Khanty FIDE GP Final: Caruana & Nakamura qualify for the Candidates!

The 11th and Final round of the Khanty-Mansiysk FIDE Grand Prix 2015 saw just one decisive game as Svidler overcame Jobava with the White pieces in a French Defence game.

The above result, however, had no impact on the top standings as Jakovenko, Nakamura and Caruana jointly won the tournament. But the jackpot was bagged by the latter two who made it to the next Candidates Tournament courtesy of their superior scores at the end of the 2014-15 Grand Prix cycle. The winner of the Candidates Tournament will gain the right to challenge World Champion Magnus Carlsen for a World Championship Match.


Complete Round 11 Results:

Karjakin

2753 ½-½ Gelfand 2744

Nakamura

2799 ½-½ Jakovenko 2738

Giri

2776 ½-½ Caruana 2803
Dominguez 2734 ½-½ Grischuk

2780

Svidler 2734 1-0 Jobava

2699

Tomashevsky

2749 ½-½ Vachier-Lagrave 2754

Final Standings:

RANK

NAME RTG

PTS

1

Jakovenko Dmitry 2738
2 Nakamura Hikaru 2799

3

Caruana Fabiano 2803
4 Dominguez Perez Leinier 2734

6

5

Gelfand Boris 2744 6
6 Svidler Peter 2734

7

Grischuk Alexander 2780
8 Giri Anish 2776

9

Karjakin Sergey 2753
10 Tomashevsky Evgeny 2749

5

11

Jobava Baadur 2699 4

12

Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2754

Khanty FIDE GP Rd10: Set for an Exciting Finish!

The 10th round of the Khanty Mansiysk FIDE GP 2015 saw some interesting twists as Jobava defeated overnight joint leader Dominguez while Jakovenko patiently overcame Karjakin to join Nakamura and Caruana at the top of the table. The rest of the games were drawn.

With one round to go, the trio of Jakovenko, Nakamura and Caruana are being closely followed by Dominguez and Gelfand with 5.5 points each.

Interestingly, Nakamura and Jakovenko are scheduled to clash in the last round of the tournament which makes the upcoming final round all the more exciting.


Complete Round 10 Results:

NAME

RTG RES. NAME

RTG

Gelfand

2744 ½ – ½ Tomashevsky 2749

Vachier-Lagrave

2754 ½ – ½ Svidler

2734

Jobava 2699 1 – 0 Dominguez

2734

Grischuk

2780 ½ – ½ Giri

2776

Caruana 2803 ½ – ½ Nakamura

2799

Jakovenko

2738 1 – 0 Karjakin 2753

Khanty FIDE GP 09: Leaders Maintain

One of the winners of Round 9: Anish Giri (Pic Source: khantymansiysk2015.fide.com)
One of the winners of Round 9: Anish Giri (Pic Source: khantymansiysk2015.fide.com)

The 9th round of the Khanty-Mansiysk FIDE GP 2015 witnessed two decisive games as Giri overcame Jobava while Tomashevsky beat Svidler. The rest of the games ended in draws. However, the draw between Jakovenko and Gelfand saw a pretty finish with Gelfand leaving his Queen en-prise to force a nice stalemate.

After 9 rounds, Dominguez, Caruana and Nakamura lead the pack with 5.5/9 each. Three others – Gelfand, Jakovenko and Karjakin – are on the second spot with 5 points each. This leaves the field wide open with just two rounds to go.


Round 9 Results:

Jakovenko

2738 ½-½ Gelfand

2744

Karjakin

2753 ½-½ Caruana

2803

Nakamura

2799 ½-½ Grischuk

2780

Giri

2776 1-0 Jobava

2699

Dominguez

2734 ½-½ Vachier-Lagrave

2754

Svidler

2734 0-1 Tomashevsky

2749

Khanty FIDE GP 08: Caruana loses, still leads jointly

Caruana lost his first game of the tournament - against Jakovenko. (Pic Source: khantymansiysk2015.fide.com)
Caruana lost his first game of the tournament – against Jakovenko. (Pic Source: khantymansiysk2015.fide.com)

The 8th round of the on-going Khanty Mansiysk FIDE Grand Prix 2015 proved to be a dramatic one. Nakamura and Dominguez caught up overnight sole-leader Caruana at the top of the table as Jakovenko beat Caruana with the black pieces.

