Niemann convincingly beats Giri in Utrecht match

by Carlos Alberto Colodro
8/12/2024 – The 5-day match featuring Hans Niemann and Anish Giri came to an end on Sunday. The final day of action saw the players trading wins (3 per side) in the rapid section of the confrontation, which meant Niemann kept the 6-point lead he had obtained in the blitz and classical sections - Niemann won the match by a 24-18 score. The US grandmaster is set to face Nikita Vitiugov (in London) and Etienne Bacrot (in Paris) in similar matches later this month. | Photo: De Pion

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The first of three matches "against the world"

The boldly dubbed "Hans Niemann against the world" series kicked off in Utrecht on Wednesday. Niemann's first opponent, Anish Giri, was also the highest-rated of the three players who will face the talented US youngster this month. In the coming two weeks, Niemann will play against Nikita Vitiugov (in London) and Etienne Bacrot (in Paris).

It was a very successful start for the 21-year-old from San Francisco. Niemann obtained a convincing 24-18 victory over Giri after winning both the blitz and classical sections and safely keeping his advantage by drawing the rapid segment. The final 6 games of the match, with a 15+10 rapid time control, took place on Sunday, all finished decisively, as the contenders obtained 3 wins each.

A number of chess enthusiasts made their way to the elegant playing hall at the Utrecht City Hall to follow the action live.

Utrecht City Hall

The rapid section of the match in progress | Photo: De Pion

The first 4 games finished with wins for the player marshalling the white pieces, and at that point Niemann had already secured overall victory. The fact that the match was decided did not prevent the contenders from continuing to play creative chess, however, as the last 2 games of the contest concluded with wins for the player who had the black pieces.

Niemann's victories in the blitz and classical sections granted him considerable rating gains - he climbed 4 spots in the classical live ranking after gaining 8 Elo points, and climbed 25 spots in the blitz live ranking after gaining 22.5 Elo points.

Using the now well-known "let chess speak for itself" motto, Niemann posted on X:

According to the information available on GMHans.com, the match against Vitiugov will kick off on Wednesday in London. After that match ends next Sunday, Niemann will quickly make his way to Paris, as the match against Bacrot is set to start only two days later, on 20 August.

Niemann will then get two weeks off, as the much-anticipated match against Magnus Carlsen will kick off on 6 September, also in Paris.

Anish Giri

Anish Giri | Photo: De Pion

Blitz

Rk. Name  TB1 
1 Niemann, Hans Moke 7,5
2 Giri, Anish 4,5

Classical

Rk. Name  TB1 
1 Giri, Anish 7,5
2 Niemann, Hans Moke 10,5

Rapid

Rk. Name  TB1 
1 Niemann, Hans Moke 6
Giri, Anish 6

All games

All technical information on Chess-Results...

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Topics: Hans Niemann, Hans Niemann against the World
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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Hans Niemann vs Anish Giri, Rapid section - Live!

8/11/2024 – After 12 blitz and 6 classical games, Hans Niemann leads 18-12 in his match against Anigh Giri - wins in classical games count 3 points. After Niemann won the blitz section 7½-4½, the 6 classical games ended with a 3½-2½ score (or 10½-7½). The final section, featuring 6 rapid games (with 2 points for a win), starts at 11.00 local time on Sunday. | Photo: Hans Niemann, Tata 2024 | Photo: De Pion
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Niemann beats Giri twice in classical chess, grabs 6-point lead

8/10/2024 – Hans Niemann scored back-to-back classical victories over Anish Giri to get a 6-point lead in their match in Utrecht. Giri came from tying the score on Thursday, and despite the consecutive losses still has chances of winning the match as 18 points are still up for grabs in the remaining 8 games (2 in classical chess and 6 in rapid). Niemann's pair of wins allowed him to climb to the 24th spot in the live ratings list. | Photo: Harry Gielen
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