Grenke Freestyle Open R1: A smooth start for the favorites
Grenke Chess witnesses the participation of over 3000 players combining three groups in Open and three in Freestyle. It is the biggest open chess tournamet in the world. Magnus Carlsen (NOR) is the top seed in the Freestyle Open A. World no.4, Arjun Erigaisi and World no.11, Aravindh Chithambaram are two of the top Indian players in the fray. The conventional Grenke Open has a combined total prize fund of €70000 whereas the Freestyle Open has a prize fund of €225000, more than three times of Classical chess. There is no doubt that it has attracted all the top chess players around the world to try this popular old variant which has been renamed and rebranded to 'Freestyle chess'. Round 2 starts today at 10 a.m. local time, 1:30 p.m. IST. Photos: Aditya Sur Roy
Dinara Wagner wins in eight moves, Over 3000 players in action
The starting position for the first round was position number 758.
The starting position for Round 1 was number 758
Mostertman - Nepomniachtchi: 0-1
Among the top boards, one of the most interesting game was between Milan Mostertman (NED) and GM Ian Nepomniachtchi.
Position after 11...d3
Nepomniachtchi kept rolling his central pawns down the board. The game continued 12.exd3 Bxb2 13.Nxb2 Rxg4 14.Qh2 Qg7 15.Bxe4 Nd4 16.Ng5 f6 17.Bf3 Rxg5 18.fxg5 Nxf3 19.gxf6 Qg5 20.f7?? Nxf7 and Black won. Things were not that easy for Black.
Milan Mostertman put up a good fight against Ian Nepomniachtchi
GM Magnus Carlsen (NOR) - Vinzenz Hillerman (GER): 1-0
Chrstian Friedrich Koehler (GER) - Arjun Erigaisi: 0-1
GM Aravindh Chithambaram - FM Hendrik Moeller (GER): 1-0
CM Sebastian Laemmel (GER) - GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE): 0-1
GM Wesley So (USA) - Lukas Pfatteicher (GER): 1-0
Matthias Bach (GER) - GM Levon Aronian (USA): 0-1
GM Leinier Dominguez Perez (USA) - Emran Hamid (GER): 1-0
GM Liem Quang Le (VIE) - Sebastian Brandt (GER): 1-0
GM Richard Rapport (HUN) pondering over his first move
GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA) - Christopher Kearns (GER): 1-0
Joachim Klein (GER) - GM Vincent Keymer (GER): 0-1
FM Andreas Ciolek (GER) - GM Hans Niemann (USA), Commentary by IM Sagar Shah | Video: ChessBase India
GM Harshit Raja is back on the board and he won his first game. In Round 2, he will face GM Ian Nepomniachtchi
Inaugural first move
Magnus Carlsen spectating Arjun's game
Top boards
Spectators following the games live in person at Congress Center Karlsruhe in Karlsruhe, Germany
GM Karthikeyan Murali, GM Aravindh Chithambaram and GM Pranesh M meet the maestro - GM Levon Aronian
Aravindh Chithambaram, Vincent Keymer and Fabiano Caruana with their fans
For more Round 1 photos, please click here.
Replay live stream
Replay Round 1 live commentary by IM Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal | Video: ChessBase India
Video Gallery
IM Dinara Wagner (GER) on winning her first round game in just eight moves | Video: ChessBase India
Ian Nepomniachtchi fans | Video: ChessBase India
Players arrival | Video: ChessBase India
Interview with GM Alexander Grischuk | Video: Grenke Chess
Day 1 impressions | Video: Grenke Chess
Replay Round 1 Open A games
Round 1 results
| Bo. | No. | White | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Black | Rtg | No. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | GM | Carlsen, Magnus | 2837 | 0 | 1 - 0 | 0 | Hillermann, Vinzenz | 2227 | 138 | |||
| 2 | 250 | Schmitt, Hans Walter | 1986 | 0 | 0 - 1 | 0 | FM | Poeck, Ole | 2304 | 117 | |||
| 3 | 139 | Koehler, Christian Friedrich | 2223 | 0 | 0 - 1 | 0 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun, | 2782 | 2 | |||
| 4 | 3 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | 2776 | 0 | 1 - 0 | 0 | CM | Hauser, Carlos, Dr. | 2219 | 140 | ||
| 5 | 141 | FM | Mostertman, Milan | 2218 | 0 | 0 - 1 | 0 | GM | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | 2757 | 4 | ||
| 6 | 5 | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram VR. | 2749 | 0 | 1 - 0 | 0 | FM | Moeller, Hendrik | 2217 | 142 | ||
| 7 | 143 | CM | Laemmel, Sebastian | 2210 | 0 | 0 - 1 | 0 | GM | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | 2748 | 6 | ||
