The semi-final of the FIDE Hamburg Grand Prix 2019, was played between the 11th and 13th November. The venue for the event, which had opened on November 4th, was the Kehrwieder theater in Hamburg, Germany. The semi-final saw the following pairings:
Alexander Grischuk (RUS 2764) vs Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA 2777)
Jan-Krzysztof Duda (POL 2748) vs Daniil Dubov (RUS 2676)
The match-up between Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Alexander Grischuk, saw things decided in the 90-minute games. The first saw Vachier-Lagrave taking white, but he couldn’t stamp any authority on the match with it. The Spanish opening ended up being drawn in 27-moves.
Perhaps the French Grandmaster would not have minded going to tie-breaks, but his Russian opponent had other ideas. Alexander Grischuk seemed in determined mood with his own White game and made the most of it.
[Event “Hamburg FIDE Grand Prix”]
[Site “Hamburg GER”]
[Date “2019.11.12”]
[Round “3.2”]
[White “Grischuk, Alexander”]
[Black “Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime”]
[Result “1-0”]
[BlackElo “2777”]
[BlackFideId “623539”]
[BlackTitle “GM”]
[ECO “A34”]
[EventDate “2019.11.05”]
[Opening “English”]
[Variation “symmetrical, three knights system”]
[WhiteElo “2764”]
[WhiteFideId “4126025”]
[WhiteTitle “GM”]
{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. } 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 { The Symmetrical English. This opening can be a very dull affair, seeing the players mirroring each other’s moves. The positions can become rather balanced and predictable. After drawing their first game in 27-moves, it was natural to wonder whether that was going to happen in this game. The answer would be a resounding no. } 3.Nc3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e3 e6 6.Bc4 Be7 7.O-O O-O 8.Qe2 Nc6 9.Rd1 b6 10.d4 Nxc3 11.bxc3 Qc7 12.e4 Rd8 { It had all been known territory up to here, but this is a new move by Vachier-Lagrave — 12…Bb7 had been usual, with a good record for Black. } 13.Be3 ( { Also possible, was: } 13.d5 { but White’s bishop gets a bit harassed. } 13…Na5 14.Bd3 c4 15.Bc2 Bb7 { A possible continuation would be: } 16.dxe6 Rxd1+ 17.Qxd1 fxe6 18.Ng5 Bxg5 19.Bxg5 { which seems slightly better for White. The bishop pair is certainly no small thing. } ) 13…Na5 { The validity of this move is bound to be debated, even with the threat to White’s Bc4 and possible …c5-c4 follow up. Personally, I am not a fan of putting knights on the edge of the board unless there is a concrete vision that means that it is going to be short term. However, as you will see, this piece gets the magazines out and puts its feet up. } 14.Bd3 Bb7 15.h4 b5 { This is an interesting way of proposing an exchange of pawns, but perhaps it is a little impatient of Maxime. Maintaining the tension and continuing to develop with …Rac8 was also a good option. However, the Frenchman prefers to be pro-active rather than just maintain the tension and respond to what White does. } 16.Bxb5 { Grischuk accepts the invitation to exchange pawns. Rdb1 is an interesting alternative, maintaining the tension and testing Black’s decision to commit so readily on the Queenside. a4 would then be the intention. } 16…Bxe4 17.dxc5 Bxf3 { !? This has to be a questionable move. Now, White ends up with the bishop pair. } ( 17…Bxc5 18.Bxc5 Qxc5 19.Qxe4 Qxb5 { is equal and not a position that I would expect either player to be messing up. } ) 18.Qxf3 Bxc5 19.Bf4 Qb7 20.Qe2 { There is no reason for White to help Black redevelop his Na5. } 20…Qe7 { A good way to centralise the Queen, while hitting the h4-pawn. } 21.h5 Bd6 { This move makes me think that Vachier-Lagrave was playing for a draw here. There was no absolute need to challenge the Bf4 right now. Instead, Black could have redeveloped his Na5, which has been sitting dim on the rim for quite a while now. It is no longer serving purpose