Third GP Starts Tomorrow

by Alejandro Ramirez
2/15/2015 – The long break is over, and it is back to the boards for the participants of the Grand Prix series. The top two players at the end of the cycle will earn their spot in the 2016 Candidates tournament. Tomorrow the Tbilisi leg will begin, though the two current leaders of the GP, Caruana and Nakamura, are playing in Zurich. This opens the door for several players to catch or surpass them!

ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024 ChessBase 17 - Mega package - Edition 2024

It is the program of choice for anyone who loves the game and wants to know more about it. Start your personal success story with ChessBase and enjoy the game even more.

More...

The third stage of the 2014-2015 FIDE Grand Prix is taking place in Tbilisi, Georgia. The tournament will run from February 14th to February 28, 2014. Some of the strongest players in the world will compete in a Round Robin event. The winner and runner-up of the Grand Prix series will earn their spot at the 2016 Candidate's Tournament.

Grand Prix Standings

  Player FIDE rating
Feb 2015
Baku Tashkent Tbilisi Khanty-
Mansiysk
Total
1  Fabiano Caruana (ITA) 2811 155 75   x 230
2  Hikaru Nakamura (USA) 2776 82 125   x 207
3  Dmitry Andreikin (RUS) 2737 20 170 x   190
4  Boris Gelfand (ISR) 2747 155 15   x 170
5  Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE) 2759 35 125 x   160
6  Sergey Karjakin (RUS) 2760 82 75   x 157
7  Teimour Radjabov (AZE) 2731 50 50 x   100
8  Alexander Grischuk (RUS) 2810 82   x x 82
8  Peter Svidler (RUS) 2739 82   x x 82
8  Evgeny Tomashevsky (RUS) 2716 82   x x 82
11  Baadur Jobava (GEO) 2696   75 x x 75
11  Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) 2775   75 x x 75
13  Rustam Kasimdzhanov (UZB) 2706 35 15 x   50
14  Anish Giri (NED) 2797   40 x x 40
15  Dmitry Jakovenko (RUS) 2733   30 x x 30
16  Leinier Dominguez (CUB) 2726 10   x x 10

Since the format was changed for this cycle and the players cannot "drop" a tournament, which means that every tournament participation counts for their total score, some players come to Tbilisi with more hopes to qualify than others. Even though Andreikin is currently third in the standings it is clear that his disastrous Baku makes him far from a favorite to qualify to the Candidates - similarly Gelfand and his Tashkent, or Mamedyarov and his Baku.

In much better shape are, for example, Grischuk, Svidler and Tomashevsky. The three Russians shared third in Baku and accumulate 82 points each; since all three skipped Tashkent they can accumulate up to 240 extra points (if they win both remaining Grand Prix tournaments back to back). Jobava is not far behind with 75 points, but a really rough Wijk aan Zee casts a cloud over how well he can do here in Tbilisi. That being said, Jobava is a player that is full of surprises, and playing in home turf never hurts.

With both of the current GP leaders, Caruana and Nakamura, playing in Zurich instead of this Grand Prix and finishing their participation in this cycle with the Khanty-Mansiysk GP in May, everything will remain up in the air.

Opening Ceremony

he third stage of the FIDE Grand Prix series 2014-2015 was officially inaugurated in the presence of the players, FIDE CEO Geoffrey Borg, President of the Georgian Chess Federation Giorgi Giorgadze, Chairman of the Appeals Committee Nona Gaprindashvili and Chief Arbiter Faik Gasanov.

During the opening speech Mr. Borg thanked the Georgian Chess Federation and its President Mr. Giorgadze for stepping in last November to organize this event. Mr.Borg added that the chess world greatly appreciates the effort invested by the Georgian Chess Federation to prepare the tournament in such a short timeframe.

Mr.Gasanov reminded the participants about the time control, zero tolerance rule and no-draws rule. He proceeded with drawing of lots and composing the pairings. One by one, the players were collecting the gift bags, with starting numbers printed on the back of the shirts.

The Grand Prix is taking place in Tbilisi (Georgia) from the 14th until 27th of February 2015. The organizers of the tournament are the Georgian Chess Federation, the Ministry of Sport and Youth of Georgia and Tbilisi City Hall. SOCAR Energy Georgia is the general sponsor of the event. The games are taking place at the Courtyard by Marriott Tbilisi Hotel.

When you see the same players in the same tournaments a sort of friendship is bound to arise

Geoffrey Borg, FIDE CEO

The players waiting for the relatively short opening ceremony. No dances this time!

Their gift bag had a shirt with their pairing number on it

Dominguez got the lucky number one: starts with two whites

Seven for Jobava, the only player that is not 2700 in this tournament (though we are sure he will be back soon)

The crowd! Left to right: Dominguez, Giri, Tomashevsky, Jakovenko,
Svidler, Grischuk, Radjabov, Mamedyarov, Jobava and Kasimdzhanov.

