MAXIME Vachier-Lagrave came out sharing second place in the rapid stage then scored heavy in the blitz phase to emerge the clear winner of the 2021 Grand Chess Tour’s third leg which ended Sunday in Zagreb, Croatia.
Beside Vachier-Lagrave, the Tour’s Zagreb cast include Ian Nepomniachtchi, Alexander Grischuk, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Anish Giri, Jorden Van Foreest, Viswanathan Anand, Anton Korobov, Jan-Krzysztof Duda, and wild cards Ivan Saric and Garry Kasparov. Saric played the rapid while Kasparov played the blitz stage of the Tour.
Nepomniachtchi topped the rapids and was highly-favored to win the Zagreb leg, but was unable to keep up with Vachier-Lagrave and Anand who ruled the blitz. Anand finished in second place, while a steady Giri took third place overall.
The final combined standings: 1. Vachier-Lagrave, 23; 2. Anand, 21; 3. Giiri, 20½; 4-5. Nepomniachtchi, Duda, 20; 6. Mamedyarov,19; 7. Grischuk, 18; 8. Korobov, 15½; 9. Saric/Kasparov, 12½; 10. Van Foreest, 10½.
Nepomniachtchi, I (2792)-Grischuk, A (2778) [A13]
Zagreb (4.4) 2021
1.c4 e6 2.Nf3 d5 3.g3 dxc4 4.Qa4+ Bd7 5.Qxc4 c5 6.Ne5 Nc6 7.Nxd7 Qxd7 8.Bg2 Nf6 9.0-0 Be7 10.Nc3 0-0 11.Rd1 Rfd8 12.b3 Rac8 13.Bb2 a6 14.Rac1 b5 15.Qf4 h6 16.d3 Nd5 17.Nxd5 exd5 18.e3 d4 19.Be4 Rc7 20.Bf5 Qd6 21.Qxd6 Bxd6 22.Be4 Be7 23.Bxc6 Rxc6 24.Bxd4 Rdc8 25.Bc3 f5 26.Kf1 Kf7 27.Rc2 g5 28.Ke2 Ke6 29.Rdc1 h5 30.h3 Bd6 31.Bb2 Kd5 32.g4 hxg4 33.hxg4 fxg4 34.e4+ Ke6 35.d4 R6c7 36.d5+ Kf7 37.Rg1 c4 38.bxc4 Rxc4 39.Rxc4 Rxc4 40.Kd3 Ra4 41.e5 Bc5 42.Rc1 Rc4 43.Rh1 Rf4 44.e6+ Kg6 45.Be5 Rxf2 46.d6 Rf5 47.Ke4 1-0
Nepomniachtchi, I (2792)-Saric, I (2653) [B33]
Zagreb (6.3) 2021
1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6 6.Ndb5 d6 7.Bf4 e5 8.Bg5 a6 9.Na3 b5 10.Nd5 Be7 11.Bxf6 Bxf6 12.c3 Bg5 13.Nc2 Ne7 14.Ncb4 0-0 15.g3 Be6 16.h4 Bh6 17.Bg2 a5 18.Nxe7+ Qxe7 19.Nd5 Qb7 20.g4 Bxd5 21.Qxd5 Qxd5 22.exd5 Bf4 23.Ke2 Rab8 24.a3 g6 25.h5 Kg7 26.Rh3 Rfc8 27.Kd3 Kf6 28.hxg6 hxg6 29.Rh7 Rc7 30.Be4 Kg5 31.Ke2 b4 32.cxb4 axb4 33.a4 b3 34.Kf3 Rb4 35.a5 Rxe4 36.a6 Rd4 37.a7 e4+ 38.Kg2 Rxa7 39.Rxa7 Rd2 40.Kf1 Rxb2 41.Rb7 Kxg4 42.Rh8 Be5 43.Rhb8 Rb1+ 44.Kg2 b2 45.Rxf7 Rd1 46.Rfb7 Rxd5 47.Rb4 Kf5 48.Rf8+ Ke6 49.Re8+ Kd7 50.Reb8 Rd1 51.R4b7+ Ke6 52.Rxb2 Bxb2 53.Rxb2 d5 54.Rb8 d4 55.Rg8 Kf5 56.Rf8+ Kg5 57.Re8 Kf4 58.Rf8+ Ke5 59.Re8+ Kd5 60.Rg8 d3 61.Rxg6 d2 62.Rg8 Kc4 63.Rd8 Kc3 0-1
