2017 Champions Showdown
9 - 14 November 2017
| Round 1 - 4 (Nov 9, 2017) TC: 30 0 |
Live Show  |
| Caruana, Fabiano |
Grischuk, Alexander |
1-0 |
B92 |
Sicilian |
| Grischuk, Alexander |
Caruana, Fabiano |
½-½ |
D20 |
QGA |
| Caruana, Fabiano |
Grischuk, Alexander |
0-1 |
C65 |
Ruy Lopez |
| Grischuk, Alexander |
Caruana, Fabiano |
½-½ |
D20 |
QGA |
| Both players came to the rounds extremely motivated, ready to explore new ideas in an attempt to throw off their opposition. Fabiano started off blazing hot, securing an early victory after accurately outplaying Grischuk in a Sicilian Najdorf. Game two was a complete mess, with the advantage switching sides until the last phase of the game, during which the players threw out any concern for safety and went all out in an attempt to simply play faster than their opponent. Grischuk managed to capture all of Fabiano’s pieces before he ran out of time and the game was called a draw due to lack of material. Game three saw Grischuk simply outclass Caruana, who carelessly attempted an unconventional pawn storm on the kingside, an attempt that seriously backfired. Game four was a tense battle but neither of the players were willing to take unnecessary risks and the game ended in a draw. |
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| Round 1 - 6 (Nov 10, 2017) TC: 20 0 |
Live Show |
| Caruana, Fabiano |
Grischuk, Alexander |
½-½ |
C65 |
Ruy Lopez |
| Grischuk, Alexander |
Caruana, Fabiano |
½-½ |
D20 |
QGA |
| Caruana, Fabiano |
Grischuk, Alexander |
1-0 |
C65 |
Ruy Lopez |
| Grischuk, Alexander |
Caruana, Fabiano |
½-½ |
D20 |
QGA |
| Caruana, Fabiano |
Grischuk, Alexander |
0-1 |
C65 |
Ruy Lopez |
| Grischuk, Alexander |
Caruana, Fabiano |
1-0 |
D20 |
QGA |
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These players keep fighting back and forth! The match is extremely tight and, after two days, Grischuk only has a minimal advantage. The first win came from a Berlin in which the American had nice pressure all over the board thanks to his preparation; Grischuk was unable to equalize and found himself in deeper and deeper trouble. The Russian struck back in game five, interestingly in the same line of the Berlin that gave Grischuk a win yesterday! Caruana has said it’s possibly time to retire this line.
The last game was absolutely chaotic, and Caruana simply overlooked that his queen was hanging! What an oversight for a player of this calibre. This gives Grischuk an advantage by 4.
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| Round 1 - 8 (Nov 12, 2017) TC: 10 0 |
Live Show |
| Caruana, Fabiano |
Grischuk, Alexander |
0-1 |
C65 |
Ruy Lopez |
| Grischuk, Alexander |
Caruana, Fabiano |
½-½ |
D27 |
QGA |
| Caruana, Fabiano |
Grischuk, Alexander |
0-1 |
C24 |
Bishop's opening |
| Grischuk, Alexander |
Caruana, Fabiano |
1-0 |
A41 |
Queen's Pawn |
| Caruana, Fabiano |
Grischuk, Alexander |
1-0 |
C24 |
Bishop's opening |
| Grischuk, Alexander |
Caruana, Fabiano |
0-1 |
C16 |
French |
| Caruana, Fabiano |
Grischuk, Alexander |
1-0 |
D42 |
QGD |
| Grischuk, Alexander |
Caruana, Fabiano |
½-½ |
D30 |
Queen's gambit declined |
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This was a very streaky one! Caruana was outplayed in game one, and after drawing game two, he also went down in games three and four, one of them included a big advantage blundered away by missing a simple mate in two sequence. It seemed that Grischuk was simply running away with the match, but the American wasn't done yet. The streak was broken in a surprising way: Caruana was completely against the wall, but in these fast time controls the clock plays a huge role! Caruana flagged Grischuk, and then won two nice games to remain in striking distance.
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| Round 1 - 12 (Nov 13, 2017) TC: 5 0 |
Live Show |
| Caruana, Fabiano |
Grischuk, Alexander |
0-1 |
B90 |
Sicilian |
| Grischuk, Alexander |
Caruana, Fabiano |
½-½ |
E10 |
Queen's pawn game |
| Caruana, Fabiano |
Grischuk, Alexander |
1-0 |
B23 |
Sicilian |
| Grischuk, Alexander |
Caruana, Fabiano |
1-0 |
D30 |
Queen's gambit declined |
| Caruana, Fabiano |
Grischuk, Alexander |
½-½ |
B23 |
Sicilian |
| Grischuk, Alexander |
Caruana, Fabiano |
0-1 |
D30 |
Queen's gambit declined |
| Caruana, Fabiano |
Grischuk, Alexander |
½-½ |
D78 |
Neo-Gruenfeld, 6.O-O c6 |
| Grischuk, Alexander |
Caruana, Fabiano |
0-1 |
D30 |
Queen's gambit declined |
| Caruana, Fabiano |
Grischuk, Alexander |
½-½ |
A0 |
Reti |
| Grischuk, Alexander |
Caruana, Fabiano |
0-1 |
A20 |
English opening |
| Caruana, Fabiano |
Grischuk, Alexander |
½-½ |
B07 |
Pirc defence |
| Grischuk, Alexander |
Caruana, Fabiano |
0-1 |
A20 |
English opening |
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Caruana entered the last day with a two game deficit, but had momentum going for him. He scored heavily toward the end of day three, and he came in with fire on the board. Caruana won his two first whites, tying the match very early. Grischuk was not about to be left behind, and retaliated immediately. The tension built up increasingly with every game, but it was Caruana that kept the better nerves and kept delivering blows. He was unstoppable with the black pieces and won three in a row with that color. Grischuk found himself needing to win the last two rounds to equalize the match, but was unable to do so. A fabulous day for Fabi, as he wins the 5-minute portion by a huge score of 8.5-3.5 (with points counting for two, that gave him 17 points against his opponent's 7) which was enough to catapult him to the win.
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