FIDE Grand Prix Tournament 2, Rounds 5 and 6

Round 5

Group A

Two relatively short draws ensured that Grischuk was out, leaving Andreikin and Shankland half a point ahead of Bacrot going into the final round.

Group B

Giri happily agreed a draw with some play left against Harikrishna, knowing that he would then only need a draw in the final round to qualify. The game between Tabatabaei and Vitiugov lasted rather longer, but that too was drawn. 

Group C

Rapport took a full-point lead in the group by beating Vidit with black. In the other game, Shirov managed his first win of the Grand Prix by beating Fedoseev.

Group D 

Predke missed a golden opportunity to notch up his first win, as he failed to spot a blunder by Mamedyarov, and the game was eventually drawn. The other game saw Vachier-Lagrave reach a Q+3 v Q+2 ending against Yu, but with all the pawns on the same side, he could not make any serious progress, and thus his lead remained at just half a point.

Round 6

Group A

Huge drama on the final day in this group; Grischuk-Shankland was a rather uneventful draw, but Andreikin-Bacrot was anything but. Bacrot had a winning advantage, which would have put him into a playoff with Shankland, but he walked into a mating net, as a result of which Andreikin emerged as the group's outright winner.

Group B

Giri wasn't taking any chances when it came to qualification, and chose a quiet line that got him the draw he needed against Vitiugov. In the other game, Tabatabaei managed his first victory of the event against Harikrishna.

Group C

Rapport was never in trouble against Shirov, and calmly got the draw he needed to book his place in the knockout stage. In the other game, Vidit will have seen this as the one that got away, having been better at multiple times against Fedoseev, but this game too ended as a draw.

Group D

Mamedyarov, needing to beat Vachier-Lagrave to have any chance of qualifying, chose an aggressive opening line with opposite-side castling, but black's attack allowed him to force the draw that he needed. In the other game, already-eliminated Predke won the longest decisive game of the tournament, in which he skilfully exploited the advantages of a queen against a rook and minor piece.

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