Ding Liren wins the 2017 FIDE World Chess Moscow Grand Prix

Ding Liren won the FIDE 2017 Moscow Grand Prix in dramatic fashion today after the win in his last round game.

He takes home the top prize of 20,000 euros for a tournament that was watched online by an audience of chess fans from all over the world.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan, who also became the 13th player in history to achieve a 2,800 live rating after a remarkable run of games, finished second.

The Grand Prix, which has been widely seen as one of the most exciting tournaments of the year so far, also saw.

After the conclusion of the Moscow Grand Prix, the race to qualify for the Candidates Tournament looks like this:

Ding Liren (China) 6/9

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan) 5,5/9

Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (France) 5/9

Hikaru Nakamura (USA) 5/9

Anish Giri (Netherlands) 5/9

Peter Svidler (Russia) 5/9

Alexander Grischuk (Russia) 5/9

Teimour Radjabov (Azerbaijan) 5/9

Hou Yifan (China) 5/9

Pentala Harikrishna (India) 4,5/9

Boris Gelfand (Israel) 4,5/9

Evgeny Tomashevsky (Russia) 4,5/9

Francisco Vallejo Pons (Spain) 4/9

Jon Ludvig Hammer (Norway) 4/9

Ian Nepomniatchtchi (Russia) 3,5/9

Michael Adams (England) 3,5/9

Salem Saleh (UAE) 3,5/9

Ernesto Inarkiev (Russia) 2,5/9

At the official Closing Ceremony for the Grand Prix, Ilya Merenzon, Chief Executive of World Chess by Agon, said: «My warmest congratulations go to Ding Liren. We are now halfway through the 2017 Grand Prix series and the build up to the 2018 Championship Match feels like it has already begun».

Well known guests at the Closing Ceremony included Kirsan Ilyumzhinov,  and Russian business elite, such as Alpha Bank Alexey Marey, Phosagro Valery Fedorov, Sberbank Vladimir Vorozheykin  and more.

«I am sure it was the right decision to support the 2017 FIDE World Chess Moscow Grand Prix. All the participating grandmasters are extremely talented chess players, whom you really enjoy to watch competing. We are witnessing the rise of new chess stars, capable of attracting more and more fans for chess sport. We will surely follow the next legs of the tournament and we do hope that Russians will be among the leaders of the Grand prix series» - spoke Andrey Guryev Russian Chess Federation Board of Trustees Member, CEO PJSC PhosAgro.

Eugene Kaspersky, chairman and CEO of Kaspersky Lab, said: «I’d like to congratulate Ding Liren, the winner of Leg 2 of the World Chess Grand Prix in Moscow! It’s an amazing achievement – especially since the competition was so tough. This tournament is one of the potential paths to the biggest accolade in chess – the World Championship – and the tension has been immense. I’m already looking forward to the future battles, and in the meantime we’ll be providing cybersecurity for the top players who are competing at this level – for both their data and devices».

At the conclusion of the Moscow Grand Prix, World Chess also announced that it was offering fans the chance to watch the live video broadcast of every game in every World Chess Championship event between now and the end of 2018 – including next year’s Championship Match - for just $25.

Chess fans can go to www.worldchess.com for full details.