Berlin GP R1: Aronian beats Vidit, Harikrishna draws
Vidit Gujrathi got outplayed by Levon Aronian in the endgame. Pentala Harikrishna drew with Alexey Shirov in Round 1 of FIDE Berlin GP 2022. Vladimir Fedoseev and Radoslaw Wojtaszek are the remaining two victors of the round. They defeated Grigoriy Oparin and Richard Rapport respectively. Hikaru Nakamura opted for Berlin in his first Classical game since November 2019. Alexander Grischuk had a good chance against Andrey Esipenko. Pool stage still has five more rounds to go as it is played in double round-robin format. Round 2 of Pool stage starts today at 7:30 p.m. IST. Photo: World Chess
Three decisive games
The first round of FIDE Berlin GP 2022 witnessed three decisive games, including both from Pool B and one from Pool C. White won in all of them.
Pool A: Esipenko - Grischuk: 0.5-0.5
Alexander Grischuk got himself a very good position in the endgame against Andrey Esipenko. The latter's mistake created a good opportunity for the three-time world blitz champion.
The position was quite difficult for White. 28.Kg2 Ne3+ 29.Kh3 is suggested as the best defense by the computer. Both 28.Qb1 and Rb1 lands white in deep trouble because of and Nc3 and Rc3 respectively.
Pool B: Fedoseev - Oparin: 1-0
Vladimir Fedoseev consolidated his position quite well when his opponent, Grigoriy Oparin made a positional error in the endgame.
25...hxg3 and Qb5 were better choices for Black. Find out why 25...h3 was not good for Black.
Wojtaszek - Rapport: 1-0
Richard Rapport went wrong in the knight endgame, which cost him dearly against Radoslaw Wojtaszek.
Black was already down by a pawn and 41...Nc4 only made things worse for Black. The game continued 42.Nd3, however there was a better continuation. What was it?
Pool C: Aronian - Vidit: 1-0
The rook, bishop and many pawns endgame was quite difficult. However, Vidit overlooked a possible breakthrough on the kingside, probably due to time trouble which gave Aronian a decisive advantage.
White's threat is to play 36.f5. Black needed to play 36...f5 himself to prevent it. However, he opted for 36...Rc7 and 37.f5 completely turned things in White's favor. Vidit fought till the end but there was not enough to save the game.
Replay Round 1 games
Round 1 results
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.
Prize
Each Grand Prix tournament has a total prize fund - €150000.