where it is, …Nb7 would have been a good start to giving it more life. } 22.Bxd6 Rxd6 23.Rxd6 Qxd6 24.Rd1 { This is the issue with the exchanges on d6, White gets this tempo on the Queen, after which he can play Rd7. } 24…Qc5 25.Rd7 { Grischuk achieves his intention, well worth letting Black have the c-pawn for. } 25…Qxc3 26.Qd1 { Perhaps this is a little too reserved, Qe4 was also available, with eyes on the Ra8. } ( 26.Qe4 { is a more positive and active place for the Queen than d1. } 26…Qc1+ 27.Bf1 { of course, Kh2 was also playable, but this move keeps the White King behind his defensive pawns. The bishop had also served its purpose where it was, so bringing it to f1 keeps it out of harms way while White decides where it should go next. Of course, this is aided by the fact that Black’s knight is far from active itself. } 27…Qc6 { Black is a pawn up, but White is the more aggressively placed. Therefore, exchanging down, simplifying, suits Vachier-Lagrave. } 28.Qd4 { With some initiative, Black of course having to guard against getting back rank mated first and foremost. } ) 26…h6 { Wisely relieving the danger to his back rank — had the White Queen been on e4, Black would have had no time for this of course. } 27.g3 { Any initiative that White held is gone now. } ( 27.Rd8+ Rxd8 28.Qxd8+ Kh7 29.Qe8 Qe5 30.Bd3+ f5 { and Black seems fine. } ) 27…Rf8 28.Rxa7 { Evening up the material. The position is one of equality, which sees the players engage in some posturing. It is all about good making good moves and keeping things tidy. } 28…Nc6 { The most active this knight has been in a very long time. } 29.Rd7 Ne5 30.Rd8 Qc7 31.Rxf8+ Kxf8 32.a4 Ke7 33.Be2 { Not a bad move, but I wonder if Bf1 might have been slightly better. Grischuk is obviously wanting to guard against the knight getting up to mischief on g4 or f3. } ( 33.Qa1 { looks very appetising, but with accurate play by Black, White is going to struggle to generate anything. } 33…Qc5 34.Be2 { This move has to be made if White wants anything, but Black has the situation in hand. } 34…Qa5 35.Qa3+ Kf6 36.Qb2 Ke7 { when White is undoubtedly better, but unless he is willing to take risks, the best that he has available may be to offer repetition with Qa3+ } ) 33…Qc3 34.Qb1 Nc6 { Black has everything under control, here — actually, a very positive presence in the position. } 35.Qb7+ Kf6 36.Bf1 { Interesting. Further to my comment at 33.Be2, had the bishop gone to f1, White would have Qc7 here, with a game-changing pin on Black’s knight. That would now fail to …Qa1+ and …Qxa4, obviously. } 36…Na5 37.Qd7 { ! Exercising some control over Black’s options. Vachier-Lagrave must be careful with knight and Queen now. The knight can not go back to c6, because of Qc7. The Queen can also not desert the knight, or there is Qd8+. Furthermore, Black’s King is far from safe and secure there on f6. } 37…g5 { Leaving the pieces where they are and creating some manoeuvrability for his King. But this is not without its drawbacks. Once more in this game, something starts to happen for White. } 38.hxg6 Kxg6 39.Kg2 { White wants the bishop available now, because there is a certain weakness on f7 and e6 for Black — light squares! } 39…Kg7 40.Bb5 { With the simple plan of working the bishop to e8. } 40…Qe5 41.Qd3 Qc5 42.Qf3 Qd4 43.Be8 Qd5 { A reluctant fix. Black would have preferred to keep the Queens on, but to have defended f7 by other means, …f6 for example, leaves the King too vulnerable along the 7th rank. } 44.Qxd5 exd5 { Once the Queens are gone, it is clear to see that White has the more active position over all. Black’s knight is forever charged with monitoring the a-pawn. } 45.Kf3 Kf6 46.Kg4 { Grischuk decides he can leave things as they are on the Queenside and use his King and bishop (which is virtually an extra piece) to target Black’s isolated pawns. } 46…Ke7 47.Bb5 Kf6 48.Kh5 Kg7 49.Bf1 Nb3 50.Bg2 { White has now achieved