From May 22 to June 03, 2013, the fourth stage of the FIDE Grand Prix Series
2012-2013 is taking place in Thessaloniki, Greece. Twelve players are competing
in a round robin tournament with time controls of 120 minutes for the first
40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and then 15 minutes and an increment
of 30 seconds per move for each player. The Grand Prix Series consists of six
tournaments to be held over two years, with 18 top players, each participating
in four of the six tournaments. The winner and second placed player overall
of the Grand Prix Series will qualify for the Candidates Tournament to be held
in March 2014.
Round four report
Round 04 – May 25 2013, 14:00h |
Grischuk Alexander |
2779 |
½-½ |
Bacrot Etienne |
2725 |
Morozevich Alexander |
2760 |
½-½ |
Nakamura Hikaru |
2775 |
Caruana Fabiano |
2774 |
½-½ |
Kasimdzhanov Rustam |
2699 |
Dominguez Perez Leinier |
2723 |
1-0 |
Svidler Peter |
2769 |
Topalov Veselin |
2793 |
1-0 |
Ivanchuk Vassily |
2755 |
Kamsky Gata |
2741 |
½-½ |
Ponomariov Ruslan |
2742 |
Topalov, Veselin - Ivanchuk, Vassily 1-0
Topalov again showed that he values piece activity far more than pawn structure. His kingside was shattered early in the game, exposing his king, but his superior development prevented Black from being able to take advantage of this. Ivanchuk kept finding ways to activate his own position, but at a crucial tactical juncture he failed to eliminate the menacing pawn on e6, and he paid dearly for it. Interestingly a few yeas ago a 2300 player reached the same juncture and was able to find the correct continuation to equalize.

A prelude.
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 d6 4.0-0 Bd7 5.Re1 Nf6 6.c3 a6 7.Bf1 Bg4 8.h3 Bh5 9.d4!? Bxf3 10.gxf3 cxd4 11.cxd4 d5 12.Nc3 e6 13.Bg5 Be7 14.Bxf6 Bxf6 15.exd5 Nxd4 16.Re4 Qb6 17.dxe6 Qc5 17...Nxe6 18.Nd5 Qd8 19.Qa4+?! b5 20.Nxf6+ gxf6 21.Qb4 f5! 18.e7! h5 19.Rc1 Rh6 20.Kh1! Rg6 21.Ne2 21.Ne2 Nxf3 22.Rxc5
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Topalov,V | 2793 | Ivanchuk,V | 2755 | | 2013 | B51 | FIDE GP Thessaloniki 2013 | 4 |
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Morozevich, Alexander - Nakamura, Hikaru ½-½
An unbelievably wild game was not a disappointment! Morozevich went for a quick pawn-storm on the kingside, which was quickly met with a break on the center: a typical Sicilian situation. Every move played was razor sharp, and even the computers had time fully understanding the position. Morozevich sacrificed a piece, but Black's king ended up exposed on e7. The Russian gave up even more material, a queen for a rook and a piece, to bring his opponent's king further up the board to e5! Nakamura saw his position was become too dangerous, so he gave back some material and forced a perpetual. Thrilling game.

"The Sicilian? Sure the Sicilian will do." Hikaru Nakamura in round four.
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1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 e6 6.Be3 a6 7.f3 b5 8.Qd2 Nbd7 9.g4 h6 10.a3 Bb7 11.0-0-0 Rc8 12.h4 d5 13.Rg1 dxe4 13...e5!? 14.g5 hxg5 15.hxg5 exd4 16.Bxd4 Nh5 17.Rh1! 14.g5 hxg5 15.hxg5 Nd5 16.Nxd5 Bxd5 17.g6 f5 18.fxe4 fxe4 18...Bxe4 19.Nxe6 Bxc2 20.Nxd8 Be4+ 21.Qc3 Rxc3+ 22.bxc3 Bxa3+ 23.Kd2 Kxd8 19.Kb1 Ne5 20.Nxb5!? Nf3! 20...axb5 21.Bxb5+ Bc6 22.Bxc6+ Nxc6 23.Qg2!? 21.Qf2 Qf6 21...Rh2 22.Rg2 Rxg2 23.Qxg2 Ba2+ 24.Kxa2! 24.Kc1 Qa5 24...Qxd1 25.Nc3! Rxc3 26.bxc3 22.Qg3 axb5 23.Bxb5+ Ke7 24.c4 Rh2 25.Qxh2! Nxh2 26.cxd5 Qf5! 27.Bg5+ Kd6! 28.dxe6+ Ke5! 29.Bd7 29.e7 Bxe7 30.Bxe7 Qf2 31.Rg5+ Kf4 29...e3+ 30.Ka1 Bxa3 30...e2 31.Rge1 Qf2!? 32.Bh4! Qe3! 31.Bxc8 Qc2 32.bxa3 Qc3+ 33.Ka2 Qxc8 34.e7 Qc2+ 35.Ka1 Qc3+ 36.Ka2 Qc2+ 37.Ka1 Qc3+ 38.Ka2 Qc2+ ½–½
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Morozevich,A | 2760 | Nakamura,H | 2775 | ½–½ | 2013 | B80 | FIDE GP Thessaloniki 2013 | 4 |
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Grischuk, Alexander - Bacrot, Etienne ½-½
A positional struggle in which Grischuk always had some slight pressure, but certainly never enough to really inconvenience Bacrot. The game ended in its natural peaceful result.
Kamsky, Gata - Ponomariov, Ruslan ½-½
Kamsky's handling of the Spanish was not optimal, and Ponomariov was even able to get a slight edge out of the opening, without it being anything special. However shortly after time control Kamsky decided to simplify the position with the use of some tactics... which simply didn't work! Luckily for him Ponomariov missed the elegant refutation: 43...Qe7 which would have forced Kamsky to resign.

