Paris 01: Gelfand wins and five draws

by ChessBase
9/22/2013 – The venue of the season's last Grand Prix is a church from the 1100s, which served as a sharp contrast to the lively opening ceremony that included a breakdance performance. In round one only Gelfand scored by beating Giri, but Nakamura-Tomashevsky was absolutely crazy and we bring you full annotations of the game. Opening ceremony and first round pictorial report.

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Sixth FIDE Grand Prix - Paris 2013

If you ever thought Paris was dubbed “The City of Light” thanks to its early-on electrical street lighting or for the fabulous night life, you’ll be just partially right; the famous nickname dates back to the Age of Enlightenment, when the French capital became the centre of education, of arts and philosophy, thus the "enlightened place to be.

With an illustrious artistic pedigree and with more recognizable landmarks than any other city in the world, Paris stubbornly remains probably the most filmed and photographed and wanted place on earth. In short: an ideal stage for the final and decisive cultural event on the chess players’ agenda – the sixth FIDE Grand Prix!

So we might have the perfect scene – a marvelous metropolis; the producers – FIDE in collaboration with FFE (French Chess Federation); the dates of the play: 21st September – 5th October 2013; an interesting plot: a war to the knife combat for the qualifying spot in the Candidates event; but where is the vital element, the…actors?!

Dear chess friends, I am happy and honored to raise the curtain and I hope you’ll get your front seat for a great show!

Press chief WGM Alina l'Ami

Before going any further, in case you are confused with the world cycle, you will find here a more detailed explanation of what you might expect from this high class event. let’s have a look at the FIDE Grand Prix standings after the 5th leg:

Opening ceremony

The venue: Chapelle de la Villedieu was founded in 1180 by soldier-monks of the Order of the Temple. It is the first milestone from Paris to Chartres on the pilgrimage route to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia, northwestern Spain (where according to tradition the remains of the apostle Saint James are buried).

Leinier Dominguez Perez arriving with his wife, Yanelys

In nomine Patris, et Filii, et Spiritus Sancti? No, it's Kirsan Ilyumzhinov adressing...

... a congregation chess players at the opening ceremony of the Sixth FIDE Grand Prix

Champagne bottles used for the drawing of colours (Ruslan Ponomariov got 12)

The players got to keep the champagne!

And then (gasp!): a hip hop break dance performance, in the church ...

... by a French/North African group called Black Blanc Beur (click for some lively action)

A stage presentation by the group: Black Blanc Beur "Chroniques du périmètre". Enjoy!

The tournament

Time control: 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves, and then each player gets 15 minutes and an increment of 30 seconds per move after the second time control). No draws offers: Sofia rules!

Participants and Prizes

No.
Player
Nat.
Rating
w-rnk
1
Caruana, Fabiano
ITA
2796
3
2
Grischuk, Alexander
RUS
2785
4
3
Nakamura, Hikaru
USA
2772
9
4
Gelfand, Boris
ISR
2764
11
5
Dominguez, Leinier
CUB
2757
12
6
Ponomariov, Ruslan
UKR
2756
13
7
Wang, Hao
CHN
2747
14
8
Giri, Anish
NED
2737
20
9
Ivanchuk, Vassily
UKR
2731
22
10
Bacrot, Etienne
FRA
2714
31
11
Fressinet, Laurent
FRA
2708
37
12
Tomashevsky, Evgeny
RUS
2706
40
 
No.
Prize
GP Pts
1
25,000
120+50
2
22,500
110+30
3
20,000
100+10
4
17,500
90
5
15,000
80
6
13,000
70
7
12,000
60
8
11,000
50
9
10,000
40
10
9,000
30
11
8,000
20
12
7,000
10

Round 1

Round 01 – September 22 2013, 15:00h
Fressinet, Laurent 2708
½-½
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2756
Grischuk, Alexander 2785
½-½
Wang Hao 2736
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
½-½
Bacrot, Etienne 2723
Ivanchuk, Vassily 2731
½-½
Dominguez Perez, Leinier 2757
Nakamura, Hikaru 2772
½-½
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2703
Gelfand, Boris 2764
1-0
Giri, Anish 2737

