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TOURNAMENT STANDINGS
FIDE Grand Prix Berlin Tournament

Hikaru Nakamura8.5/12(+5 -0 =7)[games]
Levon Aronian7/12(+4 -2 =6)[games]
Leinier Dominguez Perez6/10(+4 -2 =4)[games]
Richard Rapport5.5/10(+3 -2 =5)[games]
Wesley So4.5/8(+2 -1 =5)[games]
Radoslaw Wojtaszek4/8(+1 -1 =6)[games]
Andrey Esipenko3.5/6(+2 -1 =3)[games]
Vladimir Fedoseev3/6(+2 -2 =2)[games]
Vidit Santosh Gujrathi3/6(+1 -1 =4)[games]
Alexander Grischuk3/6(+1 -1 =4)[games]
Daniil Dubov3/6(+1 -1 =4)[games]
Pentala Harikrishna2.5/6(+0 -1 =5)[games]
Grigoriy Oparin2/6(+0 -2 =4)[games]
Etienne Bacrot1.5/6(+0 -3 =3)[games]
Alexey Shirov1.5/6(+0 -3 =3)[games]
Vincent Keymer1.5/6(+0 -3 =3)[games]

Chessgames.com Chess Event Description
FIDE Grand Prix Berlin (2022)

Type: Double round-robins and a knockout stage.
Where: Berlin Germany. Site tag: GER
When: February 04-17 2022 Rest days: February 8 and 14th
Time control: 90 minutes for 40 moves, then an additional 30 minutes for the rest of game, with a 30-second increment from move one.
Time control for Rapid in Tiebreaks is 15+10.
If it is tied, the third and fourth games are Blitz with 3+2 time control.
If no winner has been determined, one Armageddon game is played.
Number of players: 16
Official site:https://worldchess.com/series/grand...
Chess.com: https://www.chess.com/article/view/...
ChessBase: https://en.chessbase.com/post/fide-...
TWIC: https://theweekinchess.com/chessnew...
FIDE: https://fide.com/news/1557
Other website(s): https://lichess.org/broadcast/fide-...

Next Event: FIDE Grand Prix Leg 2 (2022)

 page 1 of 3; games 1-25 of 60  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. A Esipenko vs Grischuk ½-½382022FIDE Grand Prix BerlinE06 Catalan, Closed, 5.Nf3
2. Shirov vs Harikrishna  ½-½312022FIDE Grand Prix BerlinB12 Caro-Kann Defense
3. So vs Dominguez Perez ½-½342022FIDE Grand Prix BerlinD20 Queen's Gambit Accepted
4. Keymer vs Dubov ½-½852022FIDE Grand Prix BerlinD12 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
5. Aronian vs V S Gujrathi 1-0642022FIDE Grand Prix BerlinE48 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 d5
6. Wojtaszek vs Rapport 1-0582022FIDE Grand Prix BerlinE11 Bogo-Indian Defense
7. V Fedoseev vs G Oparin 1-0482022FIDE Grand Prix BerlinE06 Catalan, Closed, 5.Nf3
8. Bacrot vs Nakamura  ½-½302022FIDE Grand Prix BerlinC67 Ruy Lopez
9. Harikrishna vs So ½-½492022FIDE Grand Prix BerlinC67 Ruy Lopez
10. Bacrot vs Grischuk ½-½352022FIDE Grand Prix BerlinB08 Pirc, Classical
11. Nakamura vs A Esipenko 1-0462022FIDE Grand Prix BerlinA29 English, Four Knights, Kingside Fianchetto
12. Wojtaszek vs G Oparin  ½-½412022FIDE Grand Prix BerlinD33 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch
13. Rapport vs V Fedoseev 1-0522022FIDE Grand Prix BerlinE32 Nimzo-Indian, Classical
14. Keymer vs V S Gujrathi ½-½382022FIDE Grand Prix BerlinD40 Queen's Gambit Declined, Semi-Tarrasch
15. Dubov vs Aronian ½-½362022FIDE Grand Prix BerlinA45 Queen's Pawn Game
16. Shirov vs Dominguez Perez 0-1382022FIDE Grand Prix BerlinB23 Sicilian, Closed
17. A Esipenko vs Bacrot 1-0362022FIDE Grand Prix BerlinC11 French
18. Grischuk vs Nakamura ½-½312022FIDE Grand Prix BerlinD27 Queen's Gambit Accepted, Classical
19. G Oparin vs Rapport  ½-½602022FIDE Grand Prix BerlinB63 Sicilian, Richter-Rauzer Attack
20. V Fedoseev vs Wojtaszek  ½-½402022FIDE Grand Prix BerlinB23 Sicilian, Closed
21. V S Gujrathi vs Dubov 1-0432022FIDE Grand Prix BerlinD78 Neo-Grunfeld, 6.O-O c6
22. Dominguez Perez vs Harikrishna  ½-½332022FIDE Grand Prix BerlinB12 Caro-Kann Defense
23. So vs Shirov 1-0502022FIDE Grand Prix BerlinD12 Queen's Gambit Declined Slav
24. Aronian vs Keymer 1-0422022FIDE Grand Prix BerlinB13 Caro-Kann, Exchange
25. Grischuk vs A Esipenko  ½-½412022FIDE Grand Prix BerlinE59 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, Main line
 page 1 of 3; games 1-25 of 60  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)  

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 5 OF 6 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Feb-14-22  metatron2: <Atterdag: Any clue what this is about? <not not>!>

He actually has a point there. Since 2019 Naka actually played online bullet and blitz most of the time, and streamed it on twitch and Youtube. He added some online rapid tourneys when they were available, but not much more than that.

