Speed Chess Preview: Artemiev-Giri

The last match in the Round of 16 of the 2020 Speed Chess Championship Main Event will be played on Monday between GM Vladislav Artemiev (@Sibelephant) and GM Anish Giri (@AnishGiri). The action starts on Monday, November 16, at 9 a.m. Pacific / 18:00 Central Europe.

This match will see two fluent Russian speakers, one being the world number-11 in the world in over-the-board blitz (Artemiev), the other the world number-24 (Giri). While the Dutchman was invited for his fame and status as a classical player (and streamer!), Artemiev earned his spot in the tournament thanks to his excellent second place in the Speed Chess Grand Prix—he won two editions along the way on June 2 and August 18.

Artemiev was born March 5, 1998 in Omsk, Russia, and started playing chess at the age of seven. In six years, he started to get success at international tournaments, starting in 2011 when he won the bronze medal in the European Youth U14 Championship.

In 2013, Artemiev won the Russian Junior Championship and two years later, aged 17, he won the Higher League, the strong qualifier for the Russian Championship Superfinal. 

In 2016, Artemiev won silver at the World Junior Championship, behind Jeffery Xiong. In both 2016 and 2017, Artemiev won the Russian Blitz Championship. At the end of 2017, he won the gold medal in the men's blitz event of the IMSA Elite Mind Games in China.

At the end of 2018, Artemiev won the European Blitz Championship, and two months later he won the Gibraltar Masters, one of the strongest open tournaments of the year. Again two months later, in March 2019, Artemiev scored 6.5/8 for gold-winning Russia at the World Team Championship. GM Alexander Grischuk called him "the Chuck Norris of chess" and their new team leader.

Artemiev is the reigning European Champion in classical chess, after his win in 2019 (and the tournament not taking place in 2020).

Last year, he debuted in the Speed Chess Championship when he defeated Levon Aronian in the first round before losing to Wesley So. 

Artemiev is marred to the chess player WFM Olga Belova, now named Olga Artemyeva. They live in Kazan, Russia.

"I think that I have good chances in such a long blitz match, but it is only one day, and I must find my good form," said Artemiev. Besides Giri's famed opening preparation, Artemiev noted: "He is also strong in technical and stable positions."

Giri was born June 28, 1994 in St. Petersburg to a Russian mother and a Nepali father. He started playing chess with his mother at the age of six. Between 2002 and 2008, Giri lived with his family in Japan and since 2008 in the Netherlands.

In 2009, at the age of 14 years, seven months, and two days, Giri secured the GM title. In 2010, Giri won the B group of the Corus Chess Tournament in Wijk aan Zee, and later that year he was one of the helpers of GM Vishy Anand to prepare for the world championship match with GM Veselin Topalov.

At his debut in the Wijk aan Zee top group in 2011, Giri defeated GM Magnus Carlsen as Black in 22 moves. In 2012, Giri won the international tournament in Reggio Emilia, Italy where he met his wife, Sopiko Guramishvili. The two live in Den Haag and have a four-year-old son named Daniel.

Giri is a four-time Dutch champion (2009, 2011, 2012, 2015). In 2015, he tied for first place with GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Carlsen at the London Chess Classic but came in third in the playoff.

In 2016, Giri participated in the FIDE Candidates tournament and famously drew all 14 games. In 2017, Giri won the Reykjavik Open, and in January 2018 he tied for first place at the Tata Steel Chess tournament in Wijk aan Zee but lost to Carlsen in the playoff. In the summer of 2019, Giri won the Shenzhen Masters.

Giri is currently on 3.5/7 at the 2020 FIDE Candidates tournament, which will be resumed in the spring of 2021.

The Dutchman agrees that he is not the favorite today: "Given that he has played so much more online games in recent years and has a higher Chess.com rating, I guess the odds are on his side, but I will not be shocked if I will win."

Asked about his opponent's strong qualities, Giri said: "I think he is a pretty much an all-around player, tactically sharp, good understanding, fine technique, and his very few weaknesses are seen in the classical games, much less so in blitz."

In classical chess, the players drew twice, while on OTB rapid/blitz Artemiev leads 2-1 with one draw. On Chess.com (3+1 games), Artemiev leads 2 to 0. It is, therefore, no surprise that Artemiev is the slight favorite, according to @SmarterChess:

The match between Artemiev and Giri is the last in the Round of 16. Earlier, GMs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (@Lyonbeast), Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen), Vladimir Fedoseev (@Bigfish1995), Wesley So (@GMWSO), Levon Aronian (@LevonAronian), Hikaru Nakamura (@Hikaru), and Jan-Krzysztof Duda qualified for the quarterfinals.

The 2020 Speed Chess Championship Main Event is a knockout tournament among 16 of the best grandmasters in the world who will play for a $100,000 prize fund, double the amount of last year. The tournament will run November 1-December 13, 2020 on Chess.com. Each individual match will feature 90 minutes of 5+1 blitz, 60 minutes of 3+1 blitz, and 30 minutes of 1+1 bullet chess.

Find all information about the Speed Chess Championship here.