Grischuk Wins Hamburg Grand Prix

Alexander Grischuk added another medal to his collection on Sunday, winning the 2019 Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix with a 3.5-2.5 victory in tiebreaks over Jan-Kryzsztof Duda.

Grischuk’s path to the finals was not easy. He defeated Radoslaw Wojtaszek and David Navara in Rounds 1 and 2, and was paired with Maxime Vachier-Lagrave in the semi-finals. The pairing took on added significance in light of the overall Grand Prix standings, where both players were among the leaders entering the tournament. The top two overall finishers in the Grand Prix standings are seeded into the 2020 Candidates Tournament.

After a 27 move draw in the first game of their mini-match, Grischuk eliminated Vachier-Lagrave with this exquisite endgame squeeze.

[pgn] [Event "Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix"] [Site "Hamburg GER"] [Date "2019.11.12"] [Round "3.2"] [White "Grischuk, Alexander"] [Black "Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A34"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2777"] [PlyCount "125"] [EventDate "2019.11.05"] [EventType "k.o."] 1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e3 e6 6. Bc4 Be7 7. O-O O-O 8. Qe2 Nc6 9. Rd1 b6 10. d4 Nxc3 11. bxc3 Qc7 12. e4 Rd8 13. Be3 Na5 14. Bd3 Bb7 15. h4 b5 16. Bxb5 Bxe4 17. dxc5 Bxf3 18. Qxf3 Bxc5 19. Bf4 Qb7 20. Qe2 Qe7 21. h5 Bd6 22. Bxd6 Rxd6 23. Rxd6 Qxd6 24. Rd1 Qc5 25. Rd7 Qxc3 26. Qd1 h6 27. g3 Rf8 28. Rxa7 Nc6 29. Rd7 Ne5 30. Rd8 Qc7 31. Rxf8+ Kxf8 32. a4 Ke7 33. Be2 Qc3 34. Qb1 Nc6 35. Qb7+ Kf6 36. Bf1 Na5 37. Qd7 g5 38. hxg6 Kxg6 39. Kg2 Kg7 40. Bb5 Qe5 41. Qd3 Qc5 42. Qf3 Qd4 43. Be8 Qd5 44. Qxd5 exd5 45. Kf3 Kf6 46. Kg4 Ke7 47. Bb5 Kf6 48. Kh5 Kg7 49. Bf1 Nb3 50. Bg2 d4 51. Bf1 Nd2 52. Bd3 Nb3 53. Bf1 Nd2 54. Bd3 Nb3 55. Bb5 f6 56. Bf1 Na5 57. Ba6 Nb3 58. Bb5 Na5 59. Kg4 Nb7 60. Kf4 Nc5 61. a5 d3 62. Ke3 d2 63. Be2 1-0 [/pgn]

Duda had no less of a task getting to the Finals, having to get through Ian Nepomiachtchi, Yu Yangyi, and Daniil Dubov to meet Grischuk. The semi-final matchup between Dubov and Duda, a battle between two of the best young speed players in the world, ended in Duda’s favor after this decisive win. The final score was 3.5-2.5.

[pgn] [Event "Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix"] [Site "Hamburg GER"] [Date "2019.11.13"] [Round "3.6"] [White "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Black "Dubov, Daniil"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A45"] [WhiteElo "2748"] [BlackElo "2676"] [PlyCount "119"] [EventDate "2019.11.05"] [EventType "k.o."] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c3 g6 3. Bg5 Bg7 4. Nd2 d5 5. e3 O-O 6. Ngf3 Nbd7 7. Be2 Re8 8. Qb3 c6 9. O-O e5 10. Rfd1 h6 11. Bh4 Qe7 12. Rac1 exd4 13. cxd4 a5 14. h3 Qb4 15. Qc2 Ne4 16. Nxe4 Rxe4 17. Bd3 Re8 18. a3 Qf8 19. Rb1 a4 20. Bg3 Nf6 21. Ne5 Be6 22. Rf1 Ne4 23. Bh2 Qe7 24. Rbc1 Nd6 25. Qc5 Nf5 26. Qb6 Nh4 27. Bg3 Nf5 28. Bh2 Nh4 29. Bg3 Nf5 30. Bf4 Nh4 31. Rc5 Bxe5 32. dxe5 Bf5 33. Be2 g5 34. Bg3 Ng6 35. f4 gxf4 36. exf4 d4 37. Rd1 Rad8 38. Rc4 d3 39. Bf3 Nh4 40. Bxh4 Qxh4 41. Qf2 Qxf2+ 42. Kxf2 Be6 43. Rc3 d2 44. Ke3 f6 45. Rxd2 fxe5 46. fxe5 Rxd2 47. Kxd2 Bd5 48. Bxd5+ cxd5 49. Rc7 Rxe5 50. Rxb7 Rf5 51. Ke3 Re5+ 52. Kd4 Rg5 53. g4 h5 54. gxh5 Rxh5 55. Kc5 Rxh3 56. Kxd5 Kf8 57. Kc5 Ke8 58. Rb4 Rh5+ 59. Kb6 Rh2 60. Kb5 1-0 [/pgn]

Duda and Grischuk played two fighting draws in the classical portion of the Finals, forcing the match into tiebreaks. The two players traded wins in the first tiebreak (G/25+10) round, but Grischuk took control of the match in the first G/10+10 tiebreak game, improving on a previous Duda game in the opening and putting his opponent under immediate pressure.