And then he comes here to the Grand Prix and just gets to final pretty easily.

But I don't think that's shaming the so called "pros". Naka is just a huge talent. I saw his online streaming a bit and my jaw dropped sometimes.

He can play bullet against the strongest player, stream and explain while he is playing that, almost always beat that opponent, and sometimes while doing that, he says something like: "OK so I will win this in Fischer's style, showing the power of the bishops", then gets into a bishop vs knight endgame, that seems nothing special, but he could just estimate in a split of a second that he has great advantage there, and go on to win it easily.

If Naka wasn't such an online chess addict, I think he could have been the Carlsen rival over the years.

Feb-15-22  lakshashishu: My money is on Nakamura, all Nakamura needs to do is say candidates few times before the game and Aronian will crumble.
Feb-15-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  Atterdag: <metatron2>

I am a bit surprised by your post. <Since 2019 Naka actually played online ...> Yes, evidently, since 2019 a massive pandemic has paralysed chess life and OTB games in grande physical tournaments. Sure, there have been tournaments with classical time and high risk participation (Wijk), but blaming him for making the best out of the situation is not fair in my book.

Objectively, Nakamura's position has sunk down the ranks meanwhile, but we know that the position between the first 19 on the list varies and fluctuates all the time. Only Carlsen constantly and steadily keeps his No. 1.

What counts in the end is the pure talent, and as you state yourself, Nakamura's talent is without question. In the wake of the pandemic it will take quite a while for chess life to recover. None of the elite players should be blamed for their actions during this sinister period, we should be happy that they survived (if ...).

<not not>s slandering of Carlsen and Nakamura isn't worth your or my attention and I regret that I paid it.

Feb-15-22  metatron2: <Atterdag: evidently, since 2019 a massive pandemic has paralysed chess life and OTB games in grande physical tournaments. Sure, there have been tournaments with classical time and high risk participation (Wijk)>

Obviously covid was the trigger for Naka's inactivity, but since Oct 2020, OTB tournaments practically returned, and especially after vaccines were common (since March 2021).

There were various tournaments he could have participated, such as Wijk (twice!) or Norway chess (he got invitations to at least part of them), but his most obvious misses were:

US championship, fide Grand Swiss, and the World Cup.

Missing those 3 must-participate tourneys, with the combination of his new streaming career and his previous inactivity, raised a lot of speculations that Naka actually retired from competitive classical chess (and he even responded to that a few times).

<Atterdag: but blaming him for making the best out of the situation is not fair in my book>

Its not about blaming him. If he wants to become a chess streamer then good for him. Many people also said that he actually helps a lot in promoting chess that way.

The point is, that when one is focused at online streaming, then he can't really focus on his chess training (the two things are quite opposite actually..). And training is so critical for professional players, and especially for top players.

So I expected him to do quite badly here, but he just proved his great talent.

<Atterdag: <not not>s slandering of Carlsen and Nakamura isn't worth your or my attention and I regret that I paid it>

I don't really care about his trolling. He just had a point there about Naka, and he actually slander his opponents here, but as I said, I don't think that slander was justified.

Feb-15-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  stevemcd87: <My money is on Nakamura, all Nakamura needs to do is say candidates few times before the game and Aronian will crumble.>

Or the alternative... https://yarn.co/yarn-clip/103e5927-...
Longer Clip for those who are not familiar with Waterboy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZg...

Feb-15-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: At times, such pages as this veer towards the level of lesser sites with their puerile commentary, though there are some competent players and posters here who give a fair-minded picture of things.
Feb-15-22  Albertan: Groups for the Second leg of the 2022 FIDE Grand Prix announced:

https://www.fide.com/news/1578

Feb-15-22  Albertan: Andreikin replaces Ding in Belgrade:

https://www.fide.com/news/1576

Feb-16-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  Atterdag: <metatron2>

Thanks for your good, balanced response (as always).

I comprehend you don't blame Nakamura for not playing in live tournaments during the pandemic. I think it was and still is a very personal choice how you evaluate the risk of your participation in events during the still ongoing pandemic.

It has become obvious that the notion of the pandemic varies immensely both between persons and between nations and cultures. To me 2020, 2021 and maybe even this year should be regarded as an exception to normal activity on the grande chess scene.

That said, it's no surprise that Nakamura with his temper and playing style would prefer quicker formats and tournaments.

As Botvinnik claimed, too many blitzes are likely to decrease your deep playing strength, and I don't think that even Nakamura himself bears the illusion that he will ever reach a classical WC match. But his pure talent is still intact and should not be underestimated. I am sure, Aronian will not make that mistake. :-)

Feb-16-22  Albertan: Berlin GP Final 1:Nakamura and Aronian both dodge bullets:

https://chess24.com/en/read/news/be...