Chapelle de la villedieu has been transformed into a beautiful playing hall

The lamps provide much needed extra lighting so every board is well lit

Nakamura, Hikaru ½-½ Tomashevsky, Evgeny
The game was a very sharp Marshall gambit (the triangle set-up one, not the Spanish Marshall) in which Tomashevsky found himself out of preparation rather quickly. Nakamura sacrificed a piece on move eleven (!) to obtain a strong attack against Black's king, but Tomashevsky played very precisely and counter sacrificed a rook (!) to obtain a very powerful counterinitiative. Nakamura had no choice but to counter by sacrificing another bishop and force the weakening of Black's king. The game ended in a draw by perpetual in what was definitely a very exciting game.

Fresh of a fantastic World Cup in Tromso, Tomashevsky is greeted in this Grand Prix with many variation to calculate

[Event "FIDE Grand Prix Paris 2013"] [Site "Paris"] [Date "2013.09.22"] [Round "1"] [White "Nakamura, Hikaru"] [Black "Tomashevsky, Evgeny"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "D31"] [WhiteElo "2772"] [BlackElo "2706"] [Annotator "Ramirez Alvarez,Alejandro"] [PlyCount "59"] [EventDate "2013.??.??"] [EventCountry "FRA"] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 c6 4. e4 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Qxd4 7. Bxb4 Qxe4+ 8. Be2 Na6 9. Bc3 f6 10. Qd6 {Despite the fact that tis is a very sharp variation, there are still many lines that are almost completely unxplored. This one specifically has never been see in high level chess.} Nh6 $5 { Tomashevsky must have foreseen the upcoming complications before playing this move.} 11. Bxf6 $5 (11. O-O-O Nf7 {and white has no time for} 12. Bxf6 $4 (12. Qg3 $44) 12... Nxd6 $19) 11... gxf6 12. O-O-O (12. Rd1 $2 {Doesn't make sense since the bishop on e2 has not been unpinned.} Nf7 $19) 12... Qg6 (12... Nf7 13. Bh5 {and Black gets promptly mated, so he cannot do this.}) (12... Rg8 13. Bh5+ Rg6 14. Qd8+ Kf7 15. Qh8 $1 {Gives White a decisive attack. This last move is key in the variation.}) 13. Qd8+ Kf7 14. Qxh8 {White now has more material, but it is also he that comes under a swift attack.} Nb4 15. Bh5 {The only move to stop the threat of Qc2 mate.} Nxa2+ 16. Kd2 Qxh5 17. Qxh7+ Kf8 18. Qh8+ Kf7 19. Qh7+ Kf8 20. Nf3 $1 {White again is down material and his king is on d2, but he senses he has the opportunity to keep attacking as Black's king is still weak and Black's pieces are very discoordinated.} e5 21. Ke1 (21. h3 $5 {This is an absolutely amazing computer move, though the point is simple. g4 is threatened and Black must react appropiately.} e4 {only move.} 22. Kc2 $1 {The king ends up being better going back to the kingside, despite e1 being visually a safer position.} Be6 $1 (22... Nb4+ 23. Kb3 $1 Be6 24. Nd4 $1 Bf7 25. Qh8+ Ng8 26. Qxh5 Bxh5 27. Kxb4 Bxd1 28. Rxd1 {and the endgame heavily favors White as his pieces are much more active and he has a passed pawn on the kingside.}) 23. g4 Nb4+ 24. Kc1 Qa5 (24... Qc5 $5 $13 {is probably even better.}) 25. Qxh6+ Ke7 $13 {And White is again up an exchange, but Black isn't out of the game yet and anything can happen.}) 21... Bg4 22. h3 e4 23. Nd4 (23. Qh8+ Ng8 24. hxg4 Qxh8 25. Rxh8 exf3 {is not better for White.}) 23... Re8 24. Qh8+ Kf7 25. Qh7+ Kf8 26. Ra1 $6 e3 (26... Nb4 $5 {would have put Nakamura's last move to question. Suddenly Black doesn't want to agree to a perpetual and wants to use his extra material.}) 27. Qh8+ Kf7 28. Qh7+ Kf8 29. Qh8+ Kf7 30. Qh7+ {not a perfect game, but a very exciting one with possibilities for both sides. A great start to the Paris Grand Prix!} 1/2-1/2

