Moscow GP Finals will be decided in tie-breakers
Game 1 of the match on Monday also ended in a draw.
In Game 2, Nepomniachtchi had White and opened with 1 e4. Grischuk replied 1… e5 and employed the Berlin Defense. Instead of ceding the bishops to cripple Black’s pawn structure by playing 5 d4 Nd6 6 Bc6 dc6 7 de5, Nepomniachtchi chose 5 Re1, a variation that is thought to be less testing for Black, but which has also been known to have some venom.
Nepomniachtchi - Grischuk, Round 4.2
Grischuk showed that he was well prepared for that line, too, however and achieved a stable position with relatively few problems. Indeed, Black’s actively placed knight and bishop after 19 … Bf5 gave him full counterplay, which may have been why Nepomniachtchi offered a draw after 23 Re1. Grischuk accepted after a short reflection.
In an interview afterward, Nepomniachtchi explained that the opening was deceptively complex. Grischuk said that he accepted the draw because he did not see a way to obtain any sort of advantage.
The tie-breaker games will begin at 3 p.m. local time, 5:30 p.m. IST on Wednesday. The broadcast can be viewed free and live at worldchess.com.
One way or another, there will be a Moscow Grand Prix champion on Wednesday.
Live games begin at 5.30 p.m. IST
The principal sponsors of the series are PhosAgro, a giant Russian fertilizer company, and Kaspersky Lab, a worldwide leader in data security. The series is being organized and broadcast by Worldchess on its Web site under the auspices of FIDE.
About the author:
Dylan Loeb McClain is an author for the World Chess website. Formerly, he was a staff editor and chess columnist for The New York Times.
