Khairullin, Ildar RUS 2683 9.0
7 Andreikin, Dmitry RUS 2692 9.0
8 Movsesian, Sergei ARM 2680 9.0
9 Khismatullin, Denis RUS 2674 9.0
10 Inarkiev, Ernesto RUS 2696 9.0
11 Cheparinov, Ivan BUL 2678 9.0
12 Riazantsev, Alexander RUS 2616 9.0
13 Vitiugov, Nikita RUS 2719 9.0
14 Mamedov, Rauf AZE 2712 9.0
15 Bologan, Viktor MDA 2663 8.5
16 Nguyen, Ngoc Truong Son VIE 2625 8.5
17 Dreev, Aleksey RUS 2746 8.5
18 Ponomariov, Ruslan UKR 2743 8.5
19 Vallejo Pons, Francisco ESP 2706 8.5
20 Najer, Evgeniy RUS 2638 8.5
21 Kamsky, Gata USA 2751 8.5

Top rating performances

No. Name Fed. Rtng born Pts Rc Rp
1 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar AZE 2726 1985 11.5 2692 2903
2 Nepomniachtchi, Ian RUS 2762 1990 11.0 2694 2869
3 Grischuk, Alexander RUS 2825 1983 10.5 2685 2834
4 Le, Quang Liem VIE 2681 1991 10.0 2674 2799
5 Cheparinov, Ivan BUL 2678 1986 9.0 2683 2755
6 Khairullin, Ildar RUS 2683 1990 9.0 2671 2743
7 Vallejo Pons, Francisco ESP 2706 1982 8.5 2686 2736
8 Dreev, Aleksey RUS 2746 1969 8.5 2682 2732
9 Andreikin, Dmitry RUS 2692 1990 9.0 2660 2732
10 Riazantsev, Alexander RUS 2616 1985 9.0 2649 2721
11 Bologan, Viktor MDA 2663 1971 8.5 2670 2720
12 Movsesian, Sergei ARM 2680 1978 9.0 2646 2718
13 Khismatullin, Denis RUS 2674 1984 9.0 2642 2714
14 Guseinov, Gadir AZE 2640 1986 9.0 2639 2711
15 Kamsky, Gata USA 2751 1974 8.5 2658 2708
16 Najer, Evgeniy RUS 2638 1977 8.5 2654 2704

Game commentary

Here are a couple of interesting game from the third round, with notes by tournament annotator GM Efstratios Grivas (above), who is a FIDE Senior Trainer, an International FIDE Chess Arbiter and an International FIDE Chess Organizer. He has represented his country on a great many occasions, winning the fourth position in the World Junior Championship 1985, an individual gold medal at the 1989 European Team Championship and an individual silver medal at the 1998 Olympiad. In 2010 he was awarded the worldwide highly important FIDE TRG Awards – Boleslavsky Medal (best author) for 2009. Grivas is also a chess author, cooperating, among others, with Everyman Chess Ltd, Gambit Books Ltd, New In Chess Ltd, ChessBase GmbH and ChessCafe.com. Here is a list of his ChessBase training DVDs.

