| Youthful rivals |
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In the tenth round, the Carlsen-Karjakin battle was of course the main focus of people's attention. Sergey Karjakin simplified and managed to keep his position active, indeed it was Carlsen who had to bail out with a repetition.
The Exchange Slav sometimes has a drawish reputation, but can be a dangerous weapon when the white player is able to keep a pull and Black isn't able to obtain any counterplay. Ivanchuk's win is a fine example of White squeezing out a win, due in a large part to the Ukrainian's fine technique.
Teimour Radjabov faced the Caro-Kann, but the game didn't stay solid for long. Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu sacrificed a pawn to get his king into safety and then switched his pieces over towards Radjabov's king. He then gave up the exchange to deliver perpetual check.
| White | Black | Result | Moves | ECO | Opening |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teimour Radjabov | Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu | ½-½ | 34 | B18 | Caro-Kann Classical |
| Magnus Carlsen | Sergey Karjakin | ½-½ | 30 | E43 | Nimzoindian Defence |
| Vassily Ivanchuk | Hikaru Nakamura | 1-0 | 60 | D14 | Slav Exchange |
The final table was as follows.
| Standing | Name (World Ranking) | Country | Rating | Age | C | C | K | K | Na | Na | R | R | Ni | Ni | I | I | Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1= | Magnus Carlsen (2) | NOR | 2815 | 20 | * | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 6½ |
| 1= | Sergey Karjakin (6) | RUS | 2776 | 21 | ½ | ½ | * | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 6 ½ |
| 3= | Hikaru Nakamura (8) | USA | 2774 | 23 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | * | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 4½ |
| 3= | Teimour Radjabov (13) | AZE | 2744 | 24 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 4½ |
| 5= | L-D Nisipeanu (81) | ROU | 2659 | 34 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | * | * | 1 | ½ | 4 |
| 5= | Vassily Ivanchuk (5) | UKR | 2776 | 42 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 0 | * | * | 4 |
The earlier rounds were as follows.
| Round 1: White | Black | Result | Moves | ECO | Opening |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magnus Carlsen | Hikaru Nakamura | 1-0 | 38 | D31 | Semi-Slav Defence |
| Vassily Ivanchuk | Teimour Radjabov | 1-0 | 35 | E73 | King's Indian Averbakh |
| Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu | Sergey Karjakin | ½-½ | 20 | E54 |
Nimzo-Indian Defence |
Nakamura hit back in the second round.
| Round 2: White | Black | Result | Moves | ECO | Opening |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hikaru Nakamura | Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu | 1-0 | 86 | C96 | Spanish Keres |
| Vassily Ivanchuk | Magnus Carlsen | ½-½ | 33 | C84 | Spanish with d3 |
| Teimour Radjabov | Sergey Karjakin | ½-½ | 90 | D12 | Slav Defence |
In the third round, only the bottom seed Nisipeanu won.
| Round 3: White | Black | Result | Moves | ECO | Opening |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magnus Carlsen | Teimour Radjabov | ½-½ | 37 | D37 | Queen's Gambit Declined (Bf4) |
| Sergey Karjakin | Hikaru Nakamura | ½-½ | 31 | B90 | Sicilian Najdorf (Be3) |
| Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu | Vassily Ivanchuk | 1-0 | 54 | C67 |
Spanish Berlin |
Only draws in the fourth round.
|
Round 4: White |
Black | Result | Moves | ECO | Opening |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sergey Karjakin | Magnus Carlsen | ½-½ | 35 | B12 | Caro Kann Advanced |
| Hikaru Nakamura | Vassily Ivanchuk | ½-½ | 49 | E40 | Nimzo-Indian Rubinstein |
| Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu | Teimour Radjabov | ½-½ | 31 | C63 | Spanish Schliemann |
Before the rest day the two youngest players were victorious.
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Round 5: White |
Black | Result | Moves | ECO | Opening |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Magnus Carlsen | Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu | 1-0 | 31 | D27 | Queen's Gambit Accepted |
| Teimour Radjabov | Hikaru Nakamura | ½-½ | 31 | B94 | Sicilian Najdorf (6.Bg5) |
| Vassily Ivanchuk | Sergey Karjakin | 0-1 | 37 | C53 | Giuoco Piano |
Karjakin won again in round six.
| Round 6: White | Black | Result | Moves | ECO | Opening |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sergey Karjakin | Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu | 1-0 | 66 | C63 | Spanish Schliemann |
| Teimour Radjabov | Vassily Ivanchuk | ½-½ | 45 | D41 | Queen's Gambit Semi-Tarrasch |
| Hikaru Nakamura | Magnus Carlsen | ½-½ | 34 | C95 | Spanish Breyer |
Round seven was another good day for Carlsen.
| Round 7: White | Black | Result | Moves | ECO | Opening |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sergey Karjakin | Teimour Radjabov | ½-½ | 30 | C63 | Spanish Schliemann |
| Magnus Carlsen | Vassily Ivanchuk | 1-0 | 72 | D38 | Queen's Gambit Ragozin |
| Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu | Hikaru Nakamura | ½-½ | 31 | B92 | Sicilian Najdorf (Be2) |
The eighth round was the second one with all draws.
| Round 8: White | Black | Result | Moves | ECO | Opening |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teimour Radjabov | Magnus Carlsen | ½-½ | 29 | D37 | Queen's Gambit (with Bf4) |
| Vassily Ivanchuk | Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu | ½-½ | 24 | B41 | Sicilian Kan (by transposition) |
| Hikaru Nakamura | Sergey Karjakin | ½-½ | 47 | E12 | Queen's Indian Defence |
Ivanchuk had a bad day in the ninth round.
| Round 9: White | Black | Result | Moves | ECO | Opening |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hikaru Nakamura | Teimour Radjabov | ½-½ | 46 | B32 | Sicilian Kalashnikov |
| Sergey Karjakin | Vassily Ivanchuk | 1-0 | 22 | B09 | Pirc defence (Austrian) |
| Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu | Magnus Carlsen | ½-½ | 32 | C95 | Spanish Breyer |
The official site gives more information:
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