The 2017 Geneva Grand Prix, has been won by Azerbaijan’s Teimour Radjabov. The event was held between July 6th and 16th. The strong field was made up of, Levon Aronian, Anish Giri, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Harikrishna Pentala, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, Pavel Eljanov, Michael Adams, Peter Svidler, Alexander Grischuk, Ernesto Inarkiev, Boris Gelfand, Li Chao, Teimour Radjabov, Dmitry Jakovenko, Hou Yifan, Alexander Riazantsev, Richard Rapport and Salem Saleh.
Radjabov, 30, took overal victory with 6-points from 9-rounds. Russia’s Alexander Grischuk and Ian Nepomniachtchi were just behind on 5½-points. Not dropping a point, Teimour scored against Peter Svidler, Pavel Eljanov and Anish Giri. His draw in the ninth and final round, against Nepomniachtchi, secured him the tournament.
Final standings, Geneva Grand Prix:
- Radjabov — 6
- Grischuk, Nepomniachtchi — 5½
- Mamedyarov, Giri, Svidler, Harikrishna, Adams, Chao, Riazantsev — 5
- Aronian, Eljanov, Gelfand, Jakovenko — 4½
- Inarkiev — 4
- Rapport, Yifan — 2½
- Saleh — 2
While it is true that Radjabov has been relatively low profile during the last few years, he has always had immense potential. Once the second youngest player to achieve the Grandmaster title, he was as high as number four in the world rankings back in October 2012. At the 2015 World Rapid Chess Championship, he finished third, behind Magnus Carlsen and Ian Nepomniachtchi. 2017 has seen him compete in the Gashimov Memorial, in which he finished eighth out of ten — a result that he will not have been satisfied with.
The Grands Prix, however, have seen his best recent results and a glimpse of the kind of form that we all know him to be capable of. He achieved fourth place in the Moscow leg, which was held in May and his win in the Geneva edition has put him in third place overal.
After three out of four Grands Prix, Radjabov’s countryman, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov leads. Along with Mamedyarov, Alexander Grischuk, Ding Liren and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, Teimour is right in there with a chance of qualifying for the World Championship Candidates Tournament, to be held in March 2018.
With the final Grand Prix leg coming up in November, (in Palma de Mallorca), there is still everything to play for.
[Site “Geneva SUI”]
[Date “2017.07.06”]
[Round “1.3”]
[White “Giri, Anish”]
[Black “Radjabov, Teimour”]
[Result “0-1”]
[BlackElo “2724”]
[BlackFideId “13400924”]
[BlackTitle “GM”]
[ECO “D37”]
[EventDate “2017.07.06”]
[EventType “swiss”]
[Opening “QGD”]
[Variation “classical variation (5.Bf4)”]
[WhiteElo “2775”]
[WhiteFideId “24116068”]
[WhiteTitle “GM”]
{ Annotations by John Lee Shaw for www.hotoffthechess.com. } 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bf4 O-O 6.e3 Nbd7 7.c5 Nh5 8.Bd3 Nxf4 9.exf4 c6 10.Qc2 { White has also been known to castle, here, but this move has a much better score. White lines up against h7 — hence Black’s next. } 10…h6 11.O-O Qc7 12.Ne5 { A new try by Giri, previously White had opted for g2-g3. } 12…Nxe5 { Getting rid of the knight is quite prudent, it is an imposing piece and Black is unable to boot in out — by means of f7-f6, for example, which looks tempting but would be disastrous, (see variation). } ( 12…f6 { ?? } 13.Bh7+ Kh8 14.Ng6+ Kxh7 15.Nxf8+ Kg8 16.Nxe6 Qb8 17.Qg6 Bf8 { and Black is unlikely to recover from here. } ) 13.fxe5 { Obviously, this is the only valid recapture. } 13…Bd7 { White must be seen to be holding some advantage, here, especially with Black’s bishop pair hemmed in somewhat. } 14.a3 b6 15.b4 bxc5 { Due to White not being able to do anything immediate, Black takes the opportunity to try to open things up a little. He must find some play and opening up the b-file is one way to go about it. } 16.bxc5 { White keeps the c-and-e-pawns fixed, therefore maintaining the limits towards Black’s bishops. } 16…f6 17.f4 Rab8 { Eyeing the b-file. } 