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GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz (2019) The Paris Rapid & Blitz was the third stage of the 2019 Grand Chess Tour, a series of eight events in which the world's best players competed for a total prize fund of $1.75 million. The Paris event this year took place in the Head Office of sponsors Vivendi from July 27 to August 1. Seven of the 12 tour regulars, Caruana, Giri, MVL, Nepomniachtchi, Mamedyarov, Anand and Nakamura were joined by event wild cards Grischuk, Duda and Dubov. The rapid part was a 10-player round-robin and featured three rounds each day on the first three days, with a time control of 25 minutes for all moves and a 10-second delay from move 1. The final two days were a blitz double round-robin, with 18 rounds of 5 minutes + 3-second delay. Rapid games counted double, with 2 points for a win and 1 for a draw. Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won with 21/36 and collected 13 Grand Chess Tour points (GP): 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 Pts GP 1 Vachier-Lagrave *** 11½ 10½ 0½0 200 210 101 21½ 211 200 21 13 2 Anand 10½ *** 1½1 2½1 11½ 111 1½1 00½ 100 21½ 20½ 10 =3 Grischuk 11½ 1½0 *** 2½1 000 2½0 201 10½ 2½½ 1½1 20 7½ =3 Nepomniachtchi 2½1 0½0 0½0 *** 2½0 211 2½½ 001 11½ 11½ 20 7½ 5 Duda 011 10½ 211 0½1 *** 001 10½ 21½ 1½0 201 19½ 6 6 Caruana 001 100 0½1 000 210 *** 210 211 111 11½ 19 5 7 Nakamura 110 1½0 010 0½½ 11½ 001 *** 210 211 1½1 18½ 4 8 Mamedyarov 00½ 21½ 11½ 210 00½ 000 001 *** 0½½ 201 15 3 9 Dubov 000 111 0½½ 10½ 1½1 100 000 2½½ *** 110 14 2 10 Giri 011 00½ 1½0 10½ 010 10½ 1½0 010 101 *** 12½ 1 Official site: https://grandchesstour.org/2019-gra... Chess.com: https://www.chess.com/news/view/vac... ChessBase: https://en.chessbase.com/post/grand... Chess24: https://chess24.com/en/watch/live-t... TWIC: https://theweekinchess.com/chessnew... Previous GCT event: GCT Croatia (2019). Next: GCT St. Louis Rapid & Blitz (2019)  page 1 of 6; games 1-25 of 135  Game   Result Moves Year Event/Locale Opening 1. Grischuk vs Nakamura   1-0 56 2019 GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz E06 Catalan, Closed, 5.Nf3 2. J K Duda vs Grischuk 1-0 28 2019 GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz A09 Reti Opening 3. D Dubov vs A Giri   ½-½ 46 2019 GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz E10 Queen's Pawn Game 4. Nakamura vs Mamedyarov   1-0 60 2019 GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz A04 Reti Opening 5. Anand vs Caruana   ½-½ 52 2019 GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz B52 Sicilian, Canal-Sokolsky (Rossolimo) Attack 6. M Vachier-Lagrave vs I Nepomniachtchi 0-1 35 2019 GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz B12 Caro-Kann Defense 7. A Giri vs Anand 0-1 63 2019 GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz E11 Bogo-Indian Defense 8. Caruana vs J K Duda 1-0 45 2019 GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz C42 Petrov Defense 9. Nakamura vs Caruana   0-1 37 2019 GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz E47 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3 O-O 5.Bd3 10. D Dubov vs M Vachier-Lagrave   0-1 62 2019 GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz A33 English, Symmetrical 11. Anand vs I Nepomniachtchi 1-0 39 2019 GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz B91 Sicilian, Najdorf, Zagreb (Fianchetto) Variation 12. Grischuk vs Mamedyarov   ½-½ 25 2019 GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz A04 Reti Opening 13. J K Duda vs A Giri 1-0 54 2019 GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz C50 Giuoco Piano 14. Mamedyarov vs M Vachier-Lagrave   0-1 41 2019 GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz E60 King's Indian Defense 15. I Nepomniachtchi vs D Dubov   ½-½ 39 2019 GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz A33 English, Symmetrical 16. J K Duda vs Mamedyarov 1-0 33 2019 GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz A13 English 17. I Nepomniachtchi vs A Giri   ½-½ 32 2019 GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz B90 Sicilian, Najdorf 18. Grischuk vs M Vachier-Lagrave   ½-½ 39 2019 GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz E61 King's Indian 19. Caruana vs I Nepomniachtchi 0-1 63 2019 GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz B07 Pirc 20. J K Duda vs Anand   ½-½ 36 2019 GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz A13 English 21. Mamedyarov vs A Giri   1-0 43 2019 GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz A45 Queen's Pawn Game 22. Nakamura vs D Dubov   1-0 41 2019 GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz D33 Queen's Gambit Declined, Tarrasch 23. Anand vs Nakamura   ½-½ 19 2019 GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz C65 Ruy Lopez, Berlin Defense 24. D Dubov vs Grischuk   0-1 76 2019 GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz A06 Reti Opening 25. Grischuk vs Anand   ½-½ 49 2019 GCT Paris Rapid & Blitz E10 Queen's Pawn Game  page 1 of 6; games 1-25 of 135    REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2)   < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 4 OF 4 ·  Later Kibitzing> Aug-01-19    Pedro Fernandez: No doubt that the great "winner" of this tournament was GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda, 21yo! Aug-02-19    Sokrates: <Pedro Fernandez: No doubt that the great "winner" of this tournament was GM Jan-Krzysztof Duda, 21yo!> My dear Pedro, dare I ask why so? Because he is 21? Both Tal and Carlsen were around 23, when they became world champions. Because of his result? Being no. 5 of 10? Was it his play? He lost 8 games (if I count correctly). Or you simply find the man sympathetic - I'd acknowledge that without any explanation! :-) The winner without quotation marks is, of course, MVL, and I congratulate him on this victory, particularly because it may give him a boost of self-confidence, enabling him to get into the candidates and rise to his former glory there. The winner with q.marks is IMO Vishwanathan Anand, who at 49 managed to become the clear second, only half a point behind the winner and in the company of such strong players in the quicker formats. He also had relatively few losses. Very remarkable, I'd say! Aug-02-19    jith1207: MVL needs to get back the form he was in the last world cup. Since then, it has been up and down, but I guess it is how it goes among the elite except for Carlsen. MVL is very sharp, and hopefully few better performance like this could boost him in time for qualifying for the candidates. Aug-02-19    jith1207: Maybe, because Duda beat Grischuk thrice, MVL twice, Caruana and Nepo once each. But his consistency was not there and must have been good experience playing in the grand chess tour nevertheless. Aug-02-19    jith1207: Maybe, going by the original point system for all formats, Duda finishes joint second along with Grischuk behind Anand, as in the points table above. Aug-02-19    alexmagnus: <How long was Korchnoi in elite curcuit? I think somewhere until early 1990ies. That means into his 60ies. I think Anand can probably do the same.> Depends on the definition of "elite". He was 58 at his last top 10 appearance and 68 at his last top 20 one. Interestingly, in between the two he even fell out of top 50 (his lowest ranking between the two lists in question was 73, just two years after his last top 10 appearance). Aug-02-19    jith1207: Top 20 in the world at the age of 68 still sounds elite to me, you can't expect someone to keep up the rankings at a senior age, but if they had bounced back to the top level again that's impressive. There are many legends who reached the top but retired not willing to show their longevity, but they are also elite because they achieved something unique and great in their playing says. Just like how you don't take away the Title norms, you don't over analyze the eliteness of the great players. Aug-02-19    Sokrates: While we recall the greatness of magnificent players who remained very strong almost until their death (Lasker, Smyslov and Korchnoi being the most prominent), let it be noted that they were rare exceptions. Let us hope Anand will join this distinguished club, but we shall have to wait until he has reached his 60s in order to make a proper comparison. Aug-02-19    