GM Alexander Grischuk received the second qualifier of the 2022 Chess.com Velocity Chess Championship on Sunday following a convincing overcome compatriot GM Vladislav Artemiev within the ultimate.
Having claimed he hadn’t checked out chess for 2 or three months forward of the occasion, Grischuk additionally knocked over super-GMs Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Jeffery Xiong en path to his knockout victory.
The Swiss occasion completed in a three-way tie with every of the eight knockout qualifiers separated solely by half some extent.
The primary occasion of the Velocity Chess Championship will take begin on Monday, November 21.
Swiss
A trio of winners was topped in Saturday’s Swiss after GMS Artemiev, Salem A.R. Saleh, and Duda all completed on scores of 11/14, adopted carefully by 5 gamers, GMs Daniil Dubov, Daniel Naroditsky, Grischuk, Xiong, and Denis Lazavik, who scraped by to the knockout on 10.5.
We’ve got our 8 qualifiers for tomorrow’s SCC qualifying knockout! ⚡
The bracket is STACKED with a few of the world’s greatest #SpeedChess gamers! pic.twitter.com/mXYKqYFnQr
— ChesscomLive (@ChesscomLive) November 12, 2022
After 10 rounds, Emirati GM Saleh’s 9/10 put him within the pole place to win the occasion outright; nevertheless, two losses to Narodistky and Grischuk in the course of the run house allowed different gamers to catch up. Saleh’s round-eight victory over Chinese language super-GM Yu Yangyi was essentially the most entertaining of his wins the place a kingside slashing could not be stopped by Yangyi.
Tactical duels noticed most of the favorites fall within the Swiss occasion and there was no place for complacency amongst the 3000+ gamers. GM Christopher Yoo was one such casualty who was dispatched by an internet-speed chess grasp of outdated, GM Daniel Fridman. Fridman, who began the occasion with a ranking of 2699 completed the occasion simply shy of 2900 and a 200-point ranking acquire!
Daniel Fridman upsets prodigy Christopher Yoo with a vicious king assault pawn promotion!
He positive factors 91 ranking factors from a single sport!#SpeedChess pic.twitter.com/ej1GgMwOGT
— ChesscomLive (@ChesscomLive) November 12, 2022
GM Denis Lazavik snatched the final qualifying spot after a horror begin the place he dropped three factors within the first seven rounds. A barnstorming run within the again finish of the occasion that included wins over GMs Pavel Eljanov, Olexandr Bortnyk, and Yangyi earned him his spot in Sunday’s knockout.
Quantity | Fed | Title | Username | Identify | Score | Rating |
1 | GM | Sibelephant | Vladislav Artimiev | 2701 | 11 | |
2 | GM | Salem-AR | Salem AR Saleh | 2677 | 11 | |
3 | GM | Polish_fighter3000 | Jan Krzysztof Duda | 2731 | 11 | |
4 | GM | Duhless | Daniil Dubov | 2708 | 10.5 | |
5 | GM | DanielNarodistky | Daniel Naroditsky | 2617 | 10.5 | |
6 | GM | Grischuk | Alexander Grischuk | 2745 | 10.5 | |
7 | GM | jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 2692 | 10.5 | |
8 | GM | DenLaz | Denis Lazavik | 2529 | 10.5 | |
9 | GM | GMBenjaminBok | Benjamin Bok | 2618 | 10 | |
10 | GM | BogdanDeac | Bogdan-Daniel Deac | 2700 | 10 | |
11 | GM | Bigfish1995 | Vladimir Fedoseev | 2688 | 10 | |
12 | GM | mishanick | Alexey Sarana | 2668 | 10 | |
13 | GM | Beca95 | Aleksandar Indjic | 2631 | 10 | |
14 | GM | ChristopherYoo | Christopher Yoo | 2573 | 9.5 | |
15 | GM | Jospem | Jose Martinez | 2597 | 9.5 | |
16 | GM | chesspanda123 | Yu Yangyi | 2716 | 9.5 | |
17 | GM | Msb2 | Matthias Bluebaum | 2651 | 9.5 | |
18 | GM | Tormoz | Daniel Fridman | 2602 | 9.5 | |
19 | GM | snowlord | Ivan Yeletsky | 2491 | 9.5 | |
20 | GM | GM_dmitrij | Dmitrij Kollars | 2611 | 9 | |
Knockout
With the group levels of the 2022 FIFA World Cup approaching, pundits are at all times talking about which group is “the group of demise” and it have to be stated that the decrease half of Sunday’s knockout was a becoming parallel. That includes three super-GMs in Xiong, Duda, and Grischuk in addition to the Swiss winner Saleh, it was anybody’s guess who would emerge victorious.