[Event "WRBC 2013"] [Site "?"] [Date "2013.06.08"] [Round "15.1"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Inarkiev, Ernesto"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D31"] [WhiteElo "2753"] [BlackElo "2680"] [Annotator "Efstratios Grivas"] [PlyCount "95"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [Source "FIDE"] [WhiteClock "0:00:11"] [BlackClock "0:01:32"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 a6 4. cxd5 exd5 5. Bf4 Nf6 6. e3 Bd6 7. Qf3 c5 $5 ({ A novelty.} 7... Be6 8. Bd3 c5 9. Bxd6 Qxd6 10. dxc5 Qxc5 11. Qf4 Nc6 12. Nge2 Rd8 13. Rd1 O-O 14. O-O $14 {was seen in Shomoev,A-Inarkiev,E Vladivostok 2012. Inarkiev decided to play ...c5 directly.}) 8. dxc5 Bxc5 9. Bg5 Nbd7 10. O-O-O { A risky continuation, but White needed to complicate matters...} Qa5 $6 (10... Be7 $5 11. Nge2 Nb6 12. h3 O-O $13 {was interesting and preferable!}) 11. Nge2 $6 ({White could win the central pawn:} 11. Nxd5 $1 Nxd5 12. Qxd5 O-O 13. Be7 Re8 14. Bd6 $14 {.}) 11... O-O 12. Nd4 Bb4 13. Nb3 Qc7 14. Qf4 $6 (14. Bf4 Qc6 15. Nd4 Qc5 16. Nb3 {was equal, but as said, White had to win at any cost!}) 14... Qxf4 $2 ({The worst contiuation. The position was screaming for the obvious} 14... Bd6 $1 {A sample continuation could be} 15. Qh4 Ne4 (15... Be5 16. Bf4 (16. Kb1 Bxc3 17. Rc1 Ne4 18. Bd3 Nxg5 19. Qxg5 h6 20. Qe7 Qe5 21. Qa3 Bxb2 22. Qxb2 Qd6 $17) 16... Bxf4 17. Qxf4 Qxf4 18. exf4 Nb6 19. f3 $11) 16. Bd3 Ba3 $1 17. Kb1 Nxc3+ 18. bxc3 h6 19. Be7 Bxe7 20. Qxe7 Qxc3 $17 {.}) 15. Bxf4 Bxc3 16. bxc3 Ne4 17. Rxd5 Nxf2 18. Rg1 Nf6 19. Rd4 {White enjoys the advantageof the bishop pair and Black of the better pawn structure. The position is balanced but a bit more easy for White in the coming middlegame/ endgame. I think that this is the kind of position that White wanted to have in this critical game.} Bd7 20. Be2 Rac8 21. Kb2 Rfe8 22. h3 h6 23. Rf1 N2e4 24. c4 Ng5 $2 ({Black blunders in no time! He should have gone for} 24... b6 { with a balanced position.}) 25. Bxg5 hxg5 26. Rxf6 $1 gxf6 27. Rxd7 Rxe3 28. Bh5 $1 {Black is plain lost. White's advantage of the two minor pieces vs rook is decisive.} b5 29. c5 (29. cxb5 axb5 30. Nd4 {was another winning continuation.}) 29... a5 30. Bxf7+ Kf8 31. Bg6 $2 ({White makes his life difficult. The simple} 31. Bd5 a4 32. Bb7 Rce8 33. Nd4 a3+ 34. Kc2 {was curtains.}) {But Black played instantly:} 31... a4 $2 ({He should have tried} 31... Re2+ 32. Bc2 Rxg2 33. Ra7 $16 {, when White still would have to work hard...}) 32. Nd4 Rxc5 ({Or} 32... a3+ 33. Kc2 Rxc5+ 34. Kd2 Ree5 35. Bf7 $1 Re7 36. Ne6+ $18 {.}) 33. Rd8+ Kg7 34. Nf5+ Kxg6 (34... Rxf5 35. Bxf5 Re2+ 36. Ka3 Rxg2 37. Rd7+ Kf8 38. Rb7 $18 {.}) 35. Nxe3 {And now White with an extra piece has no problem to cash in the point.} b4 36. Rd3 Re5 37. g4 Re4 38. Nc2 Re2 39. Kc1 f5 40. Rd6+ Kf7 41. gxf5 b3 42. axb3 axb3 43. Nd4 Re3 44. Nc6 Kf8 45. f6 Kf7 46. Nd8+ Kf8 47. f7 Rf3 48. Re6 {And Black resigned, making Mamedyarov the new FIDE Rapid World Champion!} 1-0