alexmagnus: Smyslov's last appearance in the top 10 was even at a later age than Korchnoi's at 63. But he declined quicker afterwards (last top 20 at 64, last top 100 at 69) Aug-02-19    alexmagnus: Najdorf is for some reason rarely mentioned in this club. He left the absolute top early relative to the above mentioned (last top 20 at 60), but he stayed in the top 100 till 74 - only Korchnoi did longer (and unlike Korchnoi, he never disappeared from the top 100 before his last appearance there)! Aug-02-19    Sokrates: You're right, <alexmagnus>. Najdorf was in many ways a phenomenon in chess. Didn't he own the world record in blindfold simul for quite a while? But the three I mentioned, weren't all, of course. I dare say Botvinnik was a tough nut to crack right until the end of his activities. To think, he had played the great pre-WW2 (Lasker/Capa/Alekhine) and been a tutor to Kasparov. What a span of lifetime in chess! Aug-02-19    Pedro Fernandez: Hey <Sokrates>, now I'm afraid I confused you about Duda, sorry. Note that I did put "winner" between quotes traying to indicate the performance he got in this top group players. IMO Duda was a <VIRTUAL> winner due his short experience in these-Rapid/Blitz magisterial tournaments, and his result was really good, without prejudice of the excellent performance, say, MVL, Anand got. I must clarify that when I mention his short age is not because his young mind capacity but because his lack of experience. Greetings my great friend. Aug-02-19    Sokrates: Okay, <Pedro>, I get your reasoning. Duda was up against an experienced lot, for sure, and he did well. Cheers to you, my friend. Aug-02-19    moronovich: Hi <Sokrates> ! I had the privelledge to play the dane Gemzoe on 3 occasions.Did you know he had 2 wins and one draw against Lasker,Capablanca and Alekhine in simultanios games ? I dont know who got away with the draw ;) Probably some kind of world record !? Aug-02-19    frogbert: <Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won with 21/27> Huh? 21 out of 36 is correct. 18 points up for grabs in the rapid part, 18 points up for grabs in the blitz part. Aug-02-19    botvinnik64: A shoutout to all the recent post-ers: you all might love the half hour video (YouTube) Chess: A State of Mind. The footage alone is astonishing. Everyone watch and let’s talk, it’s great stuff! Aug-03-19    Sokrates: Hello, <moronovich>, how are you doin'? Been on vacation? You mean former Danish champion Jacob Erhardt Vilhelm Gemzøe? Astonishing! He must have been very old and you very young? And yeah, his result against the great three is very impressive. I only participated in simuls twice - it was in my young days. I managed to get a draw against both Larsen, it was in the mid 60s, and against old Salo Flohr in the late 70s. But I didn't fancy the genre - you play under par in the stressing set-up, IMO. Aug-03-19    csmath: I don't think there is many that can be happy with Paris performance. Perhaps Anand who was more stable than the rest though he also had his "moments" and Duda who proved to be able to compete here. MVL came as the worlds "best blitz player" only to completely falter in blitz with -2. That is to squash any talk about his supreme blitz abilities. Grischuk went down in blitz as well, Shak underperformed in both blitz and rapid, Giri was cut down to size but that did not stop him to twit/blabber/boast how he beat MVL in blitz, Dubov put a question mark on his tournament invitations saved from the last spot only by Giri's bankruptcy, Nakamura lost bearing the second day in blitz, Nepo rode a rollacoaster of wins and losses (as usual), Caruana certainly did not look like a WC challenger in rapid part. Aug-03-19    jphamlore: Nakamura seems to be playing Alireza Firouzja quite a bit in online blitz matches. Nakamura is, I am sure completely by accident, becoming almost a substitute trainer for Firouzja, who may be the next triple-threat 2800+ at all three of classical, rapid, and blitz time controls in face-to-face play. Aug-03-19    Atking: Afer his deceptive final at Riga spoiling a wonderful cup by an armagedon game just 3 days before Grand Ches Tour began in Paris I was afraid