Richard Rapport credited his wife with an idea in the Grünfeld that caught Maxime Vachier-Lagrave off-guard and put the Hungarian no. 1 on the verge of the final. Maxime must now win on Thursday to take their match to tiebreaks. Giri-Andreikin ended in a draw, but only after a thrilling game where Anish Giri missed a huge chance to beat Dmitry Andreikin. A draw was agreed in a position where it still wasn’t clear if Giri’s bishop pair would be sufficient to counter Andreikin’s two rooks.
Richard Rapport reached the semi-finals in Berlin and has one foot in the final in Belgrade | photo: Mark Livshitz, FIDE
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And here’s the day’s live commentary from Peter Svidler and Jan Gustafssson.
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Day 1 of the Belgrade FIDE Grand Prix semi-finals saw Richard Rapport take the lead.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave suffered an opening disaster | photo: Mark Livshitz, FIDE
With 10.Rc1 Richard Rapport played a sideline of the Grünfeld Defence.
He commented afterwards:
Maxime played the Grünfeld, which he pretty much always does. 10.Rc1 I think is completely harmless and actually I was not in the best spirit before the game, so I’d like to apologise to my wife, because she insisted that I try this line, that it is playable, but I was really upset about it.
The game ultimately turned on the position after 10…cxd4 11.cxd4 Qa5+ 12.Rc3, a move played three times by Matthias Bluebaum.
Richard explained that the game should objectively have ended in a quick draw.
12…Bg4! just pretty much finishes the game instantly. 13.f3 and 13…Rad8! and it’s just a draw on the spot. [14.fxg4?? Nxd4! and Black wins] Of course it continues, but a player on Maxime’s level would have no difficulty to figure it out from here… But I was very lucky that he didn’t know this line and he went for 12…e5?!, which of course looks very tempting as well, but I think it’s not supposed to work.
Maxime agreed that it had been a mistake to go for 12…e5?! 13.d5 Nd4!?.
Obviously it’s a disappointing result. I maybe went a bit too early into these e5 d5 Nd4 complications. I thought this would be good for me, and then after Bd2 there was no way back. I couldn’t find a move to keep the position the way I wanted. And then little by little I just couldn’t find any way back and I just lost, so obviously it’s disappointing.
Here Richard thought for 37 minutes before playing 14.Bd2!, pointing out that the alternative 14.Qd2 allows more complications after 14…Bh3! 15.0-0 (15.gxh3?? Nf3+) 15…Rac8.
Maxime was barely given a chance after his opening mistake | photo: Mark Livshitz, FIDE
Maxime thought for 20 minutes over 14…Bd7 and after 15.Nxd4 exd4 16.Rc1 Qa3 it was already about how to convert the advantage.
Richard noted he could just have castled here, but exchanging queens with 17.Qb3 Qxb3 18.Bxb3 turned out perfectly, since 18…Rae8?! was, as Richard noted, “Grünfeld-style, but it just doesn’t work”.
After 19.f3 f5?! Richard was able to unleash what he called “my only trick”, 20.Rc7!
Black wants to play 20…fxe4, when 21.Rxd7? exf3+! would suddenly leave Black on top, but the intermediate move 21.d6+! turns the tables. After 21…Kh8 White can now play 22.Rxd7!, since 22…exf3+ is met by 23.Re7!
That was effectively the last key moment of the game, since after 20…Bb5 21.a4! Bd3 22.d6+ the white passed pawns could start their march and were soon unstoppable.
Resignation finally came on move 37.
Initially it looked as though we were going to get a win for White in the other game as well, but Dmitry Andreikin managed to survive a dead-lost position for a 2nd game in a row.
Giri-Andreikin was enthralling right from the start | photo: Mark Livshitz, FIDE
This game started as a Sicilian, but as Dmitry noted, it ended up mirroring the game he won with Black against Nihal Sarin in Round 3 of the 2021 FIDE World Cup, which had opened 1.b3 b6. After 10.h5 Dmitry had exactly the same setup as in that game, with the difference that White had played Nf3 rather than putting the queen on g4.
Here Dmitry regretted going for 10…Nb4!? and provoking 11.d3 b5 12.a3 Nc6 since after 13.Qd2, “I understood that I have a problem, because White has a very easy plan, a very easy game”.
The crucial moment came after 17…c4? 18.dxc4 bxc4 19.b4 h6.
It turns out 20.Nh3! is simply winning for White. Anish had seen some ghosts with Black capturing the e5-pawn, but the main issue was that he thought what he played, 20.Nxf7?!, was also winning.
What he’d missed from afar was that after 20…Kxf7 21.bxa5 Bd5! 22.Qf4+ Kg8 23.Rxd5!? (23.Qg4! was more promising) Black has a defence.
White crashes through after 23…exd5? 24.Rxg7! Kxg7 25.e6+! and a quick checkmate, but Dmitry played the only defence 23…Bg5!, when White is suddenly no better. The second exchange sacrifice was forced: 24.Rxg5
24…exd5 would still lose on the spot to 25.Rxg7+!, but after 24…hxg5 25.Qd4 queens were soon exchanged and we reached a position where White had two bishops, and two extra pawns, against Black’s two rooks. Anish summed up:
At first I thought I shouldn’t risk, because I have great bishops, but then I realised I don’t risk to win, but I think it should still be enough for a draw, because I have two pawns and I think I can always win an exchange back. I think it should be equal, but not on the good side, for sure.
Dmitry Andreikin pulled off a second great escape in a row, though this time he couldn't quite turn a lost position into a win | photo: Mark Livshitz, FIDE
The outcome remained in doubt until, as often in such unusual positions, both players decided it was better to lick their wounds and return to battle a day later.
So it’s still all to play for on Day 2 of that match, when a draw would lead to tiebreaks on Friday. In the other semi-final Maxime Vachier-Lagrave must win on demand with the white pieces against a Richard Rapport who noted earlier in the event that for once he’s been showing the ability to make solid draws with Black, playing the Petroff Defence against 1.e4.
Maxime was also talking up his chances, however.
Obviously there’s going to be more fight on the board tomorrow. There will be no short draw, that’s all I can say… I’ve always been able to rebound after a loss.
With the Belgrade Grand Prix entering its final stages thoughts have also turned to the overall FIDE Grand Prix standings, especially now that the pools for the 3rd and final Grand Prix in Berlin have been announced.
The shock there is that Hikaru Nakamura and Levon Aronian, who met in the final of the 1st leg, have been paired against each other in the group stage, where only one of them can advance to the semi-finals. Dmitry Andreikin is also a formidable 3rd challenger for the top spot.
That has impacted the chances of Hikaru and Levon, while Anish Giri's hopes got a boost by his being paired in a pool identical to the one he conquered in Belgrade, except for Yu Yangyi replacing Harikrishna.
Richard Rapport, who ends his Grand Prix in Belgrade, is now the overall favourite.
Of course the players' chances are hugely dependent on what happens in the second game of the semi-finals in Belgrade!
Don’t miss Jan Gustafsson and Peter Svidler live with all the Belgrade FIDE Grand Prix Knockout action from 09:00 ET | 15:00 CET | 19:30 IST.
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