First Half of Play For Russia Charity Tournament Completed

The leader is Alexander Grischuk.

The first games of the Play For Russia charity tournament in aid of the doctors were played on May 12 on Lichess.org. 

Having scored 5.5 points out of 7, Alexander Grischuk became the sole leader. On the first tournament day, he defeated Peter Svidler, Vladimir Kramnik, Alexander Riazantsev and Sergey Karjakin. Vladimir Kramnik, who beat Alexander Riazantsev, Ian Nepomniachtchi, Ernesto Inarkiev and Evgeny Tomashevsky, is half a point behind. Evgeny Tomashevsky is on the third place with 4 points. He started with four draws but then won against Ernesto Inarkiev and Ian Nepomniachtchi. 

Standings:

1. Alexander Grischuk - 5.5 points
2. Vladimir Kramnik - 5
3. Evgeny Tomashevsky - 4
4-6. Sergey Karjakin, Peter Svidler, Ian Nepomniachtchi - 3
7. Ernesto Inarkiev - 2.5
8. Alexander Riazantsev - 2.

The second part will be played on May 13. The grandmasters will change the colours. The games start at 3 PM (Moscow time). 

Round 8 pairings:

Alexander Riazantsev - Vladimir Kramnik
Ernesto Inarkiev - Ian Nepomniachtchi
Evgeny Tomashevsky - Sergey Karjakin
Peter Svidler - Alexander Grischuk 

Tournament on Chess-results

Four best players will play the seminal and final matches on May 14.

The tournament is organised on May 12-14 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, will provide the coverage and live broadcast.

In English, the games are being 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.

24,182,000 rubles have been donated so far, but the fundraising process is going on. The prize pool will be shared among regional hospitals and health workers fighting the COVID-19 epidemic. The participants will determine beforehand the amount and recipients of the donation, depending on the needs of a particular health institution. The entire prize fund is distributed equally among the regions, regardless of the final standings.

We invite all chess lovers to support this event!

Official information and details for bank transfers