[Event "WRBC 2013"] [Site "?"] [Date "2013.06.08"] [Round "13.1"] [White "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Black "Grischuk, Alexander"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "B07"] [WhiteElo "2717"] [BlackElo "2779"] [Annotator "Efstratios Grivas"] [PlyCount "124"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [Source "FIDE"] [WhiteClock "0:00:51"] [BlackClock "0:00:57"] 1. e4 d6 2. d4 Nf6 3. Nc3 g6 4. g3 Bg7 5. Bg2 O-O 6. Nge2 Nbd7 7. O-O c5 8. h3 Rb8 9. dxc5 Nxc5 10. a4 b6 11. Re1 Bb7 12. Nf4 Nfd7 13. Bd2 Rc8 14. Qe2 {White has played the opening without any concrete plan and without fantasy. Black got what he wanted - a lively middlegame with many pieces on the board. He now opted for a 'Hedghog' structure.} a6 15. Red1 e6 16. Be1 $6 ({Too passive. White should have gone for a forced variation:} 16. b4 $1 Bxc3 (16... Nxa4 $5 17. Nxa4 b5 18. Nc3 Bxc3 19. Bxc3 Rxc3 20. Rxd6 Qc8 21. Qd1 $13) 17. Bxc3 Nxe4 (17... Nxa4 18. Be1) 18. Bxe4 Bxe4 19. Qxe4 Rxc3 20. Rxd6 Qc7 21. Rad1 Nf6 22. Qd4 $11 {.}) 16... Qe7 17. Qe3 Ne5 18. b3 Rfd8 (18... f5 $5 {was good for Black here.}) 19. Rac1 h5 $1 {Trying to create more weaknesses on the white kingside - White is lacking any good plan...} 20. Nfe2 Kh7 21. f4 Nc6 22. Na2 b5 23. axb5 axb5 24. Bc3 e5 $1 25. Re1 Ne6 26. Nb4 Nxb4 27. Bxb4 h4 $1 { White's kingside is falling apart.} 28. Rf1 hxg3 29. f5 {What else?} Nf4 $2 ({ Black mixes his ideas! He should have gone for the simple} 29... Bh6 30. fxg6+ fxg6 31. Qxg3 Bxc1 {was even better.}) 30. Nxf4 Bh6 31. Qxg3 Bxf4 32. Rxf4 $1 exf4 33. Qxf4 Qe5 $2 ({Black's last chance was laying on} 33... Qf6 34. fxg6+ Qxg6 35. Qh4+ Kg7 36. c4 Re8 $15 {.}) 34. Qf2 $2 ({The obvious} 34. Qh4+ Kg8 35. c4 $1 Qd4+ 36. Kh1 Qg7 37. fxg6 fxg6 38. Bc3 Qh7 39. Qg4 {was offering White very good compensation for the exchange.}) 34... Kg8 $2 ({Many mistakes in a row, but this is a rapid game - not much time to think! Black could have gained a good advantage with} 34... gxf5 $1 35. c4 Qf6 36. Bc3 Qg6 {.}) 35. Re1 $2 (35. c4 $1 {again was fine:} g5 36. Bc3 Qe7 (36... Qf4 37. Qxf4 gxf4 38. Bf6 $14) 37. f6 Qf8 38. Qb6 $13 {.}) 35... Re8 36. Qd2 d5 37. fxg6 fxg6 38. Rd1 dxe4 39. Qh6 Qh5 $1 {Now the queens are exchanged and Black shouldn't have any problem to bring the bacon home.} 40. Qxh5 gxh5 41. Bf1 Re5 42. Bd6 Rd8 43. Be2 Re6 44. Bb4 Rxd1+ 45. Bxd1 Re5 46. Kf2 e3+ 47. Ke2 Bc8 48. Bd6 Rd5 49. Bf4 Bxh3 50. Ke1 Bg4 $1 51. Bxg4 hxg4 52. c4 bxc4 53. bxc4 Rf5 (53... Rc5 54. Bxe3 Rxc4 {was winning as well.}) 54. Bxe3 g3 55. c5 Kf7 56. Ke2 Ke6 57. Bd4 Kd5 58. Bg1 Rf8 59. Be3 g2 60. Bf2 Rf7 $1 {Losing a tempo, forcing the white king to e1.} 61. Ke1 (61. Ke3 Kxc5 62. Ke2+ Kd5 63. Ke3 Rf5 64. Ke2 Ke4 $19 {.}) 61... Re7+ $1 62. Kd2 Rh7 (62... Rh7 {White resigned, as} 63. Ke2 Rh1 {wins the bishop.}) 0-1

