Tournament Roundup: Three Share First in Elista

The 2008 tournament season ended with the FIDE Grand Prix event in Elista, Russia. Although there were a few dropouts, the remaining field of 14 was quite strong, including some top flight players such as Peter Leko, Wang Yue and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov.

In the end, three players tied for first: Teimour Radjabov, Dmitry Jakovenko and Alexander Grischuk each finished at 8/13. Radjabov remains the leader in the Grand Prix standings, just ahead of Wang Yue and Vugar Gashimov.

Two other events of interest are going on right now. In Gjovik, Norway, Magnus Carlsen and Peter Svidler will be meeting in the finals of a 4-player rapid event. The two tied with Hikaru Nakamura with 4/6 scores after original double round-robin (GM Kjetil Lie was the unlucky owner of an 0/6), and advanced to the final after a blitz playoff.

Meanwhile, Peter Leko and Vassily Ivanchuk are battling it out in a six game rapid match taking place in Mukachevo, Ukraine. The first four games have all ended in draws. The two top GMs played a similar 12 game match last year, which ended in a 6-6 tie; Ivanchuk took the blitz tiebreaks to win the match.