Ivanchuk was simply unable to obtain anything out of the opening against Cuba's number one

Ivanchuk, Vassily ½-½ Dominguez Perez, Leinier
Ivanchuk obtained nothing from his Zukertort set-up and in an equal the game players basically agreed to repeat moves and draw. This entirely circumvents the Sophia rules under which the tournament is being played. Strong grandmasters can see when a move being played is an offer for a repetition. It seems crazy to force the players to play on in what they consider to be an equal position - after all you can't demand them not to play what they consider to be the "strongest" move, however it is obvious that this is a giant loophole in the Sophia rules.

Caruana, Fabiano ½-½ Bacrot, Etienne
The Italian super-star was able to obtain a very slight edge from this Scotch, but it was not enough to win the game. With clever regrouping of his pieces and an excellent feel for what was truly important in the position Bacrot was able to neutralize White's pair of bishops and his superior pawn structure by maintaining enormous pressure on the c4 pawn throughout the game. White's own pawn on e5 limited the scopre of his dark-squared bishop and he was unable to use this pair of bishops advantage. The players repeated moves in an equal position that was at least much more fighting than the Ivanchuk-Dominguez game.

Despite his small edge, Caruana could not push for a win because of his opponent's stubborn and clever defense

Grischuk, Alexander ½-½ Wang Hao
Wang Hao's French left his king somewhat in the open. He needed the rest of his pieces to create counteractivity and this allowed Grischuk to sacrifice a piece on the kingside for a strong attack. However the Chinese always had the situation under control and Grischuk was forced to give a perpetual when his attack was dying down.

The opening move was executed by Svetlana Titova, the Deputy Director General of Economy and Finance of the group "Titan", one of the main sponsors of this tournament

Fressinet, Laurent ½-½ Ponomariov, Ruslan
Ponomariov was able to neutralize Fressinet's White pieces without too many problems. The players kept playing on in a strategicaly interesting game. Black was able to break through on the queenside with b5, a standard idea in this pawn structure. White's b-pawn was left isolated and weak, but Fressinet was able to exchange enough pieces to make Ponomariov's d6 pawn vulnerable. With this the game further simplified into a drawn endgame.

Gelfand was the only victor of today's round and leads the tournament

Gelfand, Boris 1-0 Giri, Anish
In a wild position Giri decided to sacrifice an exchange for a pawn and compensation. However his followup with 30...Qxb8 was innacurate and allowed Gelfand to rearrange his pieces in such a way that Black's activity was contained. Slowly but surely White's advantage grew, and once the queens were traded it was lights out for Giri as the extra exchange was too much for him to handle.

