Alexander Grischuk already secured his spot in the finals of the Moscow Grand Prix, which will begin on Monday, while Ian Nepomniachtchi and Radoslaw Wojtaszek needed rapid tiebreaks today to decide their match. It was Nepomniachtchi who prevailed, winning the fourth rapid game after the first three finished in draws to advance.
In the first rapid game, Wojtaszek was completely winning, and it would have been almost impossible for him to avoided winning had he played the obvious 24.Bxc6, a move every sober club player would have made without much hesitation. Even after that he had some winning chances, but Nepo escaped.
In game two the gift was more ambiguous. Playing against Wojtaszek's clock, Nepomniachtchi went for a dubious piece sacrifice. Wojtaszek could justifiably have played for a win, but he preferred the safety of an easy draw instead.
Game 3 was headed for a draw almost from the start, but some weak moves by Nepomniachtchi in the ending gave Wojtaszek some chances. Unfortunately for the Pole, his attempt to set a cheapo only managed to blunder two pawns, resulting in an immediate draw.
Finally, in game 4 Black (Wojtkaszek) was doing fine until 18...Bc5??, giving away two huge tempi. In some positions that needn't be fatal, but because of some tactical problems involving his queen it essentially lost the game in one move.
So, appropriately enough, the Grand Prix event in Russia will conclude with an all-Russian final. Funny enough, they enter the match with identical 2775.2 ratings, good for a tie for 6th place on the live rating list. Meanwhile, here are today's games, with my annotations.