Tbilisi GP Ends With Six More Draws, Tomashevsky Glorious Winner

Like the day before, all games in the final round of the Tbilisi Grand Prix ended in draws.

Behind winner GM Evgeny Tomashevsky, who had secured first place yesterday, GM Dmitry Jakovenko ended second and GM Teimour Radjabov third. The winner of the previous Grand Prix, Dmitry Andreikin, finished in last place this time.

All photos courtesy of FIDE.

Whereas the first place was known already, on the last day the players could still try to improve their Elo or financial reward a little. And although most of the games were serious fights, they all ended in draws.

GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and GM Peter Svidler went for an extremely short draw in the last round:

GM Evgeny Tomashevsky got his fourth King's Indian in the tournament, and played the 6.h3 variation for the fourth time! He called it a “principled” variation the other day, and he is sticking to that description.

He drew with Anish Giri in this line, but then beat Alexander Grischuk and Rustam Kasimdzhanov. Nonetheless GM Teimour Radjabov, a life-long KID player, went for it and drew without too many problems.

Someone has to defend The King's Indian.

— Teymur Rajabov (@rajachess) 27 februari 2015

The tournament winner got 20,000 Euro for his fantastic result. Runner-up GM Dmitry Jakovenko, who earned 16,000 Euro, was held to a draw by GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov in a Queen's Gambit Declinde with 5.Bf4.

White didn't go for the highly topical 7.c5 but played 7.a3 instead. In the ending White's advantage (a slightly better bishop) was just minimal.

Without a doubt, the most interesting game of the round was GM Baadur Jobava vs Dmitry Andreikin. A Chebanenko Slav quickly left theory, and then Andreikin played a typical exchange sacrifice that is known from a topical line in the Queen's Gambit Accepted.

Jobava couldn't easily untangle on the kingside and had to give back the exchange and a pawn. After some tough defense he held the draw.

GM Alexander Grischuk is not a fan of getting up early. The final round in a Grand Prix always starts two hours earlier, which was 1pm local time. “By the time I started preparing I had to run to the playing hall!” he said.

As a result, GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave had better knowledge of the opening, and got a slight edge in the middlegame in terms of pawn structure. However, the balance was never really restored because of the opposite-colored bishops.

The last game of the tournament to finish was GM Anish Giri vs Leinier Dominguez. Either player would have joined Radjabov in third place with a win, which would have meant a cheque of 12,000 Euro. However, the game was drawn, and both got 9,875 Euro for a shared fourth place.

The game was a Bogo-Indian, although it soon looked like a King's Indian or Breyer Ruy Lopez. White was slightly better, as Black's knight on g7 wasn't great (and his e7-bishop not much better than in a KID). However, without the rooks it was easier for Black to hold the draw.

Failed to win yet another promising position. That's what this GP has all been about for me.. Time to recharge and comeback! #TbilisiGP

— Anish Giri (@anishgiri) February 27, 2015

@anishgiri you got a buddy there

— MVL (@Vachier_Lagrave) February 27, 2015

2015 Tbilisi FIDE Grand Prix | Final Standings

As we know, Tomashevsky gained the maximum number of Grand Prix points: 170. This got him to 252 in total, and now he is in first place.

At the moment, GM Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is in second place and GM Teimour Radjabov in fourth, but they have played their three legs and won't be in Khanty-Mansiysk.

2014-2015 FIDE Grand Prix | Standings After Tbilisi

The fourth and final Grand Prix will be held May 13-27 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. After it finishes, the top two players in the overall standings will have qualified for the 2016 Candidates Tournament.