| 8 | 7 | GM | So, Wesley | 2748 | 0 | 1 - 0 | 0 | Pfatteicher, Lukas | 2210 | 144 | |||
| 9 | 146 | FM | Bach, Matthias | 2207 | 0 | 0 - 1 | 0 | GM | Aronian, Levon | 2747 | 8 | ||
| 10 | 9 | GM | Dominguez Perez, Leinier | 2738 | 0 | 1 - 0 | 0 | Hamid, Emran | 2203 | 147 | |||
| 11 | 149 | FM | Ciolek, Andreas | 2198 | 0 | 0 - 1 | 0 | GM | Niemann, Hans Moke | 2736 | 10 | ||
| 12 | 11 | GM | Le, Quang Liem | 2729 | 0 | 1 - 0 | 0 | Brandt, Sebastian | 2198 | 150 | |||
| 13 | 151 | Richter, Leonard | 2198 | 0 | 0 - 1 | 0 | GM | Rapport, Richard | 2722 | 12 | |||
| 14 | 13 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | 2722 | 0 | 1 - 0 | 0 | Kearns, Christopher | 2186 | 152 | |||
| 15 | 153 | Klein, Joachim | 2186 | 0 | 0 - 1 | 0 | GM | Keymer, Vincent | 2718 | 14 |
Standings after Round 1
| Rk. | SNo | Name | FED | Rtg | RtgI | RtgN | Club/City | Pts. | TB1 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | GM | Carlsen, Magnus | NOR | 2837 | 2837 | 2839 | FC ST.Pauli 1910 eV SAbt | 1 | 0 | |
| 2 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun, | IND | 2782 | 2782 | 2759 | Düsseldorfer SK 14/25 e. | 1 | 0 | ||
| 3 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | USA | 2776 | 2776 | 2743 | OSG Baden-Baden | 1 | 0 | ||
| 4 | GM | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | RUS | 2757 | 2757 | 0 | Düsseldorfer SK 14/25 e. | 1 | 0 | ||
| 5 | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram VR. | IND | 2749 | 2749 | 2744 | SC Viernheim 1934 e.V. | 1 | 0 | ||
| 6 | GM | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | AZE | 2748 | 2748 | 2759 | SC Viernheim 1934 e.V. | 1 | 0 | ||
| 7 | GM | So, Wesley | USA | 2748 | 2748 | 2752 | Düsseldorfer SK 14/25 e. | 1 | 0 | ||
| 8 | GM | Aronian, Levon | USA | 2747 | 2747 | 2756 | OSG Baden-Baden | 1 | 0 | ||
| 9 | GM | Dominguez Perez, Leinier | USA | 2738 | 2738 | 2727 | Düsseldorfer SK 14/25 e. | 1 | 0 | ||
| 10 | GM | Niemann, Hans Moke | USA | 2736 | 2736 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| 11 | GM | Le, Quang Liem | VIE | 2729 | 2729 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |||
| 12 | GM | Rapport, Richard | HUN | 2722 | 2722 | 2742 | OSG Baden-Baden | 1 | 0 | ||
| 13 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | FRA | 2722 | 2722 | 2713 | OSG Baden-Baden | 1 | 0 | ||
| 14 | GM | Keymer, Vincent | GER | 2718 | 2718 | 2717 | OSG Baden-Baden | 1 | 0 | ||
| 15 | GM | Yu, Yangyi | CHN | 2714 | 2714 | 2731 | Düsseldorfer SK 14/25 e. | 1 | 0 |
Round 2 pairings
| Bo. | No. | White | Rtg | Pts. | Result | Pts. | Black | Rtg | No. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 66 | IM | Finek, Vaclav | 2501 | 1 | 1 | GM | Carlsen, Magnus | 2837 | 1 | |||
| 2 | 2 | GM | Erigaisi Arjun, | 2782 | 1 | 1 | GM | Gokerkan, Cem Kaan | 2489 | 68 | |||
| 3 | 67 | IM | Assaubayeva, Bibisara | 2494 | 1 | 1 | GM | Caruana, Fabiano | 2776 | 3 | |||
| 4 | 4 | GM | Nepomniachtchi, Ian | 2757 | 1 | 1 | GM | Raja Harshit, | 2474 | 71 | |||
| 5 | 70 | GM | Klekowski, Maciej | 2474 | 1 | 1 | GM | Aravindh, Chithambaram VR. | 2749 | 5 | |||
| 6 | 6 | GM | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | 2748 | 1 | 1 | IM | Koelle, Tobias | 2459 | 73 | |||
| 7 | 72 | IM | Kilic, Eray | 2473 | 1 | 1 | GM | So, Wesley | 2748 | 7 | |||
| 8 | 8 | GM | Aronian, Levon | 2747 | 1 | 1 | IM | Aizenberg, Benny | 2450 | 75 | |||
| 9 | 74 | IM | Injac, Teodora | 2455 | 1 | 1 | GM | Dominguez Perez, Leinier | 2738 | 9 | |||
| 10 | 10 | GM | Niemann, Hans Moke | 2736 | 1 | 1 | GM | Deviatkin, Andrei | 2442 | 77 | |||
| 11 | 76 | IM | Pantzar, Milton | 2445 | 1 | 1 | GM | Le, Quang Liem | 2729 | 11 | |||
| 12 | 12 | GM | Rapport, Richard | 2722 | 1 | 1 | IM | Kucuksari, Kaan | 2440 | 79 | |||
| 13 | 78 | IM | Druska, Juraj | 2442 | 1 | 1 | GM | Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime | 2722 | 13 | |||
| 14 | 14 | GM | Keymer, Vincent | 2718 | 1 | 1 | GM | Wirig, Anthony | 2433 | 81 | |||
| 15 | 80 | IM | Wagner, Dinara | 2435 | 1 | 1 | GM | Yu, Yangyi | 2714 | 15 |
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