Amongst the other decisive results, Nakamura defeated Jobava in a game which was marred with mutual mistakes, despite the former dominating for the major part of the game. Also, Grischuk overcame Karjakin while Gelfand beat Svidler. This was Gelfand’s first win of the tournament after registering a rally of 7 consecutive draws.


Complete Round 8 Results:

Gelfand

2744 1-0 Svidler 2734

Tomashevsky

2749 ½-½ Dominguez

2734

Vachier-Lagrave

2754 ½-½ Giri

2776

Jobava

2699 0-1 Nakamura

2799

Grischuk

2780 1-0 Karjakin

2753

Caruana

2803 0-1 Jakovenko

2738

Khanty FIDE GP 07: A day of White victories!

The 7th round of the Khanty Mansiysk FIDE GP 2015 saw the White side dominate with all 3 decisive results of this round going in White’s favour.

The most important result of the round (as regards the tournament standings) was Dominguez’s win over Svidler. With this victory, Dominguez leaped up to the 2nd spot.

Amongst other results, Giri overcame Tomashevsky whilst Nakamura defeated Vachier-Lagrave, who lost his 4th consecutive game.

After 7 rounds, Caruana leads the pack with 5/7, closely followed by Dominguez and Karjakin in the 2nd spot.

Khanty FIDE GP 06: Caruana continues to dominate

Dejection: Grischuk missed a nice drawing resource against Caruana. Grischuk 0-1 Caruana (Pic Source: http://khantymansiysk2015.fide.com/)
Dejection: Grischuk missed a nice drawing resource against Caruana. Grischuk 0-1 Caruana (Pic Source: http://khantymansiysk2015.fide.com/)

The 6th round of the Khanty-Mansiysk FIDE Grand Prix 2015 was easily the most exciting round of the tournament so far. Three decisive results were witnessed in this round with the rest of the games ending in draws.

The game that attracted the most interest in Round 6 was undoubtedly Grischuk vs Caruana. After an intense struggle throughout, the former missed an important chance of setting up a fortress in a Rook+Bishop vs Rook+Bishop+Pawn endgame. This allowed Caruana to grab the full-point and maintain his sole lead with 5 more rounds to go.

In the other decisive games, Svidler swiftly overcame Giri while Karjakin beat Vachier-Lagrave. This was Vachier-Lagrave’s 3rd loss on the trot.


Full Round 6 Results:

NAME

RTG RES. NAME

RTG

Gelfand

2744 ½ – ½ Dominguez

2734

Svidler

2734 1 – 0 Giri

2776

Tomashevsky

2749 ½ – ½ Nakamura 2799
Vachier-Lagrave 2754 0 – 1 Karjakin

2753

Jobava

2699 ½ – ½ Jakovenko

2738

Grischuk

2780 0 – 1 Caruana

2803

 

Khanty FIDE GP 2015 Round 4: Caruana in Sole Lead

Sole leader after Round 4: Fabiano Caruana  (Pic Source: http://khantymansiysk2015.fide.com/)
Sole leader after Round 4: Fabiano Caruana
(Pic Source: http://khantymansiysk2015.fide.com/)

Overnight joint-leader GM Fabiano Caruana raced clear ahead of the rest of the field as he won an important game with the black pieces against GM Vachier-Lagrave in the 4th round of the Khanty-Mansiysk FIDE GP 2015. The latter over-extended on all fronts in the middlegame and Caruana was spot on in taking advantage of the same.

Meanwhile, the rest of the games ended in draws.


