It was a draw yet again in the final of the FIDE Hamburg Grand Prix as the finalists, Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Alexander Grischuk put up another intense fight in the second round.
Grischuk, the Russian Grandmaster
pushed hard for a win with the black pieces, but Duda defended like a lion and
finally saved the half point.
The Consul General of the Russian Federation in Hamburg, Andrei Sharashkin, ceremonially
opened the second game of the final between Jan-Krzysztof Duda and Alexander
Grischuk.
Duda started the fight
with 1.d4 but was obviously not prepared for the line of the Queen´s Gambit
Declined which appeared on the board. Already after Grischuk’s 6th move, he had
spent 18 minutes. And despite the long think, he only managed to slide into a
position which is considered to be harmless for Black.
Ten moves later, the players had reached a position with an
isolated pawn on d5. As for white, he was still to develop his kingside and
bring his king to safety by castling. Grischuk used about 30 minutes to find
the critical continuation and lashed out with a pawn sacrifice at the end of
it. Soon, he had planted his light-squared bishop on d7, with the idea of
exploiting White’s weak light squares on the queenside.
The 21-year-old Polish grandmaster realized that he was in
trouble and sank into deep thought. He took the pawn on d5 and, one move later,
found the only defence to stay in the game. And then it was Grischuk’s turn to
go into the think tank. He spent as many as 30 minutes in order to find the
best continuation to keep the initiative going. As the game heated up, both
players were down to 20 minutes after 13 moves. It was clear that time trouble
might be a decisive factor.
In a highly tactical position, Grischuk continued the attack with a piece
sacrifice. Duda stood on the edge of the precipice but showed amazing defensive
skills, despite being short on time. Finally, Grischuk was unable to find
anything better than getting his piece back and transposing into a slightly
better endgame. Both grandmasters played on with a queen and a rook. Grischuk
had a passed pawn on the ‘b’-file to boast of. But in the end, this proved to
be only a symbolical advantage. Duda fought his way out and drew the game
without too many complications.
Even after the game, both players were still absorbed by this dramatic battle.
Grischuk gave his impression of it in his trademark style: “Maybe a better
calculator like Maxime Vachier-Lagrave would have found something, but he would
not get this position because he doesn’t play the Queen’s Gambit, which is the
most aggressive opening”.
Final, game
2 result:
Jan-Krzysztof Duda – Alexander Grischuk 1/2-1/2
The tiebreak of the final will start on Sunday at 15:00 (CET) with Duda having
the white pieces in the first rapid game.
Modus for the tiebreak:
Two 25+10 rapid games are played. If still tied, there are two 10+10 games,
then two 5+3. Finally, a single Armageddon game is played, where White has 5
minutes to Black’s 4 (with a 2-second increment from move 61), but Black wins
the match with a draw.
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