Hamburg Grand Prix Final Goes To Tiebreak
The final of the FIDE Grand Prix in Hamburg will be decided in a tiebreak on Sunday. Jan-Krzysztof Duda was under pressure twice but held the draw against Alexander Grischuk in both standard games.
Over the board Duda and Grischuk had played each other in only rapid and blitz, and you might also remember their epic Speed Chess match here on Chess.com, played 14 months ago and narrowly won by Duda. On Friday, they met for the first time in classical chess (or "standard" as FIDE now calls it).
In a Queen's Indian, Grischuk seemed to surprise his opponent when he used a recent idea from Ivan Cheparinov on move 13. Duda thought for more than 50 minutes for his next two moves.
Grischuk wouldn't be Grischuk if he played the remainder of the game with more time on the clock, so he spent 47 minutes for his next two moves! He did manage to get a stable, positional advantage but missed a chance in time trouble.
The second game was even more exciting, with Grischuk again getting the better chances out of the opening, this time as Black in a Queen's Gambit Declined. It was obvious that Duda hadn't expected this particular variation.
Grischuk found a great pawn sacrifice behind the board, and engines gave him a big advantage after Duda took it. Again both players spent a lot of time early in the game; they were down to 20 minutes after just 13 moves.
It became extremely tactical, and with so little time Duda found a number of great defensive moves and somehow held his own once again.
"Maybe a better calculator like Maxime Vachier-Lagrave would have found something," said Grischuk, "but he would not get this position because he doesn't play the Queen's Gambit, which is the most aggressive opening."
The biggest chess fans will know what to do on their free Sunday: follow the tiebreak between these two great players. It will start 15:00 CET, which is 9 a.m. Eastern and 6 a.m. Pacific. You can follow the games here as part of our live portal.
Previous reports:
- Duda Beats Dubov, Reaches Hamburg Grand Prix Final
- Hamburg Grand Prix: Grischuk Eliminates Vachier-Lagrave
- Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix Semifinals Start Peacefully
- Duda, Dubov, Grischuk, MVL In Hamburg Grand Prix Semis
- Hamburg GP Round 2: Vachier-Lagrave Starts With Win
- Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix: Dubov Knocks Out Radjabov
- 4 Winners At Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix 1st Day
- FIDE Grand Prix Resumes Today; Grand Chess Tour Tomorrow
Peter Doggers joined a chess club a month before turning 15 and still plays for it. He used to be an active tournament player and holds two IM norms.
Peter has a Master of Arts degree in Dutch Language & Literature. He briefly worked at New in Chess, then as a Dutch teacher and then in a project for improving safety and security in Amsterdam schools.
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