Grandmaster Sergey Tiviakov is providing live commentary on the official website

Replay all games

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Schedule

Round 01 – September 22 2013, 15:00h
Fressinet, Laurent 2708
½-½
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2756
Grischuk, Alexander 2785
½-½
Wang Hao 2736
Caruana, Fabiano 2779
½-½
Bacrot, Etienne 2723
Ivanchuk, Vassily 2731
½-½
Dominguez Perez, Leinier 2757
Nakamura, Hikaru 2772
½-½
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2703
Gelfand, Boris 2764
1-0
Giri, Anish 2737
Round 02 – September 23 2013, 15:00h
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2756   Giri, Anish 2737
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2703   Gelfand, Boris 2764
Dominguez Perez, Leinier 2757   Nakamura, Hikaru 2772
Bacrot, Etienne 2723   Ivanchuk, Vassily 2731
Wang Hao 2736   Caruana, Fabiano 2779
Fressinet, Laurent 2708   Grischuk, Alexander 2785
Round 03 – September 24 2013, 15:00h
Grischuk, Alexander 2785   Ponomariov, Ruslan 2756
Caruana, Fabiano 2779   Fressinet, Laurent 2708
Ivanchuk, Vassily 2731   Wang Hao 2736
Nakamura, Hikaru 2772   Bacrot, Etienne 2723
Gelfand, Boris 2764   Dominguez Perez, Leinier 2757
Giri, Anish 2737   Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2703
Round 04 – September 25 2013, 15:00h
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2756   Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2703
Dominguez Perez, Leinier 2757   Giri, Anish 2737
Bacrot, Etienne 2723   Gelfand, Boris 2764
Wang Hao 2736   Nakamura, Hikaru 2772
Fressinet, Laurent 2708   Ivanchuk, Vassily 2731
Grischuk, Alexander 2785   Caruana, Fabiano 2779
Round 05 – September 27 2013, 15:00h
Caruana, Fabiano 2779   Ponomariov, Ruslan 2756
Ivanchuk, Vassily 2731   Grischuk, Alexander 2785
Nakamura, Hikaru 2772   Fressinet, Laurent 2708
Gelfand, Boris 2764   Wang Hao 2736
Giri, Anish 2737   Bacrot, Etienne 2723
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2703   Dominguez Perez, Leinier 2757
Round 06 – September 28 2013, 15:00h
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2756   Dominguez Perez, Leinier 2757
Bacrot, Etienne 2723   Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2703
Wang Hao 2736   Giri, Anish 2737
Fressinet, Laurent 2708   Gelfand, Boris 2764
Grischuk, Alexander 2785   Nakamura, Hikaru 2772
Caruana, Fabiano 2779   Ivanchuk, Vassily 2731
Round 07 – September 29 2013, 15:00h
Ivanchuk, Vassily 2731   Ponomariov, Ruslan 2756
Nakamura, Hikaru 2772   Caruana, Fabiano 2779
Gelfand, Boris 2764   Grischuk, Alexander 2785
Giri, Anish 2737   Fressinet, Laurent 2708
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2703   Wang Hao 2736
Dominguez Perez, Leinier 2757   Bacrot, Etienne 2723
Round 08 – September 30 2013, 15:00h
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2756   Bacrot, Etienne 2723
Wang Hao 2736   Dominguez Perez, Leinier 2757
Fressinet, Laurent 2708   Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2703
Grischuk, Alexander 2785   Giri, Anish 2737
Caruana, Fabiano 2779   Gelfand, Boris 2764
Ivanchuk, Vassily 2731   Nakamura, Hikaru 2772
Round 09 – October 02 2013, 15:00h
Nakamura, Hikaru 2772   Ponomariov, Ruslan 2756
Gelfand, Boris 2764   Ivanchuk, Vassily 2731
Giri, Anish 2737   Caruana, Fabiano 2779
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2703   Grischuk, Alexander 2785
Dominguez Perez, Leinier 2757   Fressinet, Laurent 2708
Bacrot, Etienne 2723   Wang Hao 2736
Round 10 – October 03, 14:00h
Ponomariov, Ruslan 2756   Wang Hao 2736
Fressinet, Laurent 2708   Bacrot, Etienne 2723
Grischuk, Alexander 2785   Dominguez Perez, Leinier 2757
Caruana, Fabiano 2779   Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2703
Ivanchuk, Vassily 2731   Giri, Anish 2737
Nakamura, Hikaru 2772   Gelfand, Boris 2764
Round 11 – October 04, 14:00h
Gelfand, Boris 2764   Ponomariov, Ruslan 2756
Giri, Anish 2737   Nakamura, Hikaru 2772
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2703   Ivanchuk, Vassily 2731
Dominguez Perez, Leinier 2757   Caruana, Fabiano 2779
Bacrot, Etienne 2723   Grischuk, Alexander 2785
Wang Hao 2736   Fressinet, Laurent 2708

The games start at 15:00h European time, 17:00h Moscow, 9 a.m. New York. You can find your regional starting time here.

Links

The games will be 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.


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