Ian Nepomniachtchi (RUS, 2767) defeated Wei Yi (CHN, 2725) in the finals of the Jerusalem Grand Prix 2019 and became one of the qualifiers for the next FIDE Candidates Tournament.
Nepomniachtchi with black pieces won the first game of the final match after a beautiful technical realisation in an endgame. The second game started sharply, with sacrifices of two pieces by Wei Yi, who attacked the White’s King side, but the game finished with a perpetual check which brought 10 Grand Prix points to Ian Nepomniachtchi and a qualifier spot for the next Candidates Tournament.
The first place on the overall Grand Prix Standings went to Grischuk Alexander (RUS, 2777) with score of 20 Grand Prix points, and Nepomniachtchi took the second place with 19 points.
FIDE confirmed yesterday the final list for the Candidates Tournament 2020 which will take place in Yekaterinburg from March 15 – April 5, 2020. The list is:
The wildcard participant Kirill Alekseenko was confirmed by the President of the Russian Chess Federation Mr. Andrey Filatov.
Андрей Филатов: Кирилл Алексеенко стал номинантом организатора турнира претендентов. Публикуем заявление президента Федерации шахмат России https://t.co/7hOvaKdQr1
Фото: РИА Новости #CFR #FIDECandidates pic.twitter.com/c4GLgtL2C0
— CFR (@ruchess_ru) December 23, 2019
Caruana Fabiano (USA, 2822)- 2018 match runner-up
Radjabov Teimour (AZE, 2765)- Winner of the World Cup 2019
Ding Liren (CHN, 2801)- #2 at the World Cup 2019
Wang Hao (CHN, 2756)- Winner of the FIDE Grand Swiss Tournament
Grischuk Alexander (RUS, 2777)- Winner of the Grand Prix Series
Nepomniachtchi Ian (RUS, 2767)- Second Place on the Grand Prix Series
Giri Anish (NED, 2769)- a qualifier by rating
Alekseenko Kirill (RUS, 2704)- wildcard
22 years old Russian Grandmaster, Aleeksenko Kirill (RUS, 2704), became a nominee of the Candidates Tournament Organizer. The President of Russian Chess Federation, Andrei Filatov, commented the decision:
“I want to sincerely congratulate two Russian Grandmasters who, in an extremely stubborn struggle, won spots in the Candidates tournament.
I also want to mention the young Petersburg grandmaster Kirill Alekseenko, who won the wild card. According to the FIDE rules, he was the only Russian chess player who could be nominated for participation in the Candidates tournament 2020.
Official photographer of the Jerusalem Grand Prix: Niki Riga