The second stage of FIDE Grand Prix series 2014-2015 was officially opened on Monday evening at the Gallery of Fine Arts in Tashkent. The tournament’s opening ceremony was attended by chess players, officials, sponsors, national and international media.
From 21st October till 2nd November over eleven rounds, the strongest players in the world will compete in the round robin tournament.
The tournament follows the first event which recently concluded in the capital of Azerbaijan. Fabiano Caruano(ITA) and Boris Gelfand (ISR) tied for the first place in Baku Grand Prix and are the leaders in the third GP series.
The opening ceremony started with speeches. The Chairman of the Chess Federation of Uzbekistan Alisher Saidabbasovich Sultanov took the floor to welcome the participants and guests.
FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov expressed his gratitude to the government of Uzbekistan for their huge support and decisive contribution into development of chess.
The Chief Arbiter of the tournament IA Husan Turdialiev conducted the ceremony of drawing of lots. Each participant was proposed to choose one of the 12 bottles of cognac with the number inside of each. By coincidence the name of the cognac “Filatov” turned to be same as the name of the President of Russian Chess Federation Andrey Filatov, and this fact has not escaped the attention of players.
Round 1 pairings:
GM Giri, Anish 2768 – GM Gelfand, Boris 2748
GM Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 2764 – GM Andreikin, Dmitry 2722
GM Nakamura, Hikaru 2764 – GM Jobava, Baadur 2717
GM Caruana, Fabiano 2844 – GM Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime 2757
GM Kasimdzhanov, Rustam 2706 – GM Jakovenko, Dmitry 2747
GM Radjabov, Teimour 2726 – GM Karjakin, Sergey 2767
First symbolic moves were made by former World Champion Rustam Kasimdzhanov and FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov.
Before the opening ceremony the technical meeting took place. The Chief Arbiter of the tournament IA Husan Turdialiev and FIDE CEO Geoffrey Borg explained the technical details, reminded of the key regulations and helped to elect the Appeals Committee.
The composition of the Appeals Committee in Tashkent 2014 FIDE Grand Prix will be:
Chairman – Javier Ochoa de Echaguen (Spain)
Members – Boris Gelfand (Israel), Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan)
Reserves – Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbekistan), Sergei Karjakin (Russia)
Nakamura will dominate.