[pgn] [Event "Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix"] [Site "Hamburg GER"] [Date "2019.11.17"] [Round "4.5"] [White "Grischuk, Alexander"] [Black "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "D11"] [WhiteElo "2764"] [BlackElo "2748"] [PlyCount "119"] [EventDate "2019.11.05"] [EventType "k.o."] 1. d4 d5 2. c4 c6 3. Nf3 Nf6 4. e3 e6 5. Bd3 Nbd7 6. b3 b6 7. O-O Bb7 8. Bb2 dxc4 9. bxc4 c5 10. d5 exd5 11. cxd5 Bxd5 12. e4 Bc6 13. Re1 Qe7 14. Nc3 O-O-O 15. Nd5 Qe8 16. a4 Bd6 17. Ba6+ Kb8 18. Qb3 Nxe4 19. a5 Bc7 20. axb6 axb6 21. Bb5 Bb7 22. Qa4 Qe6 23. Bc6 Bxh2+ 24. Nxh2 Qxc6 25. Qa7+ Kc8 26. Ne7+ Kc7 27. Nxc6 Ra8 28. Rxe4 Rxa7 29. Rxa7 Kxc6 30. Re7 Rd8 31. Nf3 b5 32. Rxf7 b4 33. Rxg7 Kb6 34. Ra1 Bxf3 35. gxf3 Nf8 36. Rg8 c4 37. Bg7 Ne6 38. Rxd8 Nxd8 39. Rc1 Kb5 40. f4 Ne6 41. Be5 Nc5 42. Kf1 Nd3 43. Rd1 Kc5 44. Ke2 Kd5 45. Rh1 Nc5 46. Rxh7 c3 47. Bxc3 bxc3 48. Rc7 c2 49. Kd2 Ne4+ 50. Kxc2 Nxf2 51. Kd2 Ke4 52. Ke2 Ng4 53. Rc4+ Kf5 54. Kf3 Nh2+ 55. Kg2 Ng4 56. Kg3 Ne3 57. Rc5+ Kf6 58. Kf3 Nf5 59. Ra5 Kg6 60. Ra6+ 1-0 [/pgn]

Forced to win on demand to stay alive, Duda trotted out the venerable Four Knights, but Grischuk took over in mutual time trouble and held the draw from a position of strength. Not known for muting his feelings or opinions, the Russian was demonstrably pleased with the final result.

[pgn] [Event "Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix"] [Site "Hamburg GER"] [Date "2019.11.17"] [Round "4.6"] [White "Duda, Jan-Krzysztof"] [Black "Grischuk, Alexander"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "C48"] [WhiteElo "2748"] [BlackElo "2764"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "2019.11.05"] [EventType "k.o."] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bb5 Nd4 5. Ba4 c6 6. Nxe5 d5 7. d3 Bc5 8. O-O O-O 9. Kh1 Qc7 10. f4 b5 11. Bb3 a5 12. a3 Nxb3 13. cxb3 Bd4 14. Nf3 Bxc3 15. e5 Bxe5 16. fxe5 Nd7 17. Bf4 Nc5 18. Rc1 Ne6 19. Qd2 c5 20. d4 c4 21. Nh4 Qd8 22. Bg3 Ng5 23. Nf3 Ne4 24. Qe3 Bf5 25. Be1 Rc8 26. h3 h6 27. Nd2 Bg6 28. Nxe4 Bxe4 29. Bd2 Rc6 30. a4 Rg6 31. Rf2 Qh4 32. Kh2 Rb8 33. axb5 Rxb5 34. bxc4 Rxb2 35. Rcf1 a4 36. g3 Qe7 37. c5 Rb3 38. Bc3 a3 39. Ra1 Ra6 40. Qc1 f6 41. Rfa2 fxe5 42. Bd2 exd4 43. c6 Qd6 44. Bf4 Qxc6 45. Rxa3 1/2-1/2 [/pgn]

Grischuk’s victory in Hamburg earns him €24,000, but more importantly, it puts him squarely in the driver’s seat for the final Grand Prix Standings.

With 10 points added to his column, Grischuk leads all players with 20 Grand Prix points heading into the final event in Jerusalem. Three others – Vachier-Lagrave, Mamedyarov, and Nepomniachtchi – can also qualify, but it would take a very specific and unlikely configuration of events to knock Grischuk out of a qualification spot. The 2019 FIDE Grand Prix series concludes with the Jerusalem Grand Prix (December 11-23, 2019). CLO will have periodic coverage as the event progresses.