FIDE Grand Prix 2014-2015

[Tim Harding]

Move 25, Nakamura efficiently hoovering the board clean.

He has actually a lot of tricky calculations about liquidation following 26 Qe5! Qh4 27 Qf4 or 26...Rxf2 27 Kxf2 Qd2+ 28 Kf3 Qxc1 29 Qb8+ etc leading to a queen ending or pawn ending.
Commentators think Nakamura won't lose. I certainly hope he qualifies; he seemed out of his depth at the 2014 Sinquefield but much improved afterwards.

LATER: They are now in that queen ending.

EVEN LATER: Jakovenko not taking perpetual yet as 37...Qc4 shows. He's probably going to think about it after making the time control. He has 13 minutes for 3 moves and Nakamura has an hour.

LATER STILL: Wrong again. After 38 Qd1 Jakovenko agreed the draw. Well done Hikaru!

[Mick Norris]

Jakovenko qualifies for the candidates if he beats Nakamura with black, tough ask as Nakamura qualifies with a draw as far as I can see from here
Race to FIDE candidates 2016

Nakamura seems (writing this around move 22) to be suffering from indecision about whether to play for a win or draw with White and is now somewhat worse.

Caruana seemed to play for a draw but could even be better. It seems he will certainly qualify for the candidates even if he loses, but the other place is in doubt.

A good tense last round after two hours play.

According to the Chess Mind, Nakamura will qualify with a draw unless Caruana beats Giri, Boris Gelfand beats Karjakin, Leinier Dominguez beats Alexander Grischuk and Evgeny Tomashevsky beats Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. If all that happens, Tomashevsky will qualify.

Chess Mind round up

[Mick Norris]

Nakamura, Hikaru - Jakovenko, Dmitry ½-½ 38 E32 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Dominguez Perez, Leinier - Grischuk, Alexander ½-½ 34 B33 Sicilian Sveshnikov
Giri, Anish - Caruana, Fabiano ½-½ 37 A35 English Symmetrical

Caruana and Nakamura qualify

[Tim Harding]

Nakamura, Hikaru - Jakovenko, Dmitry ½-½ 38 E32 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Dominguez Perez, Leinier - Grischuk, Alexander ½-½ 34 B33 Sicilian Sveshnikov
Giri, Anish - Caruana, Fabiano ½-½ 37 A35 English Symmetrical

Caruana and Nakumura qualify

At the press conference after Nakamura's game it was said that the World Cup takes precedence. So if either/both Caruana and Nakamura make the final of the World Cup, the Grand Prix third place (even fourth if they both did) get the places from the GP.

Also Nakamura was asked if the US would host the Candidates. He thought it unlikely and said it definitely would not be in Saint Louis.

Meanwhile Gelfand is still fighting.

[Mick Norris]

At the press conference after Nakamura's game it was said that the World Cup takes precedence. So if either/both Caruana and Nakamura make the final of the World Cup, the Grand Prix third place (even fourth if they both did) get the places from the GP.

Yes, that's correct

2. 1 World Championship Match 2014 - The player who lost the 2014 World Championship Match qualifies.
2. 2 World Cup 2015 - The two (2) top winners of the World Cup 2015 qualify. In case one of the two top winners of the World
Cup qualifies from 2.1 above, then the qualification spot goes to 3rd place of the World Cup.
2. 3 FIDE Grand-Prix 2014/2015 - The two (2) top players from the FIDE Grand-Prix 2014/2015 qualify to participate. In case
any of the two top winners of the FIDE Grand-Prix qualify from 2.1 or 2.2 above, then the qualification spot(s) are given to
the next player(s) in the final standings of the Grand-Prix.
2. 4 Average FIDE Rating List of the 12 monthly lists starting from 1st January 2015 to 1st December 2015 - Two (2)
players qualify to participate by rating (excluding the players who qualify from articles 2.1, 2.2 and 2.3 above). A player can
qualify by rating only if he/she participates in the World Cup 2015 or the FIDE Grand Prix 2014-2015. For the purpose of
deciding the 2 rated player qualifiers, the average from the following twelve FIDE rating lists will be used: the sum of all 12
monthly lists starting from 1st January 2015 to 1st December 2015 divided by 12. A minimum of thirty (30) rated games in
total is required for each player in the 12 monthly rating periods. In case of equality, two decimals will be taken into
consideration. If the numbers are still equal then the total number of games in all 12 rating periods shall be decisive. That
means the player with the greater number of games shall qualify.
2. 5 One nominated player by the Organiser - A player, nominated by the organiser, with a rating of at least 2725 in the FIDE
rating list of 1st July 2015.
2. 6 Replacements - If any replacement is needed due to withdrawal or refusal of participation, the first reserve player from the
final standings of the FIDE Grand-Prix 2014/2015 will be invited. Any futher replacement needed will be fulfilled from the
average rating list described in article 2.4 above.

