chessgames.com
Members · Prefs · Laboratory · Collections · Openings · Endgames · Sacrifices · History · Search Kibitzing · Kibitzer's Café · Chessforums · Tournament Index · Players · Kibitzing

🏆
TOURNAMENT STANDINGS
Grand Chess Tour Paris Blitz Tournament
Magnus Carlsen11.5/18(+9 -4 =5)[games]
Hikaru Nakamura11.5/18(+8 -3 =7)[games]
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave11/18(+6 -2 =10)[games]
Levon Aronian10/18(+4 -2 =12)[games]
Fabiano Caruana10/18(+9 -7 =2)[games]
Anish Giri9/18(+6 -6 =6)[games]
Wesley So8.5/18(+3 -4 =11)[games]
Veselin Topalov8/18(+4 -6 =8)[games]
Vladimir Kramnik5.5/18(+3 -10 =5)[games]
Laurent Fressinet5/18(+2 -10 =6)[games]
*

Chessgames.com Chess Event Description
Grand Chess Tour Paris Blitz (2016)

The first leg of the four-tournament 2016 Grand Chess Tour was held in Paris, France, from June 9 to June 12. The tournament consisted of a two-day rapid round-robin and a two-day blitz double-round-robin; in the combined standings, the results of the rapid games counted double (2 points for a win, 1 point for a draw, 0 points for a loss) while blitz games counted normally. In case of a tie for first place, a tie-break match would decide the winner.

The blitz games were played on June 11 and June 12, at 5 minutes per player with a 2-second increment per move. Hikaru Nakamura, who led by one point over Magnus Carlsen after the rapid games, maintained his lead in blitz and scored the maximum 13 Grand Chess Tour points; Carlsen defeated Nakamura in both of their head-to-head blitz games and briefly shared the overall lead during the final day, but four losses in rounds 11 to 16 (including three consecutive losses in Black games) knocked him out of contention.

Tournament results 

                Rapid  Blitz  Total  GCT points
Nakamura        14     11.5   25.5   13
Carlsen         13     11.5   24.5   10
Vachier-Lagrave 11     11     22     8
So              11     8.5    19.5   7
Aronian         9      10     19     6
Giri            9      9      18     5
Kramnik         10     5.5    15.5   4
Caruana         4      10     14     3
Topalov         4      8      12     2
Fressinet       5      5      10     1
Prizes: $37,500 for the winner (based on combined rapid/blitz results); $30,000 for the runner-up; $150,000 in total.

Grand Chess Tour website: http://grandchesstour.org/2016-pari...

Rapid games: Grand Chess Tour Paris Rapid (2016)

 page 1 of 4; games 1-25 of 90  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. So vs Nakamura 0-1682016Grand Chess Tour Paris BlitzC65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense
2. Topalov vs Fressinet  0-1482016Grand Chess Tour Paris BlitzC24 Bishop's Opening
3. So vs Fressinet  ½-½392016Grand Chess Tour Paris BlitzA45 Queen's Pawn Game
4. Nakamura vs Topalov 1-0422016Grand Chess Tour Paris BlitzE46 Nimzo-Indian
5. Carlsen vs Giri 1-0342016Grand Chess Tour Paris BlitzB50 Sicilian
6. Caruana vs Kramnik 1-0422016Grand Chess Tour Paris BlitzC65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense
7. Vachier-Lagrave vs Aronian  ½-½572016Grand Chess Tour Paris BlitzC67 Ruy Lopez
8. Aronian vs So  ½-½312016Grand Chess Tour Paris BlitzA30 English, Symmetrical
9. Kramnik vs Vachier-Lagrave  1-0402016Grand Chess Tour Paris BlitzA48 King's Indian
10. Giri vs Caruana  0-1522016Grand Chess Tour Paris BlitzB28 Sicilian, O'Kelly Variation
11. Topalov vs Carlsen  ½-½492016Grand Chess Tour Paris BlitzC78 Ruy Lopez
12. Fressinet vs Nakamura  0-1502016Grand Chess Tour Paris BlitzD56 Queen's Gambit Declined
13. Vachier-Lagrave vs Fressinet  1-0542016Grand Chess Tour Paris BlitzC65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense
14. Carlsen vs Fressinet 1-0232016Grand Chess Tour Paris BlitzC11 French
15. Caruana vs Topalov  1-0272016Grand Chess Tour Paris BlitzD73 Neo-Grunfeld, 5.Nf3
16. Vachier-Lagrave vs Giri  ½-½532016Grand Chess Tour Paris BlitzD73 Neo-Grunfeld, 5.Nf3
17. Aronian vs Kramnik  ½-½352016Grand Chess Tour Paris BlitzA14 English
18. Kramnik vs So 1-0292016Grand Chess Tour Paris BlitzA07 King's Indian Attack
19. Giri vs Aronian  ½-½252016Grand Chess Tour Paris BlitzC65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense
20. Topalov vs Vachier-Lagrave  1-0462016Grand Chess Tour Paris BlitzA20 English
21. Fressinet vs Caruana  0-1432016Grand Chess Tour Paris BlitzB43 Sicilian, Kan, 5.Nc3
22. Nakamura vs Carlsen 0-1592016Grand Chess Tour Paris BlitzD37 Queen's Gambit Declined
23. Caruana vs Nakamura  0-1322016Grand Chess Tour Paris BlitzC50 Giuoco Piano
24. Kramnik vs Carlsen 0-1552016Grand Chess Tour Paris BlitzC55 Two Knights Defense
25. Giri vs Nakamura  0-1462016Grand Chess Tour Paris BlitzC65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense
 page 1 of 4; games 1-25 of 90  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 3 OF 3 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Jun-12-16  SirRuthless: Oh yes I almost forgot Wes, he could sneak in top 3 but he will not be able to keep up with the masters of blitz and rapid over four days. I expect a top 6 finish from him.
Jun-12-16  ChemMac: Nakamura won against Kramnik thanks to a blunder by Kramnik right before the end...Be3 instead of Qe3 I think. And that decided the Blitz result.
Jun-12-16  Pulo y Gata: Great job, Nakamura! Congratulations!
Jun-12-16  SirRuthless: <ChemMac>. Actually that game was drawish and Nakamura won a full point, but a draw would still be a half point Not enough for carlsen to close the gap. Anything else?
Jun-12-16  Jambow: <1971> Sorry I saw a flicker and thought the light was on.
Jun-13-16  Pulo y Gata: Nakamura. Carlsen. Not much surprise there.

