^ Click here to remove ads! ^

Baku Grand Prix ends in tie

Submitted by SonofPearl on Mon, 05/05/2008 at 11:58am.

Gashimov, Yue and Carlsen share 1st prize

So it's all over.  The first FIDE Grand Prix was a memorable event, produced lots of exciting chess and surprise winners.  At the start of the tournament Vugar Gashimov was overshadowed by his better known compatriots Radjabov and Mamedyarov.  No longer; he ended up undefeated and joint winner.

The other surprise package was Wang Yue of China who also went undefeated through 13 tough rounds.  Sharing the spoils with a late surge is the ratings favourite, 17 year-old Magnus Carlsen of Norway.  Magnus is already ranked 5th in the World; how long before he challenges for the no.1 position?  Look out Anand!

Alexander Grischuk just missed out on a share of 1st place after leading for several rounds, but he should be pleased with his result.  Maybe he'll forget about poker for good now?

Peter Svidler ended his tournament on a high note as he beat Inarkiev to lift himself up to an even score.  David Navara, the lowest ranked of the players also managed to end with a win against Cheparinov thereby ending the tournament with back to back wins and avoiding last place.

So congratulations to Gashimov, Yue and Carlsen who share the 72,500 Euro prize for 1st place.  The Grand Prix circus will roll on next to the Russian resort of Sochi, starting on the 30th July.

 The final round results in full:

Wang Yue

- Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar

½-½

47

E32

Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2

Grischuk, Alexander

- Radjabov, Teimour

½-½

32

A15

English counter King's Fianchetto

Adams, Michael

- Gashimov, Vugar

½-½

42

C42

Petroff's Defence

Svidler, Peter

- Inarkiev, Ernesto

1-0

44

E63

King's Indian 6...Nc6

Karjakin, Sergey

- Kamsky, Gata

½-½

44

C95

Ruy Lopez Breyer

Navara, David

- Cheparinov, Ivan

1-0

33

D12

Slav Defence

Bacrot, Etienne

- Carlsen, Magnus

0-1

62

E21

Nimzo Indian 4.Nf3

The final crosstable:

        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14  
1 Gashimov, Vugar  AZE  2679 *  ½  ½  1 ½  ½  1 ½  1 ½  ½  ½  ½  ½  8
2 Carlsen, Magnus  NOR  2765 ½  *  ½  ½  0 1 ½  1 ½  ½  ½  ½  1 1 8
3 Wang Yue  CHN  2689 ½  ½  *  ½  ½  ½  1 ½  ½  1 1 ½  ½  ½  8
4 Grischuk, Alexander  RUS  2716 0 ½  ½  *  ½  ½  ½  ½  ½  ½  1 1 ½  1  
5 Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar  AZE  2752 ½  1 ½  ½  *  ½  ½  ½  ½  1 0 1 1 0
6 Adams, Michael  ENG  2729 ½  0 ½  ½  ½  *  1 ½  0 0 1 1 ½  ½   
7 Svidler, Peter  RUS  2746 0 ½  0 ½  ½  0 *  ½  1 1 ½  ½  ½  1  
8 Radjabov, Teimour  AZE  2751 ½  0 ½  ½  ½  ½  ½  *  1 ½  0 0 1 ½  6
9 Kamsky, Gata  USA  2726 0 ½  ½  ½  ½  1 0 0 *  ½  ½  ½  ½  1 6
10 Karjakin, Sergey  UKR  2732 ½  ½  0 ½  0 1 0 ½  ½  *  ½  ½  ½  1 6
11 Cheparinov, Ivan  BUL  2696 ½  ½  0 0 1 0 ½  1 ½  ½  *  0 0 1  
12 Navara, David  CZE  2672 ½  ½  ½  0 0 0 ½  1 ½  ½  1 *  ½  0  
13 Bacrot, Etienne  FRA  2705 ½  0 ½  ½  0 ½  ½  0 ½  ½  1 ½  *  0 5
14 Inarkiev, Ernesto  RUS  2684 ½  0 ½  0 1 ½  0 ½  0 0 0 1 1 *  5

 

Decisive games from the final round:

 

 

 


 

All the games from the Baku Grand Prix can be downloaded here.

