Maxime Vachier-Lagrave got good winning chances but could not bounce back in his match against Richard Rapport at the semifinals of the FIDE Grand Prix in Belgrade. Rapport’s resilient defence made him the first finalist of the event. The Hungarian will get a rest day before facing either Anish Giri or Dmitry Andreikin in the final. Giri and Andreikin drew both their semifinal games and will play a rapid and blitz tiebreaker on Friday. | Photos: Mark Livshitz
Efim Geller, one of Ukraine’s greatest chess talents, would have turned 97 years old on March 8 this year. An extraordinary player, he also had a doctorate in Physical Education, and worked as a second to Tigran Petrosian, Boris Spassky and Anatoly Karpov. Experts estimate Geller was among the top ten players in the world for about twenty years.
In light of the ongoing war in Ukraine, and under the roof of the Year of the Woman in Chess, the FIDE Commission for Women’s Chess established a fundraiser for Ukrainian chess players and their families affected now by war. Also, the FIDE Women’s Commission, in partnership with Chess24, has prepared a series of events on the Women’s Day to support Ukrainian chess players and their families.
The highlight of day 3 at the FIDE Grand Prix in Belgrade was Richard Rapport’s victory over Vidit Gujrathi. The Hungarian thus caught his round-3 opponent in the lead of pool C. The one other decisive result on Thursday was seen in the same group, as Vladimir Fedoseev got the better of Alexei Shirov. Anish Giri played a remarkable queen sacrifice against Pentala Harikrishna the game finished in a draw. | Photos: Mark Livshitz
The Ukrainian Championships took place in Kharkiv on 8-17 December 2021. The tournaments were nicely organized in the library of the Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University. Andrei Volokitin clinched first place in the open section by winning both his games in the two final rounds, while Kateryna Dolzhykova surprisingly got the gold in the women’s tournament. | Photos: Ukrainian Chess Federation