Stamina is important in such a long event and certain players are starting to suffer more than others!
Carlsen and Dominguez had a complicated struggle but Carlsen always had a grip on the centre, so it was no surprise that things fell into place for him.
The other winner was Van Wely who finally got past Tiviakov. The ending with a bishop and a pair of passed pawns for a rook looked for a long time like getting Van Wely nowhere in particular, however he eventually found a way. Perhaps Tiviakov tired and made a fatal error?
Shirov and Kramnik had an interesting struggle where both sides had chances, but according to Kramnik the post-mortem didn't throw up a win.
Ivanchuk-Karjakin involved Black giving a pawn or two in order to get his kingside 'initiative' metamorphasized into an 'attack'. The end led to a nice perpetual.
Smeets-Anand and Nakamura-Leko led to early draws by repetition.
Short-Caruana was somewhat longer but led to the same result.
Jan Smeets | NED | 2657 | 0.5-0.5 | Viswanathan Anand | IND | 2790 | B81 | Sicilian Scheveningen Keres |
Loek van Wely | NED | 2641 | 1-0 | Sergey Tiviakov | NED | 2662 | E18 | Queen's Indian Defence |
Nigel Short | ENG | 2696 | 0.5-0.5 | Fabiano Caruana | ITA | 2675 | B40 | Sicilian Defence |
Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2708 | 0.5-0.5 | Peter Leko | HUN | 2739 | A34 | English Opening |
Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2810 | 1-0 | Leinier Dominguez | CUB | 2712 | D97 | Gruenfeld Russian |
Vassily Ivanchuk | UKR | 2749 | 0.5-0.5 | Sergey Karjakin | RUS | 2720 | E05 | Catalan Opening |
Alexei Shirov | ESP | 2723 | 0.5-0.5 | Vladimir Kramnik | RUS | 2788 | C42 | Petroff's Defence |
Kramnik and Carlsen have an extra half-point over Shirov. These are the only realistic winners of the event, however as all three have Black tomorrow there could still be some surprises in store!
Seed | Name | Country | Rating | Points |
1= | Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2810 | 7.5 |
1= | Vladimir Kramnik | RUS | 2788 | 7.5 |
3 | Alexei Shirov | ESP | 2723 | 7 |
4= | Viswanathan Anand | IND | 2790 | 6 |
4= | Vassily Ivanchuk | UKR | 2749 | 6 |
4= | Sergey Karjakin | RUS | 2720 | 6 |
4= | Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2708 | 6 |
8= | Peter Leko | HUN | 2739 | 5.5 |
8= | Leinier Dominguez | CUB | 2712 | 5.5 |
10= | Fabiano Caruana | ITA | 2675 | 4.5 |
10= | Loek van Wely | NED | 2641 | 4.5 |
11= | Nigel Short | ENG | 2696 | 4 |
11= | Sergey Tiviakov | NED | 2662 | 4 |
14 | Jan Smeets | NED | 2657 | 3 |
Here are some videos covering events from the last few rounds.
B-Group
Anish Giri beats So, and all the other games are drawn. A good day for the leader!
Anna Muzychuk | SLO | 2523 | 0.5-0.5 | Erwin l'Ami | NED | 2615 | C01 | French Exchange |
Arkadij Naiditsch | GER | 2687 | 0.5-0.5 | David Howell | ENG | 2606 | C69 | Spanish Exchange |
Wesley So | PHI | 2656 | 0-1 | Anish Giri | NED | 2588 | C42 | Petroff's Defenc |
Varuzhan Akobian | USA | 2628 | 0.5-0.5 | Tomi Nyback | FIN | 2643 | D46 | Semi-Slav |
Parimarjan Negi | IND | 2621 | 0.5-0.5 | Emil Sutovsky | ISR | 2666 | B19 | Caro-Kann |
Penteala Harikrishna | IND | 2672 | 0.5-0.5 | Ni Hua | CHN | 2657 | D17 | Slav 6 Ne5 |
Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu | ROM | 2681 | 0.5-0.5 | Dimitri Reinderman | NED | 2573 | B31 | Sicilian Rossolimo |
Anish Giri is now a full point ahead.
Rank | Title | Name | Country | Rating | Points |
1 | GM | Anish Giri | NED | 2588 | 8 |
2= | GM | Ni Hua | CHN | 2657 | 7 |
2= | GM | Erwin l'Ami | NED | 2615 | 7 |
4= | GM | Arkadij Naiditsch | GER | 2687 | 6.5 |
4= | GM | Wesley So | PHI | 2656 | 6.5 |
6 | GM | Parimarjan Negi | IND | 2621 | 6 |
7= | GM | Penteala Harikrishna | IND | 2672 | 5.5 |
7= | GM | David Howell | ENG | 2606 | 5.5 |
9= | GM | Emil Sutovsky | ISR | 2657 | 5 |
9= | IM | Anna Muzychuk | SLO | 2523 | 5 |
11 | GM | Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu | ROM | 2681 | 4.5 |
12 | GM | Dimitri Reinderman | NED | 2573 | 4 |
13 | GM | Tomi Nyback | FIN | 2643 | 3.5 |
14 | GM | Varuzhan Akobian | USA | 2628 | 3 |
Group C
Seven decisive games which means that 20 out of the last 21 games have been decisive! Six Sicilians further demonstrating the fighting spirit in this event!
Benjamin Bok | NED | 2322 | 1-0 | Soumya Swaminathan | IND | 2323 | B96 | Sicilian Najdorf |
Daniele Vocaturo | ITA | 2495 | 1-0 | Zhaoqin Peng | NED | 2402 | B48 | Sicilian Taimanov |
Sjoerd Plukkel | NED | 2279 | 0-1 | Stefan Kuipers | NED | 2340 | B33 | Sicilian Scheveningen |
Li Chao-b | CHN | 2604 | 1-0 | Marya Muzychuk | UKR | 2447 | B30 | Sicilian Rossolimo |
Robin van Kampen | NED | 2456 | 1-0 | Robin Swinkels | NED | 2495 | B29 | Sicilian Nimzovich |
Kjetil Lie | NOR | 2547 | 0-1 | Ray Robson | USA | 2570 | B23 | Sicilian Defence |
Nils Grandelius | SWE | 2515 | 0-1 | Abhijeet Gupta | IND | 2577 | D85 | Gruenfeld Exchange |
Li Chao is looking good for first place however the struggle for second is far from over. Robson wins with Black and Vocaturo makes it 6/6 with White, whereas Van Kampen won the battle of the Robins.
Rank | Title | Name | Country | Rating | Points |
1 | GM | Li Chao-b | CHN | 2604 | 8.5 |
2= | GM | Ray Robson | USA | 2570 | 7 |
2= | GM | Daniele Vocaturo | ITA | 2495 | 7 |
2= | IM | Robin van Kempen | NED | 2456 | 7 |
5 | GM | Abhijeet Gupta | IND | 2577 | 6.5 |
6 | IM | Robin Swinkels | NED | 2495 | 6 |
7= | IM | Nils Grandelius | SWE | 2515 | 5.5 |
7= | FM | Stefan Kuipers | NED | 2340 | 5.5 |
7= | FM | Benjamin Bok | NED | 2322 | 5.5 |
10= | GM | Kjetil Lie | NOR | 2547 | 5 |
10= | GM | Zhaoqin Peng | NED | 2402 | 5 |
12 | WGM | Marya Muzychuk | UKR | 2447 | 4 |
13 | WGM | Soumya Swaminathan | IND | 2323 | 3 |
14 | - | Sjoerd Plukkel | NED | 2279 | 1.5 |
For further information official site