I thought Maxime is the revelation in this dual event. In the shadow of great players, but he sure is getting there, if not already.

Jun-13-16  Atking: <Pulo y Gata> Totally agreed. I'm surprised how much publicity is done around others super talents, like Giri, Caruana, Wesley, when the French man did for the year even better and only few posts are about MVL's notable performance. I heard that MVL took few years for his graduation in Mathematics this could explain he didn't focus at 100% like the others young stars yet back to chess MVL shows himself as one of the best 5 maybe 3 in the world.
Jun-13-16  Pulo y Gata: <Atking> And his play is uncompromising and creative. He's been consistently strong recently and it can only bode well for chess.

Tradewise Gibraltar (2016)
Tata Steel (2015)
World Cup (2015)

I have read before, too, that he took some time off chess for his studies. But he's back and is now looking to be on the right track.

Jun-14-16  Atking: Yeah <Pulo y Gata> The World cup is always a bit random if my memories serve, considering Elo, Maxime has met by far a stronger opposition before he lost to Giri. Still a strong performance by MVL. Adding Maxime finished also 2nd at London Chess Classic 2015; making exception of the World champion Magnus Carlsen, only very few could have such strong year. I hope Chess media will focus a bit more on the French talent.
Jun-14-16
Premium Chessgames Member		  alexmagnus: <Maxime has met by far a stronger opposition before he lost to Giri>

Far stronger opposition than who? Giri?

Let's see. MVL (back then 2731) faced Ortiz Suarez (2577, beat 1.5-0.5), Sargissian (2673, beat 1.5-0.5), Tomashevsky (2747, the classical and the rapid part were drawn, MVL won 2:0 on quick rapids), So (2779, beat 1.5-0.5) before evetually losing to Giri (2793, lost 0.5-1.5).

Giri (2793): Ssegwanyi (2357, beat 1.5-0.5), Motylev (2658, the classical part was drawn, 2:0 on rapids), Leko (2714, beat 1.5-0.5), Wojtaszek (2733, the classical part was drawn, 2:0 on rapids), Vachier-Lagrave (2731, 1.5-0.5) before losing to Svidler (2739, 0.5-1.5).

Yes, MVL's opposition was stronger. But <much> stronger? If we don't couund the first round, I'd say the difference is miniscule.

Jun-14-16  Captain Hindsight: When Kramnik plays badly he plays very badly...
Jun-14-16  Virgil A: < alexmagnus: <Maxime has met by far a stronger opposition before he lost to Giri>

Far stronger than who? Giri? >

It ( opposition ) may also mean MLG 's previous opponents.

< Pulo y Gata: Nakamura. Carlsen. Not much surprise there. I thought Maxime is the revelation in this dual event. In the shadow of great players, but he sure is getting there, if not already. >

That's accurate.

Jun-14-16  Virgil A: We're talking about blitz/rapid.
Jun-14-16  Atking: Well, I already said it. I dislike the system of the World Cup especially as a selection to the Candidates. <alexmagnus> just gave me the argument I was searching for. 2557 to 2357 (220); 2673 to 2658 (15); 2747 to 2714 (33); 2779 to 2733 (46) If I'm not wrong 314/4 nearly an average 80 Elo difference! Not in one or two games, but in 10 games. The two players and probably not only these ones, played another category of tournament. At the end of the tournament it is not surprising that one is more exhausted than the other. This system is not fair and far to be ideal.

