It’s MVL vs Fabiano @ GCT São Paulo
GM Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) will take on GM Fabiano Caruana (USA) in the $ 350,000 Grand Chess Tour finals at World Trade Center, São Paulo. In an intensely fought semi-finals MVL overcame Indian star Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu with fluctuating wins in rapid & blitz games. Snatching the other final spot was Fabiano Caruana who landed a single blitz win to eliminate Armenian-American Levon Aronian. The GCT finals winner takes home $150,000 with $100,000 going for the second, $60,000 for the third, and $40,000 for the fourth placed GMs.
It was the Frenchman who drew the first blood in the rapid section, putting it across Indian Grandmaster Praggnanandhaa. After two draws in the classical battle it was the switch to speed chess that brought the change of result. The Caro-Kann Advanced rapid game was on even keel before Pragg stretched way too far when the position gave away. The Indian pulled one back in the blitz section, but MVL won the final two blitz games moving into the finals.It was a painful off-day for Praggnanandhaa who missed possible wins at critical moments that saw MVL pull away. It will now be a French-American duel with former world championship challenger Caruana landing the other final spot.
Former Grand Chess Tour champion Caruana travelled through a much harder path to the finals than MVL, as he landed just a single win across standard, rapid and blitz sections before putting away a resolute Aronian. It all came down to final four blitz games and Caissa smiled on Caruana who won the third blitz game taking the match with a 15-13 score. The challenging GCT finals format played across all three sections is one way to identify a triathlete, an all-rounder champion.
Image courtesy: Grand Chess Tour/Saint Louis Chess Club
Semi-finals (Rapid): Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu lost to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 2-6, Fabiano Caruana drew with Levon Aronian 4-4.
Semi-finals (Blitz): Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu lost to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave 3-5, Fabiano Caruana beat Levon Aronian 5-3.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (2738) – Praggnanandhaa Rameshbabu (2785) e4 c6 2. d4 d5 3. e5 Bf5 4. h4 h6 5. Bd3 Bxd3 6. Qxd3 e6 7. h5 c5 8. c3 Nc6 9. Ne2 Rc8 10. a3 Qa5 11. O-O Nge7 12. Nd2 Qa6 13. Qxa6 bxa6 14. b4 cxd4 15. cxd4 Rc7 16. Bb2 Nc8 17. Rac1 Nb6 18. Nf4 Be7 19. Nd3 O-O 20. Rc2 Rfc8 21. Rfc1 Bd8 22. Kf1 Kf8 23. g4 a5 24. b5 Nb8 25. Rxc7 Rxc7 26. Rxc7 Bxc7 27. Nc5 Bd8 28. a4 N8d7 29. Ke2 Ke8 30. f4 Be7 31. Ndb3 Nc4 32. Bc3 Ndb6 33. f5 Bxc5 34. Nxc5 Ke7 35. Be1 exf5 36. gxf5 Nb2 37. Bxa5 N2xa4 38. Bb4 Ke8 39. Nxa4 Nxa4 40. e6 Nb6 41. Bc5 Nc8 42. Kf3 Nb6 43. Kf4 f6 44. Ke3 Nc8 45. Kd3 Nb6 46. Kc3 Nc4 47. Bxa7 Nd6 48. b6 Kd8 49. Bb8 Nxf5 50. b7 Ne7 51. Bd6 Nc6 52. Kd3 Ke8
53. Ke3 1-0 (Rapid game)
Levon Aronian (2744) – Fabiano Caruana (2789) 1. c4 Nf6 2. Nc3 g6 3. e4 d6 4. d4 Bg7 5. Nge2 O-O 6. Ng3 a5 7. Be2 e5 8. d5 Na6 9. h4 h5 10. Bg5 Qe8 11. Nf1 Nc5 12. Nd2 Bd7 13. f3 Nh7 14. Be3 f5 15. Nb3 b6 16. Nxc5 bxc5 17. a4 Nf6 18. Bd3 Rb8 19. b3 Rb4 20. Nb5 fxe4 21. Bxe4 Nxe4 22. fxe4 c6 23. dxc6 Bxc6 24. Qc2 Rf4 25. Nc3 Rg4 26. O-O-O Qb8 27. Kb2 Rxc4 28. Rd2 Bxe4 29. Qd1 Rxc3 30. Kxc3 d5 31. Rxd5 Bxd5 32. Qxd5+ Kh7 33. Qxc5 Rxg2 34. Rd1 e4+ 35. Rd4
35…Qg3 0-1 (Blitz game)
Picture Courtesy: Grand Chess Tour