Round 4 Results:

PLAYER

RTG RESULT PLAYER

RTG

Gelfand

2744 0.5 – 0.5 Giri

2776

Dominguez

2734 0.5 – 0.5 Nakamura

2799

Svidler

2734 0.5 – 0.5 Karjakin 2753

Tomashevsky

2749 0.5 – 0.5 Jakovenko 2738

Vachier-Lagrave

2754 0 – 1 Caruana

2803

Jobava

2699 0.5 – 0.5 Grischuk 2780

Khanty FIDE GP Round 3: Three players in joint lead

The magnificent playing arena! (Pic Source: http://khantymansiysk2015.fide.com/)
The magnificent playing arena! (Pic Source: http://khantymansiysk2015.fide.com/)

The 3rd round of the Khanty-Mansiysk FIDE GP 2015 witnessed two decisive games as GMs Caruana and Svidler overcame GMs Tomashevsky and Jakovenko respectively. This was Jakovenko’s second consecutive defeat. The rest of the games ended in draws, albeit not short of some excitement.

After 3 rounds, Caruana, Svidler and Dominguez lead the table with 2/3 each. The trio is being closely followed by 6 other players on 1.5/3.


Round 3 Results:

PLAYER

RTG RESULT PLAYER RTG

Jobava

2699 ½ – ½ Gelfand

2744

Grischuk

2780 ½ – ½ Vachier-Lagrave

2754

Caruana

2803 1 – 0 Tomashevsky

2749

Jakovenko

2738 0 – 1 Svidler

2734

Karjakin

2753 ½ – ½ Dominguez

2734

Nakamura

2799 ½ – ½ Giri 2776

 

Khanty FIDE GP Round 2: Lone winner Dominguez!

GM Dominguez Perez Leinier
GM Dominguez Perez Leinier (Pic Source: http://khantymansiysk2015.fide.com/)

The 2nd round of the Khanty Mansiysk FIDE GP 2015 saw only one decisive game in which Dominguez overcame the first-round winner Jakovenko in 36 moves. Dominguez’s play was quite inspirational as he sacrificed the exchange just out of the opening. Although he did stumble on his way with the questionable 19. Bxd4, Jakovenko was unable to take due advantage of the same. After that, Dominguez never looked back and went on to register a fantastic victory. You may replay the game here: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1791983

After 2 rounds, Dominguez and Tomashevsky lead the pack with 1.5/2.


Round 2 Results:

PLAYER

RTG RESULT PLAYER RTG

Gelfand

2744 0.5 – 0.5 Nakamura

2799

Giri

2776 0.5 – 0.5 Karjakin 2753

Dominguez

2734 1 – 0 Jakovenko

2738

Svidler

2734 0.5 – 0.5 Caruana

2803

Tomashevsky

2749 0.5 – 0.5 Grischuk

2780

Vachier-Lagrave

2754 0.5 – 0.5 Jobava

2699

Khanty FIDE GP Round 1: Tomashevsky, Jakovenko start with a win

Jobava misplayed a nice position out of the opening. Jobava 0-1 Tomashevsky. (Pic Source: http://khantymansiysk2015.fide.com/)
Jobava misplayed a nice position out of the opening. Jobava 0-1 Tomashevsky.
(Pic Source: http://khantymansiysk2015.fide.com/)

The opening round of the Khanty-Mansiysk FIDE GP 2015 saw two decisive games while the remaining games finished in draws. Amongst the drawn games, only MVL – Gelfand proved to be an exciting one.

The best game of the day was Jakovenko’s nice positional win over Anish Giri. In a Ragozin Defence, Giri surprisingly opened the position on his own despite Jakovenko possessing the Bishop pair. The ploy backfired on Giri as Jakovenko was able to force matters into an advantageous Rook ending (for Jakovenko), which the Russian player won in a clinical fashion.

However, the other decisive game – Jobava vs Tomashevsky – was nowhere near one-sided. Jobava obtained an excellent position right out of the opening but later went astray in the middlegame. Tomashevsky pounced upon this opportunity and decided the game in his favour in the middlegame itself.

Round 1 Results:

PLAYER

RTG RES. PLAYER

RTG

Vachier-Lagrave

2754 0.5 – 0.5 Gelfand

2744

Jobava

2699 0 – 1 Tomashevsky

2749

Grischuk

2780 0.5 – 0.5 Svidler

2734

Caruana

2803 0.5 – 0.5 Dominguez

2734

Jakovenko

2738 1 – 0 Giri

2776

Karjakin 2753 0.5 – 0.5 Nakamura

2799