[Event "WRBC 2013"] [Site "?"] [Date "2013.06.08"] [Round "11.3"] [White "Movsesian, Sergei"] [Black "Cheparinov, Ivan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A29"] [WhiteElo "2699"] [BlackElo "2678"] [Annotator "Efstratios Grivas"] [PlyCount "107"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [Source "FIDE"] [WhiteClock "0:00:12"] [BlackClock "0:00:43"] 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 e5 3. g3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 Nb6 6. Nf3 Nc6 7. O-O Be7 8. d3 O-O 9. a3 Be6 10. Be3 f6 11. Rc1 Nd4 12. Bxd4 exd4 13. Ne4 c6 14. b4 Rf7 15. Nc5 Bxc5 16. bxc5 Nc8 17. Qa4 Rd7 18. Rb1 Ne7 19. Nd2 b5 20. Qb4 a5 21. Qb2 Qc7 22. Ne4 Rad8 23. Nd6 Nc8 24. Qxd4 Nxd6 25. cxd6 Rxd6 26. Qc3 Qb6 27. Rfc1 Rb8 28. Qc5 Qxc5 29. Rxc5 Bd7 {White stands better in this endgame, as he has some pressure on the black queenside.} 30. Kf1 Rb6 31. Rbc1 Kf7 32. Ke1 Ke7 33. Kd2 f5 ({Black should avoid in general any more 'weaknesses'.} 33... Kd8 34. e3 Kc7 35. d4 Rb8 $14 {should be preferable.}) 34. e3 Rf6 35. d4 Kd6 36. Bf3 Rf8 37. d5 $5 ({An interesting break, which allows more activity to the white rooks.} 37. h4 Rfb8 38. e4 $14 {was looking somewhat better.}) 37... cxd5 38. Rxd5+ Ke6 39. Rd4 Rd6 $6 ({Black should exchange the other rook:} 39... Rc8 $1 40. Rxc8 Bxc8 $11 {.}) 40. Rc7 $1 Rc8 41. Ra7 {And now the white rook is rather active on the seventh rank.} a4 42. Be2 Rc5 43. Bd3 g6 44. h4 Rc8 $6 ({I feel that Black should have opted for the more active} 44... Rcd5 45. Kc3 Rc5+ 46. Kb4 Rcd5 47. Rxd5 Rxd5 48. Kc3 Rc5+ 49. Kd2 Rd5 50. Rb7 (50. Ra6+ Rd6 51. Ra5 Rd5) 50... Bc6 51. Rb8 Kd6 52. h5 $14 {.}) 45. h5 Rb8 46. Kc3 Rxd4 47. exd4 gxh5 48. Kb4 $6 ({The rook ending after} 48. Bxf5+ Kxf5 49. Rxd7 Rf8 50. Re7 Kg6 51. Re6+ Kg7 52. d5 {looks very promising.}) 48... Kd6 $6 ({Passivity never helps! With} 48... f4 $1 {Black should manage to draw.}) 49. Ra6+ Kd5 50. Rh6 Be6 $2 ( {Missing a good chance to save the half-point:} 50... f4 $1 51. Rxh5+ Kxd4 52. Rxh7 Kxd3 53. Rxd7+ Ke2 54. gxf4 Rf8 $1 {. Now Black gets into a mating net!}) 51. Bb1 $1 Bg8 $2 ({Black didn't get it! He should have accepted his mistake and opt for} 51... Bd7 52. Rxh7 Bc6 53. Rxh5 $16 {.}) 52. Kc3 $1 b4+ 53. axb4 a3 54. Kd3 {And as the coming 55.Ba2+ decides, Black resigned.} 1-0

And here some Grivas analysis from the second day

[Event "WRBC 2013"] [Site "?"] [Date "2013.06.07"] [Round "6.2"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Khairullin, Ildar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D35"] [WhiteElo "2753"] [BlackElo "2658"] [Annotator "Efstratios Grivas"] [PlyCount "91"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [Source "FIDE"] [WhiteClock "0:00:49"] [BlackClock "0:03:20"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 d5 4. Bf4 dxc4 5. e3 Bd6 6. Bg5 h6 7. Bh4 c5 8. Nf3 cxd4 9. Nxd4 O-O 10. Bxc4 Be7 11. O-O Bd7 12. Qe2 Nc6 13. Rfd1 Ne5 14. Bb3 Ng6 15. Bg3 Qa5 16. Bc2 Qh5 17. Qxh5 Nxh5 {It seems that Black is doing fine, but the tactics have turned aganst him!} 18. Nf5 $1 Bc6 ({The other option was} 18... exf5 19. Rxd7 Nxg3 20. hxg3 Bf6 21. Bxf5 $16 {.}) 19. Nxe7+ Nxe7 20. Bd6 Rfe8 21. e4 $1 {The old rules of restriction (Steinitz) when you deal with the bishop pair. Black's position is rather difficult, without any counterplay...} Nf6 22. f3 Nc8 23. Bf4 Nb6 24. a4 $1 {Restriction of the opponet pieces once more!} e5 25. Bc1 Rad8 26. Rxd8 Rxd8 27. Kf2 a6 28. Bb3 Na8 29. Be3 Nc7 30. Rc1 Ne6 31. Bxe6 $1 {Top players know when they have to tranform their advantages. Here, from the bishop-pair we go to the weak pawns advantage.} fxe6 32. b3 Kf7 33. Na2 Rd3 34. Nb4 Rxb3 35. Nxc6 bxc6 36. Rxc6 Rb2+ 37. Kf1 Rb1+ ({Maybe Black could have tried} 37... Nh5 38. g3 g5 39. Rxa6 Rxh2 {although after} 40. Bf2 Rh1+ 41. Bg1 $16 {, his position would also be rather difficult.}) 38. Ke2 Rb2+ 39. Bd2 a5 40. Rc7+ Kg6 41. Ra7 Ra2 42. Rxa5 {and White has won finally some material.} Nd7 43. Kd3 $1 Rxa4 $2 {Black was having some difficult time, but this blunder ends the game immediately.} 44. Rxa4 Nc5+ 45. Kc2 Nxa4 46. Be3 $1 {The black knight is trapped and will be lost soon, so Black resigned.} 1-0