Exciting Chess in the FIDE Grand Prix Final:

https://www.fide.com/news/1579

Berlin GP Final:An exciting draw:

https://en.chessbase.com/post/fide-...

Feb-16-22  devere: As they move on to rapid and blitz, the rating advantage is now with Nakamura.
Feb-16-22  Albertan: Berlin GP:Tiebreaks it is:

https://en.chessbase.com/post/fide-...

FIDE Grand Prix:Aronian and Nakamura to battle it out in tie-break:

https://www.fide.com/news/1582

2022 FIDE Grand Prix Berlin Final:Mémorable First Clash Ends In Thrilling Draw:

https://www.chess.com/news/view/202...

Feb-16-22  metatron2: <Atterdag: I think it was and still is a very personal choice how you evaluate the risk of your participation in events during the still ongoing pandemic>

I actually thought that Naka started getting into the chess streaming business during the pandemic, and just found it too comfortable and lucrative to leave it for tedious super tourneys, that require tons of preparations and efforts.

But when asked about his inactivity during an interview here, Naka actually said that he didn't participate because he was worried of covid. I just didn't see him as someone who would be too worried about such things, but I guess I was wrong..

And as always, murphy law came in place, and Naka got infected on his first OTB tourney after scarifying so much in efforts of keeping it safe..

<Atterdag: To me 2020, 2021 and maybe even this year should be regarded as an exception to normal activity on the grande chess scene>

It goes without saying that covid still has massive effect about everything, including chess.

It's enough to mention the poor case of Ding Liren (and other Chinese players), and the critical forfeits of players who got infected during a tournament (like Dubov or Naka).

<Atterdag: As Botvinnik claimed, too many blitzes are likely to decrease your deep playing strength, and I don't think that even Nakamura himself bears the illusion that he will ever reach a classical WC match.>

For Naka during covid, I think it was more like 95% bullet & blitz. So "too many blitzes" is a serious understatement in his case..

Regarding his chances to reach WC match, he actually said something in his streams a while ago: he said that theoretically he can become a world champion one day, but that it is very unlikely.

So he is very well aware of the affect of his choices.

Again, after watching some of his streaming, I think that he could have been Carlsen's rival over the years, if he was real serious about classical chess.

Feb-17-22  greed and death: Today's Aronian-Nakamura draw was a rather uninspiring end to what has otherwise been a very entertaining tournament
Feb-17-22  0ZeR0: <greed and death>

Hold your horses for just one second. We still have the rapid and blitz tiebreak to determine a winner. As they say, it's not over until the fat lady sings.

Feb-17-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  Atterdag: <metatron2> It seems to me that we are on the same page, just, perhaps, interpreting "the text" slightly differently.

Nakamura's career contains many could-haves and ifs. Some years ago he proclaimed that he was Carlsen's most dangerous opponent. There is a picture somewhere of Carlsen laughing at that notion, but times change, statements by players change, the relativity of strength among the top players change.

The attitude towards time formats also changes. Many top players, including Carlsen and Nakamura, no longer regard the classical time format as God given and the only "right" way of deciding world championships and tournament outcomes.

Fortunately for the old format, there were many decided games in the recent WC match, but prior to that you had two WC matches where the old format didn't give any decisions and instead an abundance of draws. Quicker formats had to be used to reach a conclusion.

I most certainly don't want to revive the time format debate - just make a note that viewpoints on it have changed during the past ten years and the pandemic seems to have accellerated the discours.

Feb-17-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  MissScarlett: Haven't been watching closely so far but today is practically unmissable. Nothing is decided as regards the two Candidates spots, of course, but the winner will be in pole position.
Feb-17-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  Atterdag: Nakamura defeating Aronian. Congrats to the tournament winner. A bow in respect to second Aronian for brave efforts.
Feb-17-22  Albertan: Nakamura wins first leg of FIDE Grand Prix:

https://ruchess.ru/en/news/all/hika...

https://worldchess.com/news/all/who...

Feb-17-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  HeMateMe: Nak has gone +5 at this event!
Feb-17-22  not not: Aronian lost. Lovely jubbly.

Now me watch in delight how MVL delivers his famous chokejob.

It will be double whammy for "true artists and gentlemen of chess".

Happy times!

Feb-17-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  perfidious: Speaking of puerile commentary....
Feb-17-22  Albertan: Nakamura beats Aronian in tie-breaks, wins Berlin Grand Prix:

https://en.chessbase.com/post/fide-...

Hikaru Nakamura wins in Berlin as popular chess streamer leads Grand Prix:

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2...

Feb-17-22  Albertan: Hikaru Nakamura wins first leg of FIDE Grand Prix 2022:

https://www.fide.com/news/1584

Feb-17-22  Jambow: Nakamura welcome back to the classical chess world...

Aronian nice to you on form again also... Welcome to playing for USA hope it goes well for you.

Caruana, So, Aronian, Nakamura and Dominguez what an A team.

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