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.
Chess Festival Prague 2025 with analyses by Aravindh, Giri, Gurel, Navara and others. ‘Special’: 27 highly entertaining miniatures. Opening videos by Werle, King and Ris. 10 opening articles with new repertoire ideas and much more. ChessBase Magazine offers first-class training material for club players and professionals! World-class players analyse their brilliant games and explain the ideas behind the moves. Opening specialists present the latest trends in opening theory and exciting ideas for your repertoire. Master trainers in tactics, strategy and endgames show you the tricks and techniques you need to be a successful tournament player! Available as a direct download (incl. booklet as pdf file) or booklet with download key by post. Included in delivery: ChessBase Magazine #225 as “ChessBase Book” for iPad, tablet, Mac etc.!
Winning starts with what you know The new version 18 offers completely new possibilities for chess training and analysis: playing style analysis, search for strategic themes, access to 6 billion Lichess games, player preparation by matching Lichess games, download Chess.com games with built-in API, built-in cloud engine and much more.
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
New ...
New Game
Edit Game
Setup Position
Open...
PGN
FEN
Share...
Share Board (.png)
Share Board (configure)
Share playable board
Share game as GIF
Notation (PGN)
QR Code
Layout...
Use splitters
Swipe notation/lists
Reading mode
Flip Board
Settings
Move
N
Result
Elo
Players
1.e4
1,183,387
54%
2421
---
1.d4
958,449
55%
2434
---
1.Nf3
286,131
56%
2441
---
1.c4
184,608
56%
2443
---
1.g3
19,877
56%
2427
---
1.b3
14,598
54%
2428
---
1.f4
5,953
48%
2377
---
1.Nc3
3,905
50%
2384
---
1.b4
1,790
48%
2378
---
1.a3
1,249
54%
2406
---
1.e3
1,081
49%
2409
---
1.d3
969
50%
2378
---
1.g4
670
46%
2361
---
1.h4
466
54%
2382
---
1.c3
439
51%
2425
---
1.h3
289
56%
2420
---
1.a4
118
60%
2461
---
1.f3
100
47%
2427
---
1.Nh3
92
67%
2511
---
1.Na3
47
62%
2476
---
Please, wait...
1.d4d52.c4e63.Nc3c64.e4dxe45.Nxe4Bb4+6.Bd2Qxd47.Bxb4Qxe4+8.Be2Na69.Bc3f610.Qd6Despite 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!? Tomashevsky must have foreseen the upcoming complications before playing this move.11.Bxf6!?11.0-0-0Nf7and white has no time for12.Bxf6??12.Qg312...Nxd6-+11...gxf612.0-0-012.Rd1?Doesn't make sense since the bishop on e2 has not been unpinned.Nf7-+12...Qg612...Nf713.Bh5and Black gets promptly mated, so he cannot do this.12...Rg813.Bh5+Rg614.Qd8+Kf715.Qh8!Gives White a decisive attack. This last move is key in the variation.13.Qd8+Kf714.Qxh8White now has more material, but it is also he that comes under a swift attack.Nb415.Bh5The only move to stop the threat of Qc2 mate.Nxa2+16.Kd2Qxh517.Qxh7+Kf818.Qh8+Kf719.Qh7+Kf820.Nf3!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.e521.Ke121.h3!?This is an absolutely amazing computer move, though the point is simple. g4 is threatened and Black must react appropiately.e4only move.22.Kc2!The king ends up being better going back to the kingside, despite e1 being visually a safer position.Be6!22...Nb4+23.Kb3!Be624.Nd4!Bf725.Qh8+Ng826.Qxh5Bxh527.Kxb4Bxd128.Rxd1and the endgame heavily favors White as his pieces are much more active and he has a passed pawn on the kingside.23.g4Nb4+24.Kc1Qa524...Qc5!?∞is probably even better.25.Qxh6+Ke7∞And White is again up an exchange, but Black isn't out of the game yet and anything can happen.21...Bg422.h3e423.Nd423.Qh8+Ng824.hxg4Qxh825.Rxh8exf3is not better for White.23...Re824.Qh8+Kf725.Qh7+Kf826.Ra1?!e326...Nb4!?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+Kf728.Qh7+Kf829.Qh8+Kf730.Qh7+not a perfect game, but a very exciting one with possibilities for both sides. A great start to the Paris Grand Prix!½–½
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
New ...
New Game
Edit Game
Setup Position
Open...
PGN
FEN
Share...
Share Board (.png)
Share Board (configure)
Share playable board
Share game as GIF
Notation (PGN)
QR Code
Layout...
Use splitters
Swipe notation/lists
Reading mode
Flip Board
Settings
Move
N
Result
Elo
Players
1.e4
1,183,387
54%
2421
---
1.d4
958,449
55%
2434
---
1.Nf3
286,131
56%
2441
---
1.c4
184,608
56%
2443
---
1.g3
19,877
56%
2427
---
1.b3
14,598
54%
2428
---
1.f4
5,953
48%
2377
---
1.Nc3
3,905
50%
2384
---
1.b4
1,790
48%
2378
---
1.a3
1,249
54%
2406
---
1.e3
1,081
49%
2409
---
1.d3
969
50%
2378
---
1.g4
670
46%
2361
---
1.h4
466
54%
2382
---
1.c3
439
51%
2425
---
1.h3
289
56%
2420
---
1.a4
118
60%
2461
---
1.f3
100
47%
2427
---
1.Nh3
92
67%
2511
---
1.Na3
47
62%
2476
---
Please, wait...
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.1.c4e62.Nc3d53.d4Nf64.Nf3Nbd75.e3Be76.b30-07.Bb2b68.cxd5exd59.Bd3Bb710.0-0Re811.Rc1Bf812.Ne2c613.Ng3Bd614.Re1g615.Nd2Rc816.Rc2Bf817.Nf3Bd618.Nd2Bf819.Nf3Bd6½–½
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.
In this insightful video course, Grandmaster David Navara shares practical advice on when to calculate deeply in a position — and just as importantly, when not to.
The Trompowsky is especially suited for faster time controls as you don‘t have to memorise endless lines of theory, and you push your opponent out of their comfort zone after your second move.
Trompowsky Powerbook 2025 is based on 53,000 computer games from the engine room of playchess.com as well as 49,000 games from Mega and correspondence chess.
Trompowsky Powerbase 2025 is a database and contains a total of 8727 games from Mega 2025 and the Correspondence Database 2024, of which 316 are annotated.
2025 European Championship with a German double victory and analyses by Bluebaum, Svane, Rodshtein, Yuffa, Navara and many more. Opening videos by Engel, King and Marin. Training sections “The Fortress”, “The Trap” and “Fundamental Endgame Knowledge" etc.
In this dynamic and practical video course, IM Andrew Martin arms you with powerful antidotes to White’s most annoying sidelines.
€34.90
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, analysis cookies and marketing cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies. Here you can make detailed settings or revoke your consent (if necessary partially) with effect for the future. Further information can be found in our data protection declaration.
Pop-up for detailed settings
We use cookies and comparable technologies to provide certain functions, to improve the user experience and to offer interest-oriented content. Depending on their intended use, cookies may be used in addition to technically required cookies, analysis cookies and marketing cookies. You can decide which cookies to use by selecting the appropriate options below. Please note that your selection may affect the functionality of the service. Further information can be found in our privacy policy.
Technically required cookies
Technically required cookies: so that you can navigate and use the basic functions and store preferences.
Analysis Cookies
To help us determine how visitors interact with our website to improve the user experience.
Marketing-Cookies
To help us offer and evaluate relevant content and interesting and appropriate advertisement.