The second leg of the 2022 FIDE Grand Prix Series opened yesterday in Belgrade, and the first round kicked off today in the Crown Plaza Belgrade Hotel.
Minister of Youth and Sports of Serbia Mr. Vanja Udovicic and President of Serbian Chess Federation Mr. Dragan Lazic made the first ceremonial move in the game between Richard Rapport and Vladimir Fedoseev to open the event.
Pairings of the first round are:
Pool A:
Alexander Grischuk (CFR/FIDE, 2764) — Dmitry Andreikin (CFR/FIDE, 2724)
Etienne Bacrot (FRA, 2642) — Sam Shankland (USA, 2708)
Pool B:
Pentala Harikrishna (IND, 2719) — Nikita Vitiugov (CRF/FIDE, 2726)
Anish Giri (NED, 2772) — Amin Tabatabaei (IRI, 2623)
Pool C:
Richard Rapport (HUN, 2763) — Vladimir Fedoseev (CRF/FIDE, 2704)
Vidit Santosh Gujrathi (IND, 2727) — Alexei Shirov (ESP, 2704)
Pool D:
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (FRA, 2761) — Alexandr Predke (FIDE, 2682)
Yangyi Yu (CHN, 2713) — Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (AZE, 2767)
All the games are live broadcasted and can be followed through the official website. Live broadcast with commentaries by GM Evgenij Miroshnichenko and WGM Teodora Injac can be followed through the FIDE Youtube channel.
Yesterday’s program started with the technical meeting which was held in the afternoon with attendance of all the players and arbiters. The technical meeting featured the drawing of lots and the pairings of the first round were published shortly after.
The opening ceremony followed took place yesterday evening, with the attendance of distinguished guests and VIP persons.
FIDE Vice President Mr. Lukasz Turlej addressed the guests, welcomed the participants, and thanked the organizers and for their great hospitality.
President of Chess Federation of Serbia Mr. Dragan Lazic addressed the guests, especially the representatives of Serbian Government bodies who attended the Opening ceremony. He emphasized satisfaction for Serbia being again on the world chess map of top chess events.
Among the attendees of the Opening ceremony were representatives of Serbian Government bodies: President of Serbian National Assembly Mr. Ivica Dacic, assistant of Minister for Youth and Sports Mr. Darko Udovicic, and others.
Top Serbian chess players also attended the opening ceremony, together with WGM Alisa Maric – medalist of the National team of Yugoslavia in Chess olympiads (1988, 1998, 1999).
Photos by: Mark Livshitz