Dominguez in his striking pose before the round, with the Cuban flag in the background.
Dominguez Perez, Leinier - Svidler, Peter 1-0
A tense Spanish gave both sides interesting chances. Svidler penetrated through the queenside but allowed Dominguez to create threats against his king. His decisive mistake was to allow Dominguez to also control the eight rank, which simply gave too many access points against Svidler's already weakened king. After 34.f6! it was lights out and there was no saving for Black's monarch.
Caruana, Fabiano - Kasimdzhanov, Rustam ½-½
The Marshall Gambit is an excellent way of dealing with 1.e4. At the GM level, it means that either Black takes the initiative or White goes into an endgame with little to no advantage. Caruana chose the latter in this game, and despite having a bishop against a knight he was never able to do anything with it. The game closed in a draw that could have been sealed many moves before it happened.

"Sorry I'm late, tough day at work" - Rustam Kasimdzhanov with his wife, Firuza

Replay all games of the round

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All pictures by Anastasiya Karlovich
Schedule and results
Round 01 –May 22 2013, 14:00h |
Topalov Veselin |
2793 |
½-½ |
Grischuk Alexander |
2779 |
Kamsky Gata |
2741 |
1-0 |
Dominguez Perez Leinier |
2723 |
Ponomariov Ruslan |
2742 |
½-½ |
Caruana Fabiano |
2774 |
Ivanchuk Vassily |
2755 |
½-½ |
Morozevich Alexander |
2760 |
Svidler Peter |
2769 |
1-0 |
Bacrot Etienne |
2725 |
Kasimdzhanov Rustam |
2699 |
1-0 |
Nakamura Hikaru |
2775 |
Round 02 – May 23 2013, 14:00h |
Grischuk Alexander |
2779 |
1-0 |
Nakamura Hikaru |
2775 |
Bacrot Etienne |
2725 |
½-½ |
Kasimdzhanov Rustam |
2699 |
Morozevich Alexander |
2760 |
1-0 |
Svidler Peter |
2769 |
Caruana Fabiano |
2774 |
1-0 |
Ivanchuk Vassily |
2755 |
Dominguez Perez Leinier |
2723 |
½-½ |
Ponomariov Ruslan |
2742 |
Topalov Veselin |
2793 |
½-½ |
Kamsky Gata |
2741 |
Round 03 – May 24 2013, 14:00h |
Kamsky Gata |
2741 |
½-½ |
Grischuk Alexander |
2779 |
Ponomariov Ruslan |
2742 |
½-½ |
Topalov Veselin |
2793 |
Ivanchuk Vassily |
2755 |
0-1 |
Dominguez Perez Leinier |
2723 |
Svidler Peter |
2769 |
½-½ |
Caruana Fabiano |
2774 |
Kasimdzhanov Rustam |
2699 |
½-½ |
Morozevich Alexander |
2760 |
Nakamura Hikaru |
2775 |
½-½ |
Bacrot Etienne |
2725 |
Round 04 – May 25 2013, 14:00h |
Grischuk Alexander |
2779 |
½-½ |
Bacrot Etienne |
2725 |
Morozevich Alexander |
2760 |
½-½ |
Nakamura Hikaru |
2775 |
Caruana Fabiano |
2774 |
½-½ |
Kasimdzhanov Rustam |
2699 |
Dominguez Perez Leinier |
2723 |
1-0 |
Svidler Peter |
2769 |
Topalov Veselin |
2793 |
1-0 |
Ivanchuk Vassily |
2755 |
Kamsky Gata |
2741 |
½-½ |
Ponomariov Ruslan |
2742 |
Round 05 – May 27 2013, 14:00h |
Ponomariov Ruslan |
2742 |