Vachier-Lagrave, M (2749)-Anand, V (2753) [B12]
Zagreb (2.4) 2021
1.e4 c6 2.d4 d5 3.e5 Bf5 4.Nf3 e6 5.Be2 c5 6.Be3 Qb6 7.Nc3 Nc6 8.0-0 Qxb2 9.Qe1 cxd4 10.Bxd4 Nxd4 11.Nxd4 Bb4 12.Rb1 Bxc3 13.Rxb2 Bxe1 14.Rxe1 b6 15.h4 h5 16.Nxf5 exf5 17.c4 d4 18.Rd1 Rd8 19.c5 bxc5 20.Rb7 Ne7 21.Rxa7 Ng6 22.Bb5+ Kf8 23.f4 Rh6 24.Bc4 Ne7 25.Rb1 d3 26.Bxd3 Nc6 27.Ra3 Re6 28.Rc1 Nd4 29.Rxc5 Re7 30.Rac3 Red7 31.Rc8 Nf3+ 32.Kf2 Rxd3 33.Rxd8+ Rxd8 34.Kxf3 Rd2 35.a3 Ke7 36.g3 Ke6 37.Ke3 Rd1 38.Rd3 Ra1 39.Kd4 Kd7 40.Kc5+ Kc7 41.Rc3 Rd1 42.a4 Rd2 43.a5 Ra2 44.Kb4 Kb7 45.Ra3 Rc2 46.a6 Ka7 47.Kb5 Rc1 48.Rd3 1-0
Mamedyarov, S (2782)-Duda, J-K (2738) [D36]
Zagreb (6.4) 2021
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 exd5 5.Bg5 c6 6.Qc2 h6 7.Bh4 Be7 8.e3 0-0 9.Bd3 Re8 10.Nge2 Nh5 11.Bxe7 Qxe7 12.h3 Nf6 13.0-0-0 a5 14.g4 b5 15.Ng3 Na6 16.Bf5 g6 17.Bxc8 Raxc8 18.Kb1 a4 19.h4 Nxg4 20.h5 g5 21.e4 dxe4 22.Ncxe4 Nb4 23.Qd2 Nd5 24.Rhe1 Qd7 25.a3 f5 26.Nc5 Qh7 27.Ka1 Ngf6 28.Qd3 f4 29.Nf5 Ng4 30.Nd6 Qxd3 31.Nxd3 Rxe1 32.Rxe1 Rf8 33.Re6 Rf6 34.Re8+ Rf8 35.Re6 f3 36.Ne5 Nxe5 37.de5 Nf4 38.Re7 g4 39.Ne4 Nh5 40.Rd7 g3 0-1
Giri, A (2776)-Anand, V (2753) [D02]
Zagreb (9.3) 2021
1.Nf3 d5 2.d4 Nf6 3.c4 e6 4.g3 Bb4+ 5.Bd2 Be7 6.Bg2 0-0 7.0-0 Nbd7 8.Qc2 c6 9.Bf4 b6 10.Nbd2 Nh5 11.e3 Nxf4 12.exf4 Bb7 13.cxd5 cxd5 14.Rfc1 Bd6 15.Bf1 Nf6 16.Bd3 Qe7 17.Re1 Rac8 18.Qd1 Qd8 19.Qe2 Rc7 20.a3 g6 21.Ne5 Qe7 22.h4 Rfc8 23.Rad1 Qf8 24.Qf3 Nh5 25.Nf1 Ng7 26.Ne3 Nf5 27.Bxf5 exf5 28.Nxd5 Bxa3 29.Nf6+ Kg7 30.Qxa3 Qxa3 31.bxa3 Kxf6 32.d5 Kg7 33.d6 Rc3 34.Nxf7 Kxf7 35.Re7+ Kf6 36.Rxb7 Rc1 37.Rxc1 Rxc1+ 38.Kg2 h5 39.Rxa7 Rc6 40.d7 Ke7 41.Rb7 Kd8 42.a4 Re6 43.Kf1 Ke7 44.f3 Kd8 45.Kf2 Rc6 46.g4 fxg4 47.fxg4 Rc4 48.gxh5 gxh5 49.Ke3 Rxa4 50.f5 Ra1 51.Ke4 1-0
*******
PUZZLERS
WHITE TO MOVE,
MATE IN TWO.
The key to our last problem is 1.Rc3!, and Black’s futile options are: 1…Ke4 2.Bb7#; 1…Kc6 2.Qd6#;
1…Nb6/d6/a5/e5/a3/e3/b2/d2 2.Q(x)e5#./PN
