Speed Chess Grand Prix 3: Xiong Clinches Grand Prix Victory, Chigaev Wins Knockout
GM Maxim Chigaev triumphed in a tense knockout final against GM Jeffery Xiong to win the third Speed Chess Championship Grand Prix tournament, but it was the runner-up, Xiong, who managed to amass enough points to guarantee himself a Grand Prix victory no matter what happens in week four. Xiong won week two and was the runner-up both this week and in week one.
For his victory, Xiong gets a berth in the 2021 Speed Chess Championship, guaranteeing himself more prize earnings, and a chance to take on the finest speed chess players in the world in the patented Speed Chess Championship match format. This will be Xiong's second Speed Chess Championship berth. He also competed in 2017, losing an exciting match in round one to Maxime Vachier-Lagrave.
The Speed Chess Championship Grand Prix takes place Sept. 18, 25, Oct. 2, and Oct. 9. The winner of the Grand Prix qualifies for the 2021 Speed Chess Championship Main Event. Games and commentary will be broadcast on Chess.com/tv.
The qualifying prize tournament was a tour-de-force by GM Nodirbek Abdusattorov who scored 9/10 and only conceded draws to GMs Gadir Guseinov and Dmitry Andreikin. His flashiest victory was against GM Alexander Zubov; in a sharp game, Abdusattorov allowed Zubov to queen before he forced checkmate.
While Abdusattorov's victory was impressive and secured him $2,500 (one-fourth of the $10,000 prize fund), the primary goal for most players was to qualify to the knockout stage and ultimately to the Speed Chess Championship's Main Event. Joining Abdusattorov were GMs Andreikin, Oleksandr Bortnyk, Chigaev, Xiong, and Federico Perez Ponsa as well as 2500-rated IMs Marko Nenezic and Tuan Minh Le.
Xiong cut a clean swath through to the final match, defeating both Nenezic and Andreikin with clean 2-0 scores. He won a pretty game against Nenezic that showcases the power of a passed pawn.
Chigaev scored 2-0 and 1.5-0.5 victories against Bortnyk and Ponsa respectively. His match-winning victory against Ponsa featured an incredible moment as the players had a clearly drawn rook endgame on the board. However, Ponsa premoved ...Re5??, which was disastrous after Chigaev had given check. Then Chigaev simply took the rook whose premove blocked the check.
In the final, Chigaev was under pressure as White in game one, but in a complex rook endgame he managed to pick off three passed pawns and gain an advantage before giving a repetition.
In the second game, Chigaev caught Xiong's bishop on c1 in a pin, picking up a piece for two pawns. Just when it seemed like Xiong might be making the win quite difficult, he allowed a classic remove-the-defender tactic that Chigaev executed immediately.
Congrats to Chigaev on his fine tournament victory and to Xiong on his Grand Prix victory. When Xiong last played in the Speed Chess Championship, he was just 16 years old. Now he is rated exactly 2700 and will celebrate his 21st birthday on October 30, just a couple of weeks before the Main Event starts on October 12. His fans will surely be excited to see him competing at the highest level and will be rooting for him to go far and prove he is ready to be considered among the ranks of the best players and best speed chess players in the world.
Live broadcast of this week's tournament, hosted by GM Krikor Mekhitarian and GM Benjamin Bok.
Speed Chess Championship Grand Prix 3 | Final Standings (Top 20)
| Number | Rk | Fed | Title | Username | Name | Rating | Score | SB | Prize |
| 1 | 12 | GM | ChessWarrior7197 | Nodirbek Abdusattorov | 3000 | 9 | 53.75 | $2,500.00 | |
| 2 | 2 | GM | FairChess_on_YouTube | Dmitry Andreikin | 3032 | 8 | 50.25 | $1,800.00 | |
| 3 | 77 | IM | Vincent_Vega95 | Nenezic, Marko | 2733 | 8 | 39 | $1,300.00 | |
| 4 | 1 | GM | Oleksandr_Bortnyk | Oleksandr Bortnyk | 3007 | 7.5 | 46.25 | $1,000.00 | |
| 5 | 7 | GM | Fandorine | Maksim Chigaev | 3027 | 7.5 | 44 | $1,500.00 | |
| 5 | 3 | GM | jefferyx | Jeffery Xiong | 3033 | 7.5 | 44 | $400.00 | |
| 7 | 17 | IM | wonderfultime | Tuan Minh Le | 2937 | 7.5 | 42.75 | $300.00 | |
| 8 | 13 | GM | Genghis_K | Federico Perez Ponsa | 2959 | 7.5 | 40.25 | $250.00 | |
| 9 | 47 | GM | vugarrasulov | Vugar Rasulov | 2845 | 7.5 | 39 | $250.00 | |
| 10 | 56 | FM | TheBigBoss04 | Jose Gabriel Cardoso | 2825 | 7.5 | 36 | $100.00 | |
| 11 | 21 | GM | Zhigalko_Sergei | Sergei Zhigalko | 2917 | 7 | 41.75 | $100.00 | |
| 12 | 6 | GM | RaunakSadhwani2005 | Raunak Sadhwani | 2982 | 7 | 40.75 | $100.00 | |
| 13 | 9 | GM | exoticprincess | Baadur Jobava | 2973 | 7 | 38.5 | $100.00 | |
| 13 | 5 | GM | Alexander_Zubov | Alexander Zubov | 2988 | 7 | 38.5 | $100.00 | |
| 15 | 22 | GM | RD4ever | Rustam Khusnutdinov | 2915 | 7 | 37.75 | $100.00 | |
| 16 | 8 | GM | hanzo_hasashi1 | Nodirbek Yakubboev | 2974 | 7 | 35 | $100.00 | |
| 17 | 36 | GM | Shield12 | Shamsiddin Vokhidov | 2880 | 7 | 34.25 | ||
| 18 | 57 | GM | moro182 | Luca Moroni Jr | 2807 | 7 | 32.5 | ||
| 19 | 35 | GM | erichansen | Eric Hansen | 2830 | 7 | 28.5 | ||
| 20 | 10 | IM | MITerryble | Renato Terry | 2951 | 6.5 | 38.25 |
(Full final standings here.)
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