- |
Grischuk Alexander |
2779 |
Ivanchuk Vassily |
2755 |
- |
Kamsky Gata |
2741 |
Svidler Peter |
2769 |
- |
Topalov Veselin |
2793 |
Kasimdzhanov Rustam |
2699 |
- |
Dominguez Perez Leinier |
2723 |
Nakamura Hikaru |
2775 |
- |
Caruana Fabiano |
2774 |
Bacrot Etienne |
2725 |
- |
Morozevich Alexander |
2760 |
Round 06 – May 28 2013, 14:00h |
Grischuk Alexander |
2779 |
- |
Morozevich Alexander |
2760 |
Caruana Fabiano |
2774 |
- |
Bacrot Etienne |
2725 |
Dominguez Perez Leinier |
2723 |
- |
Nakamura Hikaru |
2775 |
Topalov Veselin |
2793 |
- |
Kasimdzhanov Rustam |
2699 |
Kamsky Gata |
2741 |
- |
Svidler Peter |
2769 |
Ponomariov Ruslan |
2742 |
- |
Ivanchuk Vassily |
2755 |
Round 07 – May 29 2013, 14:00h |
Ivanchuk Vassily |
2755 |
- |
Grischuk Alexander |
2779 |
Svidler Peter |
2769 |
- |
Ponomariov Ruslan |
2742 |
Kasimdzhanov Rustam |
2699 |
- |
Kamsky Gata |
2741 |
Nakamura Hikaru |
2775 |
- |
Topalov Veselin |
2793 |
Bacrot Etienne |
2725 |
- |
Dominguez Perez Leinier |
2723 |
Morozevich Alexander |
2760 |
- |
Caruana Fabiano |
2774 |
Round 08 – May 30 2013, 14:00h |
Grischuk Alexander |
2779 |
- |
Caruana Fabiano |
2774 |
Dominguez Perez Leinier |
2723 |
- |
Morozevich Alexander |
2760 |
Topalov Veselin |
2793 |
- |
Bacrot Etienne |
2725 |
Kamsky Gata |
2741 |
- |
Nakamura Hikaru |
2775 |
Ponomariov Ruslan |
2742 |
- |
Kasimdzhanov Rustam |
2699 |
Ivanchuk Vassily |
2755 |
- |
Svidler Peter |
2769 |
Round 09 – June 01 2013, 14:00h |
Svidler Peter |
2769 |
- |
Grischuk Alexander |
2779 |
Kasimdzhanov Rustam |
2699 |
- |
Ivanchuk Vassily |
2755 |
Nakamura Hikaru |
2775 |
- |
Ponomariov Ruslan |
2742 |
Bacrot Etienne |
2725 |
- |
Kamsky Gata |
2741 |
Morozevich Alexander |
2760 |
- |
Topalov Veselin |
2793 |
Caruana Fabiano |
2774 |
- |
Dominguez Perez Leinier |
2723 |
Round 10 – June 02 2013, 14:00h |
Grischuk Alexander |
2779 |
- |
Dominguez Perez Leinier |
2723 |
Topalov Veselin |
2793 |
- |
Caruana Fabiano |
2774 |
Kamsky Gata |
2741 |
- |
Morozevich Alexander |
2760 |
Ponomariov Ruslan |
2742 |
- |
Bacrot Etienne |
2725 |
Ivanchuk Vassily |
2755 |
- |
Nakamura Hikaru |
2775 |
Svidler Peter |
2769 |
- |
Kasimdzhanov Rustam |
2699 |
Round 11 – June 03 2013,
12:00h |
Kasimdzhanov Rustam |
2699 |
- |
Grischuk Alexander |
2779 |
Nakamura Hikaru |
2775 |
- |
Svidler Peter |
2769 |
Bacrot Etienne |
2725 |
- |
Ivanchuk Vassily |
2755 |
Morozevich Alexander |
2760 |
- |
Ponomariov Ruslan |
2742 |
Caruana Fabiano |
2774 |
- |
Kamsky Gata |
2741 |
Dominguez Perez Leinier |
2723 |
- |
Topalov Veselin |
2793 |
The games start at 14:00h Eastern European Summer time, 15:00h Moscow,
7 a.m. New York. You can find your regional starting time here. The
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games and is free for premium members.