Elista Grand Prix starts, with wins by Jakovenko and Gashimov

FIDE Grand Prix in Elista 2008

The Third FIDE Grand Prix tournament is taking place in Elista from December 13 to 29, 2008. Despite the recent withdrawals and the absence of players like Anand, Kramnik and Topalov, the tournament is very strong (category 19). The venue, originally Doha, is now "City Chess" in Elista, Kalmykia. There are 14 players from nine countries:

Round one results

The most notable result of round one was Jakovenko vs Wang Yue. The Russian GM ended his Chinese colleague's incredible streak of 82 successive games without defeat – a record surpassed only by Mikhail Tal's 93 games in 1973/74 and, more recently, Sergey Tiviakov's 110 games without loss, played from 28.10.2004 until 28.09.2005.

There were a number of short, non-belligerent draws: Bacrot-Kasimdzhanov lasted 13½ moves, while Leko-Akopian and Mamedyarov-Grischuk were both 28 moves long. On the other hand Radjabov-Cheparinov was a hard-fought draw in 45 moves; likewise Inarkiev-Alekseev in 49 moves. The marathon was a 93-mover in which Vugar Gashimov of Azerbaijan outplayed Ukrainian GM Pavel Eljanov to take a full point.

Picture Gallery

On arrival at Elista Airport one is greeted by colorfully attired young Kalmyk ladies

Chinese GM Wang Yue with his silk shawl, which the ladies present to the guests

The colorful (and youthful) opening ceremony for the Elista Grand Prix

Musicians with the local Kalmyk string instruments

A short-skirted lady for each country represented in the Grand Prix

The participants on the stage, grouped according to their countries

The drawing of colors – every player gets to choose a lady with a scroll

Once picked, the lady unscrolls your start number (Teimour Radjabov received the two)

Energetic and athletic male Kalmyk dancers

The audience in the central theatre, the venue of the Grand Prix

Before the start of round one of the Elista Grand Prix

The President of Kalmykia (and FIDE) Kirsan Ilyumzhinov makes the ceremonial
first move in the game Radjabov vs Cheparinov, while the arbiter starts the clock

Round one of the Grand Prix under way

Photos courtesy FIDE

FIDE Grand Prix Elista 2008 – Schedule and results

Links Tournament web site All games in PGN The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use it to read, replay and analyse the PGN games. Download free PGN reader ChessBase Light