Alexander Grischuk Wins Play For Russia Charity Tournament

24,670,000 rubles have come as donations by the end of the event.

The Play For Russia charity tournament in aid of the doctors finished on Lichess.org on May 14. Vladimir Kramnik, Peter Svidler, Evgeny Tomashevsky, and Alexander Grischuk were determining the winner in the playoff. 

Vladimir Kramnik started his semifinal match against Alexander Grischuk with a win as Black but his opponent managed to fight back in the second game. Then Alexander Grischuk outplayed his rival in the Armageddon game with the white pieces. In the second semi-final, Evgeny Tomashevsky beat Peter Svidler 1.5-0.5. 

The final match saw only three games instead of four. Alexander Grischuk pulled out a victory in a dramatic fight in the first game and followed up his success winning the second encounter. Evgeny Tomashevsky had some chances to come back in the third one but lost on time.   

Having got such a convincing victory in the final match, Alexander Grischuk became the winner of the Play For Russia charity tournament in aid of the doctors. 

Alexander Grischuk: "All three final games turned out to be very complex. Evgeny had an advantage both in the first and third games, and the second one was more or less equal. I was lucky to win. But the most important thing that his event took place in general. The struggle was very exciting in all its stages. I'd like to thank the participants, everyone involved, everybody who gave donations and, of course, Vladimir Kramnik as he was the main initiator of the event".  

24,670,000 rubles have come as donations by the end of the event. The prize pool will be shared among regional hospitals and health workers fighting the COVID-19 epidemic. The participants determined beforehand the amount and recipients of the donation, depending on the needs of a particular health institution. Protective gear and medical supplies will be delivered to 13 institutions in 10 regions of Russia.  

The tournament was organised with support of the Chess Federation of Russia, the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation, the Timchenko Foundation, the Ramax group of companies and Gazprombank (Switzerland) at the initiative of the participants. Match TV, media partner of the tournament, provided the coverage and live broadcast.

In English, the games were broadcast live with the comments by GM Evgeny Miroshnichenko and WIM Fiona Steil-Antoni on the Lichess Twitch and YouTube channels as well as on the FIDE YouTube channel.

Official information