[Event "WRBC 2013"] [Site "?"] [Date "2013.06.07"] [Round "10.1"] [White "Le, Quang Liem"] [Black "Nepomniachtchi, Ian"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "A34"] [WhiteElo "2712"] [BlackElo "2717"] [Annotator "Efstratios Grivas"] [PlyCount "134"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [Source "FIDE"] [WhiteClock "0:08:50"] [BlackClock "0:00:23"] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e3 Nxc3 6. bxc3 g6 7. d4 Qc7 8. Be2 Bg7 9. O-O O-O 10. Bb2 b6 11. e4 Nd7 12. Qd3 Bb7 13. Rfd1 Rfd8 14. Qe3 Nf6 15. d5 e6 16. dxe6 Nxe4 17. Re1 Re8 18. exf7+ Qxf7 19. Bb5 Rf8 20. Rad1 Rad8 21. Rxd8 Rxd8 22. Bd3 Nd6 23. Ng5 Qd5 24. Qe6+ Qxe6 25. Nxe6 Re8 26. Re2 Bf6 27. a3 Kf7 28. Nf4 b5 29. Kf1 a5 30. Rd2 Ne4 31. Rc2 c4 32. Be2 Nc5 33. Bc1 Be4 34. Rb2 Nb3 35. f3 Bc6 36. Rc2 Nxc1 37. Rxc1 Re3 38. a4 Rxc3 39. Rxc3 Bxc3 40. axb5 Bxb5 41. Nd5 Bd4 42. Ke1 a4 43. Nc7 Bc6 44. Bxc4+ Ke7 45. Nb5 Be5 46. h3 Kf6 47. Kd2 Kg5 48. Nc3 {The bishop pair dominates, but old masters used to say that one of the main advantages of this asset is the possibility to exchange one of the bishops under favourable circumstances!} Bxc3+ $1 49. Kxc3 Kf4 $6 (49... Kh4 {was more accurate, as now White can create some problems.}) 50. h4 $1 Kg3 51. Bg8 h6 52. Bf7 Kxg2 $1 (52... g5 {is not of a help, as} 53. hxg5 hxg5 54. Bg6 {holds, as} Kxg2 55. Be4 $1 Be8 56. f4+ {is drawn.}) 53. Bxg6 Kg3 54. h5 Kxf3 55. Kb4 Kf4 56. Bc2 Kg5 57. Bd1 ({This makes it easier, but the alternative} 57. Bg6 Bf3 58. Kxa4 Bxh5 {wins for Black anyway - tablebases indicate mate in 19 moves!}) 57... Be8 58. Ka3 Bxh5 59. Bxa4 Bg6 $1 {The only winning move! In this bishop endgame the rook pawn is the best, as the defending bishop has just one diagonal at his disposal.} 60. Bd1 Bf5 61. Kb2 Bg4 62. Kc1 h5 63. Kd2 Kf4 64. Ba4 h4 65. Ke1 h3 66. Bc6 (66. Kf2 Bf3 67. Kg1 Kg3 {.}) 66... Bf3 67. Bxf3 Kxf3 0-1

View video broadcast and commentary of day three

Links

The games are being broadcast live on ugrasport.com and chesstv.com (live video), and on 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.