18.g3 { Perhaps this is one quiet pawn move too many by Giri. If he wanted to put some air around his King, then g2-g4 was a more ambitious way to do it. } 18…Qa5 { For the first time in a while in this game, Radjabov gets to play a move with a bit of intent to it. There are a few aspects, here, the first being to eye the a-pawn, which could restrict White in placing his a-rook along the b-file. For example, should Black decide to double-up along the b-file, White will have to deal with the a-pawn before challenging. The other consideration is towards c5, especially with the White King on the g1-a7 diagonal. White can not afford to bring his Queen off of the defence of the c3-knight, for instance, when Black would have …Bxc5 and …Qxc5+. Neither of these issues are immediate, but they are there to be considered. } 19.Ne2 Be8 20.Bg6 { I am half wondering if Giri had decided to bail, here. His position is certainly not what it was a few moves ago and even with the restricted activity of his bishops, Radjabov is doing fine, here. } 20…Bxg6 21.Qxg6 Qd2 { ! an excellent move, to the point of White’s weaknesses, which are the en-prise Ne2 and the wide open Queenside. } 22.Rf2 { The better choice than defending the knight on e1, after which Black could play …Qe3+, looking to follow up with …Rb2. } 22…Qe3 23.Qg4 { Black, of course, is not without weakness, namely the e6-pawn. While eyeing this, White also keeps the Ne2 covered (…Rb2 being expected at some point) and has the option of Qf3. } 23…Kh7 { …Kf7 was a good alternative, here, but Teimour decides to accept White’s counter chances, figuring that his threats are more telling. …f5 would not be good if Black wants to play for anything (which he obviously does) and White hops the Queen back to g6, with e6 falling and the King still being on g8. The time that this gives White, especially with the Be7 and c6-pawn being en-prise would see things about equal. } 24.Qxe6 Rbe8 25.a4 { A bit too slow, White’s best option seems to have been Qf5+. Though White seems to have his i’s dotted and t’s crossed, here, Black is about to seize the upper hand in no small way. } 25…fxe5 { ! The optimum move, highlighting White’s weaknesses on c5 and f2. } 26.Qxe5 { The only option, really, but White is in trouble here. } 26…Qd3 { Black is now in full control of the game, and obviously as such does not want to throw White a bone by allowing him to exchange down. Furthermore, the e7-bishop, which has seen very little potential in this game so far, now becomes a very meaty piece! } 27.Qh5 { Wisely taking the Queen out of discovery dangers, otherwise …Bxc5. } 27…Bf6 { Black turns his attention to the d-pawn, not to mention piling up on the Ne2. This piece is only ‘sort of’ protected, due to the vulnerability of the White Queen. } 28.Raf1 g6 29.Qg4 h5 30.Qd7+ { The absence of this resource would have seen White resigning. Even so, Black is winning here. } 30…Re7 31.Qd6 { Resourceful, but ultimately not interfering with Black’s play, here. } 31…Kg7 32.Nc1 Qf5 33.Rd1 Rfe8 { Good, but …Qc8 looks even better, when White’s Queen is under threat. } ( 33…Qc8 { ! with …Re6 to follow. } 34.f5 { A mere temporary fix. } 34…Re4 { What with the threat to d4, and the idea of …Rd8, this is probably resignable for White. } ) 34.Qxc6 Re1+ 35.Rf1 { ? virtual resignation, White is on his way to being mated from here. However, nothing really changed the outlook of the game, after 35.Rxe1 Rxe1 36.Kg2 Bxd4, White has both knight and rook to worry about and absolutely nothing up his sleeve. The only hope is that Radjabov misses the mate or gets things wrong, but Black’s next dashes that. } 35…Bxd4+ { ! There is no escaping mate from here, the only question is how quickly it will be delivered. } 36.Rxd4 Rxf1+ 37.Kxf1 Qh3+ { Clinical stuff. } 38.Kf2 Qxh2+ 39.Kf1 Qh1+ 40.Kf2 Re1 { For mate in 5 and Anish Giri resigned. A very nice game from Teimour Radjabov. } 0-1
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