Except for Group B and Group C of the second round of the FIDE Grand Prix-Belgrade Leg, action was stiff on the Group A and D matches.
For one, Group A’s highest rated GM Alexander Grischuk, who was stunned by a rousing defeat by Dmitry Andreikin in yesterday’s Round 1, was once again slammed by Sam Shankland in Round 2. In Group D, the quartet of Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Maxime Vachier–Lagrave, Yangyi Yu and Alexander Predke are still on the lookout for their first wins.
Meanwhile, Anish Giri and Santosh Gujrathi Vidit are riding high on their second straight wins in Groups A and C. Giri has subdued Nikta Vitiugov, while Vidit bundled out Vladimir Fedoseev.
Here are the group standings:
Group A 1. Andreikin, Shankland, 1½; 3. Bacrot, 1; 4. Grischuk,0.
Group B 1. Giri, 2; 2. Vitiugov, 1; 3-4. Harikhrisna, Tabatabaei, ½.
Group C 1. Vidit, 2; 2, Rapport, 1; 3-4. Fedoseev, Shirov, ½.
Group D 1-4. Mamedyarov, Vachier-Lagrave,Yu, Predke, 1.
Shankland,S (2708)-Grischuk,A (2764) [E32]
Belgrade A (2.2) 2022
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 d5 7.Nf3 b6 8.Bg5 dxc4 9.Qxc4 c5 10.dxc5 bxc5 11.Nd2 Ba6 12.Qc2 h6 13.Bh4 Nbd7 14.e3 Bxf1 15.Rxf1 c4 16.Ke2 Qb8 17.Bg3 Qb7 18.f3 Rfc8 19.Rfc1 Nc5 20.Qxc4 Nce4 21.Qb3 Qa6+ 22.Nc4 Rc6 23.fxe4 Rac8 24.Qd3 Rxc4 25.Rxc4 Qxc4 26.Qxc4 Rxc4 27.Kd3 Rc8 28.Rd1 Rd8+ 29.Ke2 Rxd1 30.Kxd1 Nxe4 31.Kc2 Kf8 32.Kd3 Nxg3 33.hxg3 Ke7 34.Kc4 h5 35.Kc5 Kd7 36.b4 g5 37.b5 h4 38.gxh4 gxh4 39.a4 1-0
Giri,A (2772)-Vitiugov,N (2726) [C50]
Belgrade B (2.1) 2022
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.0-0 Nf6 5.d3 d6 6.c3 h6 7.Re1 0-0 8.Nbd2 a5 9.h3 Be6 10.b3 d5 11.exd5 Nxd5 12.Ne4 Bb6 13.Qd2 Qc8 14.Ng3 f6 15.d4 Qd7 16.Ba3 Rf7 17.Re4 a4 18.b4 Nf4 19.Bxe6 Nxe6 20.Rae1 Ng5 21.Nxg5 hxg5 22.b5 Na7 23.h4 Nxb5 24.hxg5 fxg5 25.Qxg5 Nxa3 26.Rh4 Re8 27.Qh5 Rf6 28.Ne4 Rf5 29.Ng5 Rxg5 30.Qxg5 c5 31.Qg6 Bd8 32.Rh7 1-0
Vidit,SG (2727)-Fedoseev,V (2704) [E32]
Belgrade C (2.1) 2022
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Qc2 0-0 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.Qxc3 b6 7.Bg5 Bb7 8.f3 d5 9.cxd5 exd5 10.e3 Re8 11.Bb5 c6 12.Ba4 Nbd7 13.Ne2 h6 14.Bh4 Ba6 15.Bd1 Qe7 16.Bf2 c5 17.Qd2 Rac8 18.0-0 Nb8 19.Re1 Nc6 20.Nc3 Na5 21.b3 Qd8 22.Rc1 Re6 23.dxc5 bxc5 24.Na4 Rec6 25.Bh4 Nb7 26.Bc2 Qa5 27.Qxa5 Nxa5 28.Rcd1 g5 29.Bg3 Re6 30.Bf5 Nxb3 31.h4 Rcc6 32.Bxe6 fxe6 33.hxg5 hxg5 34.Kf2 c4 35.Be5 Nd7 36.Bc3 Bb5 37.Nb2 Ndc5 38.Rh1 Nd3+ 39.Nxd3 cxd3 40.Rh8+ Kf7 41.Rh7+ Ke8 42.a4 Bxa4 43.Bf6 e5 44.Bxg5 Nc5 45.Rdh1 Kf8 46.Rxa7 Kg8 47.e4 dxe4 48.Rhh7 Ne6 49.Bd2 Rc2 50.Ke3 exf3 51.gxf3 Bc6 52.Rhe7 Nc5 53.Rec7 Bb7 54.Rxc5 Rxc5 55.Rxb7 1-0
Vachier-Lagrave,M (2761)-Mamedyarov,S (2767) [C83]
Belgrade D (2.1) 2022
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Nxe4 6.d4 b5 7.Bb3 d5 8.dxe5 Be6 9.c3 Be7 10.Bc2 Bg4 11.Qe1 0-0 12.Nd4 Nxe5 13.f3 c5 14.Ne2 Bh4 15.Ng3 Re8 16.fxe4 dxe4 17.Be3 Nd3 18.Bxd3 exd3 19.Qf2 f5 20.Nd2 Be2 21.Rfe1 g5 22.Nf3 f4 23.Nxh4 fxe3 24.Qf5 d2 25.Rxe2 d1Q+ 26.Rxd1 Qxd1+ 27.Nf1 Qxe2 28.Qxg5+ Kf7 29.Qf5+ Kg8 30.Qg5+ Kf7 31.Qf5+ Kg8 32.Qg5+ ½-½
Predke,A (2682)-Yu,Y (2713) [C43]
Belgrade D (2.2) 2022
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nf6 3.d4 Nxe4 4.Bd3 Nc6 5.Nxe5 Nxe5 6.dxe5 Nc5 7.Bc4 d6 8.Qf3 Ne6 9.exd6 Bxd6 10.Be3 Bd7 11.Bd5 c6 12.Bc4 0-0 13.Nd2 b5 14.Bb3 a5 15.a3 Qc7 16.Ne4 Be5 17.0-0-0 a4 18.Ba2 Rad8 19.Nc5 Bc8 20.Nxe6 Bxe6 21.Bxe6 fxe6 22.Qe4 Rd5 23.f4 Bxf4 24.Qxe6+ Qf7 25.Qxf7+ Rxf7 26.Bxf4 Rxd1+ 27.Kxd1 Rxf4 28.Ke2 Kf7 29.Ke3 Rc4 30.Kd3 Ke6 31.Re1+ Kd5 32.Re7 Rg4 33.g3 h5 34.b3 g6 35.Rg7 h4 ½-½
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PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE, MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Rgf5!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Rb8 2.Nxc5#; 1…Qb7 2.Rf4#; 1…Qxf5 2.Bxf5#; 1…Rb6 2.Rfe5#.