Xiong took the longest to progress to the semifinals and performed 16 video games to get rid of Saleh. The Semi-Averbakh System was the weapon of selection for the American and, though Saleh defended effectively, time was not on his aspect and he ultimately flagged in a totally drawn place.
In one of many streakiest matches of the day, Grischuk constructed a three-point lead over Duda following a hat-trick of wins, however the Polish GM went down swinging, profitable three consecutive video games as effectively. Duda ultimately went down after dropping the ultimate sport of the tie when Grischuk masterfully liquidated right into a profitable king and pawn ending.
Naroditsky labored his well past Dubov in a equally streaky match and needed to overcome a four-game dropping streak dealt by his inventive opponent. At 6-6, Naroditsky selected to play quietly and floor down Dubov. The technique paid off and he booked himself a spot within the semifinal.
The commentator’s curse is actual 💀.#speedchess pic.twitter.com/CxfAtR7wx8
— ChesscomLive (@ChesscomLive) November 13, 2022
Probably the most astonishing match of the day was undoubtedly Artemiev’s 7.5-1.5 drubbing over Lazavik. Artemiev seemed invincible in his quarterfinal matchup and introduced himself as a critical contender within the occasion.
Naroditsky, hoping to place a cease to Artemiev’s rampage within the semifinal was rock stable within the first half of the match and managed to attract the primary eight video games. A grasp of match technique, Naroditsky’s plan clearly annoyed Artemiev who even squandered a number of profitable positions. Probably the most thrilling of those was a Rosen-Esque stalemate that Naroditsky benefited from in sport 5.
Sadly for Naroditsky, Artemiev was in a position to regular the ship within the ultimate sport, with the scores locked at 7-7, Artemiev was in a position to safe the victory with a win after issues went flawed within the middlegame for the favored content material creator.
In the meantime, Grischuk placed on a masterclass to remain one step forward of Xiong on the ultimate hurdle. Grischuk would later say that he “did not even take a look at chess for like two months, or three months” although it was clear that his power and velocity hadn’t diminished within the slightest. At 7-7, it was Grischuk that held his nerves and slowly outplayed Xiong on the black aspect of the French Protection: Change Variation.
“I did not even take a look at chess for like two months, or three months. I did not even open the pc.” 😲
– GM Alexander Grischuk, winner of the #SpeedChess Championship Qualifier 2. pic.twitter.com/SSRsU4YofN
— ChesscomLive (@ChesscomLive) November 13, 2022
The ultimate between countrymen Artemiev and Grischuk was not almost as shut because the semifinal due to a top quality defensive effort by Grischuk coupled with breakneck tactical photographs that Artemiev could not sustain with.
Off the again of a first-game win, one of the vital essential moments of the ultimate arose when Grischuk discovered himself with a knight and bishop towards a bishop and 5 linked pawns! Defending the place appeared an inconceivable activity, however Grischuk stepped up and carried out when it mattered most. GM Rafael Leitao has analyzed our deserving sport of the day beneath.
Grischuk is a cult determine within the chess world and one of many best blitz gamers in historical past—his world titles on this modality converse for themselves. Within the post-match interview, he talked about that he often loses plenty of video games to Artemiev in on-line chess, and due to this fact his victory got here as a shock to him. One of many issues I recognize about this nice participant is that you simply by no means know when he is joking and when he is critical.
Artemiev did not appear to get well from the missed possibilities and regardless of profitable a clear sport in spherical 5, the 24-year-old wouldn’t win once more. Over the following 4 video games, Grischuk would win three and draw one, leaving Artemiev with little probability to return again.
Down and out, Artemiev repeated strikes within the twelfth sport after some stiff resistance from his opponent, and the rating ticked over to 7.5-4.5. Upon seeing the repetition, Grischuk pumped his fingers above his head in victory and gave a assured nod to the digicam as he secured his spot in the principle occasion.
Grischuk took house $1,000 and a spot in the principle occasion, whereas Artemiev earned $1,000 for his efforts.
All 16 gamers are actually confirmed for the #SpeedChess Championship! ⚡️ pic.twitter.com/2bgGS5C1ZX
— Chess.com (@chesscom) November 13, 2022
The 2022 Velocity Chess Championships Important Occasion will start on the twenty first of November and conclude on the sixteenth of December. High speed-chess gamers will compete at three totally different time controls in a 16-player knockout as they vie for a share of the $100,000 prize fund together with essentially the most prestigious title in on-line chess.
The likes of GMs Magnus Carlsen, Hikaru Nakamura, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Ding Liren, Nodirbek Abdusattorov, and lots of extra will battle it out to find out the 2022 velocity chess champion.
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