[Mick Norris]

2.1 = Anand
2.2 = ??
2.3 = Caruana, Nakamura unless either/both qualify from the World Cup, in which case GP 3 or even 4 qualify
2.4 Grischuk stands a chance here, and Topalov would have to play in the World Cup

[Tim Harding]

Gelfand has now drawn so there are just three players joint first.
Jakovenko is third in the GP, I gather. I suppose the full GP standings will be published after the last two games finish.

[Mick Norris]

Nakamura, Hikaru - Jakovenko, Dmitry ½-½ 38 E32 Nimzo Indian 4.Qc2
Dominguez Perez, Leinier - Grischuk, Alexander ½-½ 34 B33 Sicilian Sveshnikov
Svidler, Peter - Jobava, Baadur 1-0 66 C10 French Rubinstein
Giri, Anish - Caruana, Fabiano ½-½ 37 A35 English Symmetrical
Karjakin, Sergey - Gelfand, Boris ½-½ 33 B94 Sicilian Najdorf with 6.Bg5
Tomashevsky, Evgeny - Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime ½-½ 115 D80 Gruenfeld 4.Bg5

[Mick Norris]

Final Ranking

RANK SNO. NAME RTG FED PTS RES.
1 5 GM Jakovenko Dmitry 2738 RUS 6½ 1½
2 7 GM Nakamura Hikaru 2799 USA 6½ 1
3 4 GM Caruana Fabiano 2803 ITA 6½ ½
4 9 GM Dominguez Perez Leinier 2734 CUB 6 ½
5 12 GM Gelfand Boris 2744 ISR 6 ½
6 10 GM Svidler Peter 2734 RUS 5½ 2
7 3 GM Grischuk Alexander 2780 RUS 5½ 2
8 8 GM Giri Anish 2776 NED 5½ 1
9 6 GM Karjakin Sergey 2753 RUS 5½ 1
10 11 GM Tomashevsky Evgeny 2749 RUS 5 0
11 2 GM Jobava Baadur 2699 GEO 4 0
12 1 GM Vachier-Lagrave Maxime 2754 FRA 3½ 0

[Mick Norris]

FIDE Grand Prix Series 2014-15 final standings
Rk Name FED Rtg 1 2 3 4 Pts
1 Fabiano Caruana ITA 2803 155 75 140 370
2 Hikaru Nakamura USA 2799 82 125 140 347
3 Dmitry Jakovenko RUS 2738 30 140 140 310
4 Evgeny Tomashevsky RUS 2749 82 170 30 282
5 Boris Gelfand ISR 2744 155 15 85 255
6 Shakhriyar Mamedyarov AZE 2735 35 125 75 235
7 Teimour Radjabov AZE 2738 50 50 110 210
8 Dmitry Andreikin RUS 2723 20 170 10 200
9 Leinier Dominguez CUB 2734 10 85 170
10 Sergey Karjakin RUS 2753 82 75 x 157
11 Rustam Kasimdzhanov UZB 2715 35 15 75 125
12 Alexander Grischuk RUS 2810 82 40 x 122
13 Baadur Jobava GEO 2699 75 40 20 135
14 Maxime Vachier-Lagrave FRA 2754 75 40 10 125
15 Anish Giri NED 2776 40 75 x 115
16 Peter Svidler RUS 2734 82 20 x 102

[Chris Rice]

I rather think there should be a time limit on arbiters deciding otherwise in light of the ridiculous decision described below.

I guess that's one way of fixing the problem. My feeling is that the signed score sheets by both players should act in the same way as a contract. If you sign you accept the result even if a mistake is discovered later. The way that 8.7 is currently drafted gives too much power to the arbiter to be able to change things and there is no criteria laid out for making such changes and this can lead to inconsistent decisions such as what happened to that poor kid you describe above. Currently in Khanty-Mansysk the rumours are flying that the only reason the chief arbiter corrected the decision in the Caruana-Karkakin game was because of the Grand Prix standings. These may not be true of course but this is what you get in the absence of an agreed process.

At the closing ceremony the chief arbiter summarised the outcome of the incident on the game Karjakin-Caruana: "Thanks to the teamwork of myself and my assistant, we managed to do without the Appeals Committee". Well yes they did, as they in effect, thanks to 8.7, acted as the Appeals Committee themselves by altering a judgment after score sheets had been signed. Investigating your own mistakes does lead to issues of conflicts on interest which is one fundamental reason why you have an independent Appeals Committee.