Tomorrow's round starts at 15:00 Tbilisi time. It's time to get the third leg of this GP series under way! You can follow the action live from our server www.playchess.com

Photos from the official website by Anastasiya Karlovich

Schedule

Round 01 – February 15, 2015 - 15:00
Dominguez, Leinier 2726   Radjabov, Teimour 2731
Svidler, Peter 2739   Giri, Anish 2797
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2775   Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2705   Grischuk, Alexander 2810
Andreikin, Dmitry 2737   Jakovenko, Dmitry 2733
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2716   Jobava, Baadur 2696
Round 02 –February 16, 2015 - 15:00
Radjabov, Teimour 2731   Jobava, Baadur 2696
Jakovenko, Dmitry 2733   Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2716
Grischuk, Alexander 2810   Andreikin, Dmitry 2737
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759   Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2705
Giri, Anish 2797   Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2775
Dominguez, Leinier 2726   Svidler, Peter 2739
Round 03 –February 17, 2015 - 15:00
Svidler, Peter 2739   Radjabov, Teimour 2731
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2775   Dominguez, Leinier 2726
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2705   Giri, Anish 2797
Andreikin, Dmitry 2737   Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2716   Grischuk, Alexander 2810
Jobava, Baadur 2696   Jakovenko, Dmitry 2733
Round 04 –February 18, 2015 - 15:00
Radjabov, Teimour 2731   Jakovenko, Dmitry 2733
Grischuk, Alexander 2810   Jobava, Baadur 2696
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759   Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2716
Giri, Anish 2797   Andreikin, Dmitry 2737
Dominguez, Leinier 2726   Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2705
Svidler, Peter 2739   Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2775
Round 05 –February 20, 2015 - 15:00
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2775   Radjabov, Teimour 2731
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2705   Svidler, Peter 2739
Andreikin, Dmitry 2737   Dominguez, Leinier 2726
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2716   Giri, Anish 2797
Jobava, Baadur 2696   Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759
Jakovenko, Dmitry 2733   Grischuk, Alexander 2810
Round 06 –February 21, 2015 - 15:00
Radjabov, Teimour 2731   Grischuk, Alexander 2810
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759   Jakovenko, Dmitry 2733
Giri, Anish 2797   Jobava, Baadur 2696
Dominguez, Leinier 2726   Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2716
Svidler, Peter 2739   Andreikin, Dmitry 2737
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2775   Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2705
Round 07 –February 22, 2015 - 15:00
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2705   Radjabov, Teimour 2731
Andreikin, Dmitry 2737   Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2775
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2716   Svidler, Peter 2739
Jobava, Baadur 2696   Dominguez, Leinier 2726
Jakovenko, Dmitry 2733   Giri, Anish 2797
Grischuk, Alexander 2810   Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759
Round 08 –February 23, 2015 - 15:00
Radjabov, Teimour 2731   Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759
Giri, Anish 2797   Grischuk, Alexander 2810
Dominguez, Leinier 2726   Jakovenko, Dmitry 2733
Svidler, Peter 2739   Jobava, Baadur 2696
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2775   Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2716
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2705   Andreikin, Dmitry 2737
Round 09 –February 25, 2015 - 15:00
Andreikin, Dmitry 2737   Radjabov, Teimour 2731
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2716   Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2705
Jobava, Baadur 2696   Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2775
Jakovenko, Dmitry 2733   Svidler, Peter 2739
Grischuk, Alexander 2810   Dominguez, Leinier 2726
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759   Giri, Anish 2797
Round 10 –February 26, 2015 - 15:00
Radjabov, Teimour 2731   Giri, Anish 2797
Dominguez, Leinier 2726   Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759
Svidler, Peter 2739   Grischuk, Alexander 2810
Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2775   Jakovenko, Dmitry 2733
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2705   Jobava, Baadur 2696
Andreikin, Dmitry 2737   Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2716
Round 11 –February 27, 2015 - 13:00
Tomashevsky, Evgeny 2716   Radjabov, Teimour 2731
Jobava, Baadur 2696   Andreikin, Dmitry 2737
Jakovenko, Dmitry 2733   Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2705
Grischuk, Alexander 2810   Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2775
Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2759   Svidler, Peter 2739
Giri, Anish 2797   Dominguez, Leinier 2726

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 13 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.


Grandmaster Alejandro Ramirez has been playing tournament chess since 1998. His accomplishments include qualifying for the 2004 and 2013 World Cups as well as playing for Costa Rica in the 2002, 2004 and 2008 Olympiads. He currently has a rating of 2583 and is author of a number of popular and critically acclaimed ChessBase-DVDs.

Discuss

Rules for reader comments

 
 

Not registered yet? Register