 

Comments:

by eternaloptimist - 11 days ago
Orange Beach, AL United States
Member Since: Feb 2008
Member Points: 80
B4 the trnt. started I thought Kamsky or Carlsen would win it. Carlsen did tie for first, but w/ the 2nd & 4th lowest players in the trnt.! I can't remember ever hearing of Gashimov & Yue b4 this trnt.; the future should be bright for them.  Kamsky only tied for 8th-10th! This surprised me because he has been playing so well lately. Although, he is still a little rusty on the best lines in the openings because he quit playing chess in otb tournaments for a long time.  
by Chesser777 - 11 days ago
Belgium
Member Since: Feb 2008
Member Points: 221
After there 13matches they are tired, i woulndt be smiling to...
by TonightOnly - 12 days ago
Phoenix, AZ United States
Member Since: Jun 2007
Member Points: 972
equals roughly 37,426 USD
by chessfanforlife - 12 days ago
Toronto Canada
Member Since: Jan 2008
Member Points: 515
72500 divide by 3...=24.166K
by SonofPearl - 12 days ago
Wales
Member Since: May 2007
Member Points: 2232

Thanks Phobetor for noticing the error in the crosstable.  I had copied it from a website which hadn't updated yet for the Wang game result (which was the last to finish).  I added in the result, but forgot to adjust the scores. Embarassed

Completely agree about the official website - great job.  Chess coverage as it should be. 


by sstteevveenn - 12 days ago
Wales United Kingdom
Member Since: Dec 2007
Member Points: 499

well the fide website was great, until they decided to stop offering the games analysis for download, and instead decided to force people to stream them using chessbase for no reason.  This didnt work in chessbase light, as it told me i'd already reached my quota or something, having not watched any.  Even if it did work it would have been inferior in every way to simply downloading the files and watching at my convenience.  Also, they could have done with a 'flip board' option on their live games and sometimes there would be some lag where it stopped updating the games for a bit.  Other than that it was good.  Some of the press conferences were amusing.  

 

I was thinking the same thing about looking glum.  Carlsen looks like he's the one who wrote the cheque ffs!   


by Brattboy23 - 12 days ago
Renton, Washington Philippines
Member Since: Jun 2007
Member Points: 24

good performance Gashimov..2nd to the lowest seed and got the FIRST PLACE.. you did a great game!! also carlsen and wang yue..wowowee!!


by Jasn - 12 days ago
Sausalito, CA United States
Member Since: Feb 2008
Member Points: 149
My only question is, why is everyone so glum in that photo? For that matter, why does world-class chess seem to be the realm of the perennially unsmiling? I know you're supposed to be Serious and all over the board, but c'mon guys: you won. Lighten up!
by Phobetor - 12 days ago
Eindhoven Netherlands
Member Since: Aug 2007
Member Points: 517

This tournament is also a great achievement for the FIDE and their web team. Although before they were never even able to provide a stable website broadcasting live games, this tournament they had everything a chess tournament website needs: all games live, video interviews, press conferences, all previous games, round reports, a photo gallery, all previous results and a schedule for the next rounds, the current standings and a crosstable. And all of that on a clean, easy-to-navigate website. Well done FIDE!

 

It's also interesting to note that the players with the most draws are Gashimov and Wang. Out of 13 games they drew 10, and won 3. They lost none, which makes them the only two players not to lose a game here. But their score of three wins isn't amazing; both Carlsen (+4 =8 -1) and Mamedyarov (+4 =7 -2) got one more win, and even Inarkiev (+3 =4 -6) and Cheparinov (+3 =5 -5) got as many wins.

So apparently it's not important to win lots of games, but it's important not to lose any. Even if you draw 10 out of 13 games, you can still take first place.

 

By the way, SonofPearl, in your crosstable the total score column is incorrect. You didn't count the draw between Wang and Mamedyarov for the final score. Wang has 8 points and Mamedyarov 7.5. 


 

Add your comment:

Join Chess.com for free to add your comment! Already a member? Then login now to comment.