But lets go on. I agree with other posts this is going too far from the topic of this page. I wish Maxime will got his real place among the top.

Jun-14-16
Premium Chessgames Member		  alexmagnus: <Atking> But if you throw away the first round, the difference becomes much smaller - actually, even the maximum is lower than your average. First round was relatively easy for both. Actually, probably harder for Giri - that draw against the 2300 player was a pretty long game and surely somewhat of a psychological shock.

As for the World Cup for Candidate selection - well, so far the system works good. Tjose qho qualified to the Candidates via World Cup - Kramnik and Andreikin in 2014, Karjakin and Svidler in 2016 - did not badly in the Candidates. Svidler and Grischuk in 2013 did not bad either.

Jun-14-16  Atking: There is no reason to throw away any round <alexmagnus>.
Jun-14-16
Premium Chessgames Member		  alexmagnus: The reason is that for a 2700 player both 2300 and 2500 should be easy opponents. Would you still count them if the ratings were as low as 1000 and 1500?
Jun-14-16  Atking: This is becoming really ridiculous <alexmagnus>. These players are qualified, of course you have to count of all them. Show more respect toward Mr. Ssegwanji.
Jun-15-16  Illogic: Kramnik lost 100 blitz rating points, that seems a little ridiculous.
Jun-15-16
Premium Chessgames Member		  alexmagnus: <Show more respect toward Mr. Ssegwanji.>

Of course he'd beat me all the time. But as for "he qualified, he must be good" - well, the zonal he qualified from is not exactly a hot spot of chess. He qualified from <zone 4.2>, which is composed of <Burundi, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda.>. Except for Egypt, I'n not sure any of those has GMs at all, and the tw famous Egyptian players, Amin and Adly, were already qualified through the African championship...

Jun-15-16  Absentee: You're not showing enough respect, therefore your argument is void.
Jun-15-16  frogbert: Why does the front page say that Nakamura won the blitz event with 11.5/18 points? Carlsen and Nakamura finished with the same number of points, and Carlsen had the better Sonneborn-Berger score and won 2-0 head to head.

Congratulations to Nakamura for winning the first leg of the Grand Chess Tour 2014. Both Carlsen and Nakamura saved/won several blitz games that objectively were lost or drawish, but I guess it just shows how great these two are at blitz. Overall it was very close; Carlsen avoiding the brain fart (of losing on time with 20 seconds on his clock) in his first rapid game against So could've turned the tables. It's kind of ironic that Carlsen has let his time run out twice in the past year, but never in a blitz game. :)

Jun-15-16  frogbert: <The winner overall will be Magnus or Hikaru.>

Carlsen does not participate in the classical part of the Grand Chess Tour, does he? So he will hardly win overall.

Jun-15-16  frogbert: <If I'm not wrong 314/4 nearly an average 80 Elo difference! Not in one or two games, but in 10 games.>

<Atking> That simply shows that averaging everything isn't the way to go. Except for the first round, where Giri clearly had the easier opponent (due to being seeded higher), the difference between their opponents were essentially insignificant.

The World Cup uses a strong seeding system, and in order not to be unfair to the stronger players, that's the only reasonable thing to do. Otherwise one would get much worse examples of "unfairness" than the one your pointing to now.

Jun-22-16  siamesedream: https://www.arctic.com/secno/magnus...
Jump to page #    (enter # from 1 to 3)
search thread:   
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 3 OF 3 ·  Later Kibitzing>

NOTE: Create an account today to post replies and access other powerful features which are available only to registered users. Becoming a member is free, anonymous, and takes less than 1 minute! If you already have a username, then simply login login under your username now to join the discussion.

Please observe our posting guidelines:

  1. No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language.
  2. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts.
  3. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members.
  4. Nothing in violation of United States law.
  5. No cyberstalking or malicious posting of negative or private information (doxing/doxxing) of members.
  6. No trolling.
  7. The use of "sock puppet" accounts to circumvent disciplinary action taken by moderators, create a false impression of consensus or support, or stage conversations, is prohibited.
  8. Do not degrade Chessgames or any of it's staff/volunteers.

Please try to maintain a semblance of civility at all times.

Blow the Whistle

See something that violates our rules? Blow the whistle and inform a moderator.

NOTE: Please keep all discussion on-topic. This forum is for this specific tournament only. To discuss chess or this site in general, visit the Kibitzer's Café.

Messages posted by Chessgames members do not necessarily represent the views of Chessgames.com, its employees, or sponsors.
All moderator actions taken are ultimately at the sole discretion of the administration.
Spot an error? Please suggest your correction and help us eliminate database mistakes!
Home | About | Login | Logout | F.A.Q. | Profile | Preferences | Premium Membership | Kibitzer's Café | Biographer's Bistro | New Kibitzing | Chessforums | Tournament Index | Player Directory | Notable Games | World Chess Championships | Opening Explorer | Guess the Move | Game Collections | ChessBookie Game | Chessgames Challenge | Store | Privacy Notice | Contact Us

Copyright 2001-2025, Chessgames Services LLC