Belgrade GP R6: Andreikin, Giri, Rapport and MVL advance to the Semifinals

by Shahid Ahmed - 08/03/2022

Dmitry Andreikin persevered a completely lost endgame against Etienne Bacrot. The France no.3's blunder allowed Andreikin to win Pool A and advance to the Semifinals of FIDE Belgrade Grand Prix 2022. Anish Giri, Richard Rapport and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave drew their games to win Pool B, C and D respectively and secure their place in the Knockout stage. Since no Playoffs are required, today becomes a rest day. It will be Giri vs Andreikin and Rapport vs Vachier-Lagrave in the Semifinals. The Semifinal games start tomorrow Wednesday 9th March at 7:30 p.m. IST. Photo: Mark Livshitz/FIDE

Andreikin's luck denies Shankland Playoffs

Sam Shankland would have got the opportunity to play Playoffs if Dmitry Andreikin either lost or drawn his game. He fought with everything he had and defeated Bacrot from a completely lost endgame which earlier he was winning.

Andreikin had everything working in his way to advance to the Knockout stage | Photo: Mark Livshitz/FIDE

Pool A: Andreikin - Bacrot: 1-0

Dmitry Andreikin made a nice queen sacrifice against Etienne Bacrot.

Position after 25.Qxb8

Black is forced to play 25...Nxb8 else the knight at c6 will drop. The game continued 26.Rc8+ Bf8 27.exd5 exd5 28.Rc1. 27...Qxd5 would have been a better option for Black. According to the computer, 28.Re1 is winning. After a bit of back and forth battle, Black got the upper hand.

Position after 39...Qb1+

Despite having an advantageous position, Black made a grave mistake 39...Qb1+. Find out why it is a blunder and what Black should have done instead.

Dmitry Andreikin had all the luck on his side | Photo: Mark Livshitz/FIDE

Andreikin's win cost Shankland a Playoff and a chance to advance to the Semifinals.

Anish Giri needed a draw to advance to the Semifinals and that is what he did against Vitiugov | Photo: Mark Livshitz/FIDE

Harikrishna lost to Tabatabaei | Photo: Mark Livshitz/FIDE

Pool C: Fedoseev - Vidit: 0.5-0.5

Vidit got a good position against Fedoseev. Once again, he was unable to maximize his chance. Although a win would not have been enough to force a Playoff.

Position after 25.Kb2

25...a3+ 26.Ka1 Rad8 is suggested by the computer to be better than what was played. The game continued 25...Rec8 26.Rc1 a3+ 27.Ka1 Nd5 28.Nf5 and now 28....Rd8 gives Black the decisive advantage. However, Vidit played 28...Re8 and the window of opportunity was gone.

Both Fedoseev and Vidit got eliminated | Photo: Mark Livshitz/FIDE

Rapport drew with Shirov to secure his place in the Semifinals | Photo: Mark Livshitz/FIDE

MVL drew with Mamedyarov to secure his place in the Knockout stage | Photo: Mark Livshitz/FIDE

FIDE Grand Prix 2022 Belgrade GP Round 6 Live Commentary by IM Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal | Video: ChessBase India

Replay Round 6 games

Round 6 results

Pool A

Andreikin - Bacrot: 1-0

Grischuk - Shankland: 0.5-0.5

Pool B

Vitiugov - Giri: 0.5-0.5

Harikrishna - Tabatabaei: 0-1

Pool C

Fedoseev - Vidit: 0.5-0.5

Rapport - Shirov: 0.5-0.5

Pool D

Mamedyarov - MVL: 0.5-0.5

Yangyi - Predke: 0-1

Pool A standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1
1	4	GM	Andreikin Dmitry	FID	2724	4,0	0
2	3	GM	Shankland Sam	USA	2704	3,5	0
3	2	GM	Bacrot Etienne	FRA	2635	2,5	0
4	1	GM	Grischuk Alexander	FID	2758	2,0	0

Details

Pool B standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1
1	2	GM	Giri Anish	NED	2771	4,0	0
2	3	GM	Tabatabaei M. Amin	IRI	2623	3,0	0
	4	GM	Vitiugov Nikita	FID	2726	3,0	0
4	1	GM	Harikrishna Pentala	IND	2716	2,0	0

Details

Pool C standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1
1	1	GM	Rapport Richard	HUN	2762	4,0	0
2	2	GM	Vidit Santosh Gujrathi	IND	2723	3,0	0
3	3	GM	Shirov Alexei	ESP	2691	2,5	0
	4	GM	Fedoseev Vladimir	FID	2704	2,5	0

Details

Pool D standings

Rk.	SNo		Name	FED	Rtg	Pts.	TB1
1	2	GM	Vachier-Lagrave Maxime	FRA	2761	3,5	0
2	3	GM	Predke Alexandr	FID	2682	3,0	0
	4	GM	Mamedyarov Shakhriyar	AZE	2776	3,0	0
4	1	GM	Yu Yangyi	CHN	2713	2,5	0

Details

Time control

The time control for each standard game in pools and play-off is: 90 minutes for the first 40 moves, followed by 30 minutes for the rest of the game with an increment of 30 seconds per move starting from move 1. In case if a player arrives at the chessboard with a delay of up to 15 minutes from the actual start of the game, he/she should be charged of five hundred (500) euros deducted from his/her prize money. In case of delay of more than 15 minutes, the player loses the game (without financial penalty).

Draw

The players cannot draw any game by mutual agreement before black’s 30th move. A claim for a draw before black’s 30th move is permitted only in the case of a draw by repetition.