“Who cares!” said Hikaru Nakamura when he learned that he’d clinched overall victory in the 2022 FIDE Grand Prix with a draw against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov. His point was that there are no separate prizes this time round for the overall results. Meanwhile there's still unfinished business in Berlin, with both semi-finals to be decided in tiebreaks on Friday after Wesley So made a move that both players initially thought was winning, only to realise there was a refutation which almost instantly decided the game in Amin Tabatabaei’s favour.
Hikaru Nakamura has already ensured he wins the FIDE Grand Prix series ahead of Richard Rapport
You can replay all the games from the knockout stages of the last leg of the 2022 FIDE Grand Prix using the selector below.
And here’s the day’s live commentary from Peter Svidler and Jan Gustafsson.
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The semi-finals of the Berlin FIDE Grand Prix will be decided in tiebreaks after the players tied 1:1 after the classical games.
Both games on Thursday essentially came down to one critical moment. Mamedyarov-Nakamura was an interesting battle where Shakhriyar Mamedyarov at first looked to have a healthy advantage. He let it slip, however, and Hikaru seemed to be taking over with the black pieces.
He didn’t quite appreciate it himself, however, while Mamedyarov here was worried by a quiet approach that also gets the computer's stamp of approval.
26…g6, Kg7 and I don’t know what to do. If White will play well it will be a draw, but I have to play very accurate.
Instead 26…Bxa4?! 27.Qxa4 Rxd3 28.Qxa5 gave up almost all the advantage, and the only remaining surprise was that game dragged on until move 51. Hikaru explained:
At one point I wanted to play on, then Shakhriyar wanted to play on, and nobody had anything special.
The draw meant the players now head to tiebreaks, but it also had another significance. Hikaru Nakamura had already matched Richard Rapport’s 20 GP points by getting to the semi-finals. If he were to lose the semi-finals then tiebreaks would come into play, and it turns out that everything would be equal except that Hikaru would have scored 11.5 points in classical chess compared to Richard’s 11. So Hikaru is already the overall champion. His response?
But there’s no bonus prize, so it doesn’t mean anything! In past Grand Prixs there actually were prizes overall, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, but now there are no prizes. Who cares!
Hikaru Nakamura might still be able to stop Sauron | photo: World Chess
There is still some money at stake for getting to the final or winning the event, and that will now be decided by tiebreaks on Friday. Shakhriyar noted, “Hikaru’s crushed me,” about his rapid and blitz games against the US star, though Shakh did win the 2013 World Rapid Championship. He was playing it down, however!
I was the World Champion in rapid when I was young, but now I’m not young!
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov found time for a quick nap | photo: World Chess
Meanwhile in the other semi-final it looked as though everything was going Wesley So’s way. His opponent, Amin Tabatabaei, managed to spring an early surprise.
He commented:
I just wanted to somehow surprise him, because I know he knows his lines really well and it’s rarely possible to touch his lines. He’s extremely solid, but I was quite happy with the outcome of the opening.
Amin only remembered up to a point, however, and Wesley was able to strike back with a pawn sacrifice that seemed to give him a pleasant advantage in a game he only needed to draw. Then, however, he had a rush of blood to the head as he almost blitzed out the move 23…Nh4?
24.gxh4?? Qg4+ is checkmate next move, while taking the other hanging piece with 24.Rxd5?? simply runs into 24…Nf3+, losing the queen. Other tries also fail, e.g. 24.Qc3 Nf3+ 25.Kg2 Nd4+ is winning for Black. Amin was at first as sure as Wesley that he’d blundered into this.
And after what happened was just crazy. I played Rd1, I completely blundered Nh4, I thought everything falls apart after Nh4.
It turned out, however, that the absolutely forced 24.Rd3! not only saves the day, but wins for White. Wesley thought he’d fallen into a carefully laid trap, but Amin explained:
No, I didn’t prepare it at all, and after Rd3 it’s so strange that White is completely winning. In the first moment I thought it’s completely lost, but then I have a move which is completely winning for me. It just happens once in a blue moon, it’s just so rare. I was incredibly lucky in that moment, but I think after that Black has almost zero chance.
24…Nf3+? would be met by 25.Rxf3! Bxf3 26.Qc3!, while 24…Qg4, renewing the threat of Nf3, could be met by 25.Qc3! Be4 26.Be2! Qg5 27.Rxd6 and White had untangled and restored the material balance. Wesley So resigned on move 30.
You might reasonably ask why Wesley resigned when material was equal, but the US Champion explained:
It’s not going to be equal for a long time. Basically anybody who plays chess knows it’s lost, because White has the bishop pair, better pawn structure, active rook and Black cannot move. The rook is on the 6th rank, so all the technical pluses are for White. You just have to learn the basics to know it’s lost!
Amin Tabatabaei managed to beat Wesley So on demand — can he also survive a rapid playoff? | photo: World Chess
It ended up being a tough day at the office for Wesley, but he was full of praise for his 21-year-old Iranian opponent.
I just want to say my opponent’s a great player. Amin’s very young, also I think the COVID pandemic has affected young players like you, making you two years older. You’re technically 19! But my opponent’s a great player, a fighting player, very aggressive, very tactical, and I just blundered Nh4 Rd3, that’s all I've got to say about the game!
That means that both semifinals will now be decided in a rapid playoff on Friday. Follow all the FIDE Grand Prix action each day from 15:00 CET live here on chess24.
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