the French man does not play his best (Indeed he wasn't in Blitz part.) but he won it Congratulations!! Aug-03-19    moronovich: Hello <Sokrates> ! Thank you,I am doing fine and enjoying the small trips in the local landscape with my wife,looking more beatifull than ever and at least more to my taste,than looking at a bunch of selfieaddicted tourists.Luckily I have visited so many countries and cultures when I was younger. And speaking of age.Gemzoe being around 80 and I 29-33 when we met.Even in his high age he played on a decent masterlevel which was quite impressive. He also made one of the most spectacular moves even seen,as during a rapid game,he was close to being in complete zugzwang,he lifted his rook on c4,made some hieroglyfian patterns and circles in the air for around 30-seconds.Wereupon he put his rook back to c4 ! A splendid solution and the game continued as if nothing has happened.Which actually was the case :) We all (many owls) laughed in a good way. Distraugth as he ever was.And probably one of the best Danish talents ever. And hey ,you drew the great Bent. Kudos! Could imagine it was a boost to your game and further endevaours on the 64 squares !?.. Same here about simuls.But I liked to give some myself.To my taste a nice mixture of fun and fight. And how about your summer and vacation ? As far as I remember you took off for some weeks ago. All the best fellow danese. Aug-03-19    Sokrates: Greeting, <moronovic>, A quick rectification, if I wasn't clear. Both draws (BL and Flohr) were in simuls, hence Gemzøe's games with the great 3. What a wonderful, hilarious story about Gemzøe. Impressive how good he was at such a high age. As for my own merits, they are, alas, restricted to very few years long time ago. I have moved a lot, been married a lot (!), been occupied with education and work a lot, so my best result would be city master in Haderslev, I think it was in 1969, 1½ p. ahead of next (Kai Bjørnskov, H.W.May and the likes if those names tell you anything). Thereafter I left the city and practical chess was only played sporadically. Blitz-master of Zealand outside Copenhagen may count. Yeah, we were in Vienna 9 days. Vienna is one of our favourite vac. targets (among Munich, Rome, Lisbon, Rotterdam, Dresden). Being retired with a working wife (!) vacations are adjusted to her dispositions. :-) But next year we've decided to enjoy this nice country of ours. Take care, my friend. Aug-03-19    moronovich: Thank you for your story <Sokrates> ! And yes,your merits definately counts. Blitz master of Zealand doesn´t come out of the blue air. I am also happily married for 25 years after having aquinted a lot of woman,so perhaps I recognize your story !? "One must run the field before one can play the game,as the English say" ;) I´ll try to take care and the same to you friend. Aug-03-19    moronovich: Oh,and forgot to tell that Vienna is very high up on my bucket list. Did you know that Vienna comes from "vine" as it started out as a vine storage room/"houses" for roman soldiers !? Aug-03-19    Sokrates: <moronovich>. You're very kind on my merits, thanks, especially since you are a much stronger player than me. Oh, silver wedding, huge congrats! I should be lucky if I succeeded. On my 4th marriage, 15 years now. When people ask about the other 3, I usually say, the first was stupidity, the second romanticism, the third sexual passion and the fourth, pure love. So, I dare say, I've run the field! :-) I knew about "Wien", actually. I'm a sucker for knowing such things. It's incredible how huge the impact the Romans had on Europe. Ruins can be seen in Vienna and in many other central European cities. Even on our island Bornholm, ancient Roman coins have been found. Jump to page #    (enter # from 1 to 4) search thread:    < Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 4 OF 4 ·  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: No obscene, racist, sexist, or profane language. No spamming, advertising, duplicate, or gibberish posts. No vitriolic or systematic personal attacks against other members. Nothing in violation of United States law. 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