total dominance. } 50…d4 51.Bf1 Nd2 52.Bd3 Nb3 53.Bf1 Nd2 54.Bd3 Nb3 55.Bb5 { There was obviously no way that White was going to repeat. } 55…f6 56.Bf1 Na5 57.Ba6 Nb3 58.Bb5 Na5 59.Kg4 { Vachier-Lagrave had been doing rather well with his knight so far, but the fairytale of it lasting was not going to be realised. Grischuk will bring his King over to target the d-pawn, when the knight will have its work cut out for it. } 59…Nb7 60.Kf4 Nc5 61.a5 { Progress. } 61…d3 62.Ke3 d2 63.Be2 { The correct way to play for power here. If instead Kxd2 then Nb3+, followed by …Nxa5 should see the point split, though White would still be a little better. Grischuk has played the endgame extremely well and Vachier-Lagrave resigned, knowing that his chances of survival were over. } 1-0
[/pgn]
With this well deserved point, Alexander Grischuk went through to the final and awaited his opponent. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, will no doubt be rather disappointed to have his run ended, but I think he can be very proud of his performance. And let’s not forget that he reached the final of the Riga Grand Prix in July, (ultimately being pipped 5-4 by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov), so is right up there at the top of the over all standings.
Also going through in the semi-final, was Jan-Krzysztof Duda, who ended the rather impressive run of Daniil Dubov. The 23-year-old Russian, who is a wildcard in this year’s cycle, is unlikely to be too upset with his time in this tournament. On his way to the semi-final, he eliminated Teimour Radjabov and Peter Svidler, neither of which is an easy task. His Grand Prix campaign is over now, having competed in Riga and Moscow also (players will compete in 3 of the 4 tournaments).
The players didn’t debate too much in their first two games, drawing the first in 29-moves and the second in 33. This left it down to tiebreaks to separate them. Their rapid games saw them take a win each with Black, Dubov using the Sicilian, and outplaying his opponent in the endgame of the first one to earn a nice point.
This left Duda with the task of taking a point with Black in the second. This he duly did, but he had to really roll his sleeves up and grit his teeth. Dubov will have been disappointed to have lost the game, because he did have chances to finish the match. The most painful mistake for him, will probably be the one that he committed in the following position …
Here, White is standing well, but still has the game to win. Dubov lunged a little, with 68.Re5+(?). This forced 68…Kd3 from Black, after which Dubov pushed his passed pawn, with 69.d5, no doubt with the idea of taking on h5 at some point, thus obtaining another passer.
The problem, was 69…Kc2(!), which saw the stances flip. All of a sudden, Black is looking rather potent. White’s pawn on b2 is now looking vulnerable, and with that gone, Black’s own advanced passed pawn on b3 is released. The reality of the situation, was that White no longer had time to carry out his plans. Dubov’s position deteriorated rapidly from here and Duda equalled the match.
The pace got quicker for the next two games, with the players starting with 10-minutes on their clocks, with 10-seconds move increments. Dubov took white in the first game, but didn’t make anything of it. It was a Slav Defence and the players agreed a draw in 16-moves. The second game was a different matter, seeing Duda take an early initiative with the white pieces and steadily increase it. Dubov fought valiantly, but was surrendering the point in 60-moves. We will be seeing much more of him, for sure, the experience gained in this tournament will be invaluable to him.
Jan-Kyzysztof Duda went through to the final, then, where he would play Alexander Grischuk. The players would get a rest day before the final — a much needed opportunity to recharge the batteries, before coming out for the last couple of days play.
