Polak w Grand Prix Series! (3)
Following the fascinating tie-breakers on Sunday, the FIDE Grand Prix organized by World Chess proceeds to the second round. The symbolic first move to open the playing day was made by Dana Reizniece-Ozola, Minister of Economy of Latvia from 2014 till 2016 and Minister of Finance from 2016 until 2019. Well-known in the chess world as a Woman Grand Master and long-time leader of her national team, Mrs. Reizniece-Ozola played 1.Nf3 in the match Duda – Mamedyarov, as instructed by the Polish champion. This game took on a closed character when pawns started blocking each other on the queenside and in the centre. Thanks to his space advantage in these areas, Jan-Krzysztof Duda reached a pleasant position, but Shakhriyar Mamedyarov played the timely 17…f4 to make sure that he would always have chances for counter-play. Both players agreed afterwards that white’s advantage was probably less serious than what the computer usually suggests in this type of positions. In any case, Duda did not see a plan to improve his position and offered a draw on move 34.
Źródło: Text by Press Officer Yannick Pelletier; Photo courtesy: World Chess
Runda 2, partia 1:
Karjakin – So ½ – ½
Duda – Mamedyarov ½ – ½
Grischuk – Yu Yangyi ½ – ½
Topalov – Vachier-Lagrave 0-1