Elista GP begins, Wang Yue’s streak ends

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The Elista Grand Prix has started, trying to keep the Grand Prix series on track. With Vladimir Akopian, Evgeny Alekseev, Pavel Eljanov, and Rustam Kasimdzhanov substituting Magnus Carlsen, Michael Adams, Mohamad Al Modiahki, and Yannick Pelletier the event kicked off in Elista.

Bacrot and Kasimdzhanov were the first to finish… in only 14 moves. For an event that is suffering from bad publicity lately this does not help. Both players could have tried to do better and not sparkle new debates over the Sofia rule.

Peter Leko and Vladimir Akopian did not do any better and finished their game in 28 moves with only 4 pawns missing from the board. Mamedyarov and Grischuk followed suit after 26 moves and decided not to take any risks.

Ivan Cheparinov tried an early novelty against Radjabov, but a series of inaccurate moves led to complications. In the end the Bulgarian GM was saved by the presence of opposite color bishops on the board.

Inarkiev and Alekseev followed theory for more than 20 moves. In the middlegame white enjoyed slight advantage, but could not keep it until the endgame and that was the 5th draw of the day.

Wang Yue streak interrupted

Wang Yue’s streak was interrupted after a loss from GM Jakovenko. The Chinese player entered in early problems and could not recover to the end of the game. This leaves Wang Yue at the mark of 82 games, certainly one of the highest streaks in history.

Elista Grand Prix round 1

Bacrot Etienne 2705 – Kasimzhanov Rustam 2672 1/2 – 1/2
Radjabov Teimour 2751 – Cheparinov Ivan 2696 1/2 – 1/2
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2731 – Grischuk Alexander 2719 1/2 – 1/2
Leko Peter 2747 – Akopian Vladimir 2679 1/2 – 1/2
Jakovenko Dmitry 2737 – Wang Yue 2736 1 – 0
Inarkiev Ernesto 2669 – Alexeev Evgeny 2715 1/2 – 1/2
Gashimov Vugar 2703 – Eljanov Pavel 2720 1-0

Photos and information: Official website