IM Michael Rahal – Berlin, February 16th – The second game of the final ended with a draw on move 29 by repetition, resulting in a tie in the classical part of the final. Therefore, both players will return tomorrow afternoon for the tiebreak: two 15/10 rapid games followed by two 3/2 blitz games. If the tie persists, a “sudden death” so-called Armageddon game will decide the winner of the FIDE Grand Prix Berlin, organized by World Chess. 

As usual, Hikaru Nakamura arrived with plenty of time to spare and was seated and concentrated several minutes before 3 pm. Not one to change his pre-game habits, Levon Aronian crossed the door exactly one minute before the start of the game, time enough for two quick security checks and the customary greeting with his opponent. Many players prefer not to arrive too early for the game to avoid being distracted with unnecessary chit-chat with officials or spectators, although they have never been disturbed. 

After a few introductory words by Chief Arbiter Ivan Syrovy, Aronian played his first move 1.e4. Nakamura quickly replied with 1…e5, and very soon, both players started to blitz out one of the latest trends in the popular Italian Opening: some of us actually caught our breaths for a moment, hoping to see 3.Bb5 and maybe the Berlin Wall, but it was not to be. 

The first eleven moves were played fast, but Aronian fell behind on the clock – for the first time in the tournament – when he spent over eight minutes on 12.a5, clamping down on the queenside. However, that was nothing compared to the thirty minutes that Nakamura pondered over 15…Qc7, to which Aronian immediately reacted with 16.d4. 

Nakamura was probably calculating and evaluating the pros and cons of the principled idea 15…d5, which the computer suggests as the best line for Black with complete equality. Nakamura’s move is also fine, but one wonders if the time spent could be needed for more critical positions later on.

Things became very complicated when Nakamura conceded the center with 16…exd4 and then damaged his pawn structure terminally with 17…c5, leaving himself with a backward pawn on d6 and a gaping hole on the d5-square. However, Hikaru surely was counting on his piece activity as compensation. He has always been an aggressive player with an excellent feel for imbalances and active play.  

“It all hinges on whether this 16…exd4 17.Qxd4 c5 idea is OK Black or not OK,” said Nakamura in the postgame interview with IM Michael Rahal. “I thought that either I was completely fine or much worse, one of the two.” Nakamura took his time before capturing on b2. His reasoning was: ” I didn’t see a reason not to capture, so I should play the move. But I was assuming Aronian had some way to win material as he was allowing me to capture. As it turns out, it’s completely fine”. 

Aronian didn’t agree: “I thought I had a big advantage, but I completely blundered that Black could play 22…Qxb2. I thought that I had 23.Rb1 and 24. Rb3, completely forgetting that Black has 24…Qd4. After he captured on b2, I did consider Ba4 at some point, but I thought it wouldn’t work, so I went for the draw”. But Aronian did offer another option: “Instead of 22.Nd2, I should have played 22.Ra2 and my position is very pleasant, just a slight plus, I am pressing”. 

You can watch a postgame interview with both players on the World Chess Youtube channel

Text: IM Michael Rahal

Photo: Official Photo FIDE Grand Prix Berlin Press Kit

About the Tournament 

The three-tournament Grand Prix series, which will unfold from February to April, features twenty-four of the world’s best Grandmasters, who will compete in two of the three events. In order to make the series more exciting and reduce the percentage of draws, FIDE and World Chess have changed the format. 

This innovative approach is new for the chess world but very similar to the Super League: the first stage has four pools of four players, and the winner of each pool advances to the semifinals and then to the final. 

The venue of the first leg is the World Chess Club Berlin, located at the City Centre on Unter den Linden, 26-30, and the games will be played from February 4th-17th every afternoon at 3 pm. Along with the two qualification spots for the Candidates, the event has a €150,000 euros prize fund, €20,000 more than the 2019 series.

All the games will be broadcasted live with expert commentary in three languages at https://chessarena.com/broadcasts/13604 

More information and the full schedule can also be found on the worldchess.com website. Full pairings can be found here. 

Due to COVID restrictions currently in place, only a limited number of tickets are available. Please note that the 2G+ rule applies to the event, which means that visiting the venue is only possible for those who either have a complete vaccination with EU-certified vaccine or proof of recovery and can additionally present a booster dose certificate or a negative test result.

The FIDE Grand Prix Series is brought to you by World Chess.

Leading companies supporting the FIDE Grand Prix Series 2022 include:

Kaspersky as the Official Cybersecurity Partner
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FIDE Online Arena as the official Partner

For further questions, please contact: media@worldchess.com