Kramnik tried to keep things solid by playing the Petroff, but it was clear that Anand was well-prepared and was thus able to keep a pull out of the opening. The Indian then initiated a sharp sequence at the end of which he was the exchange down, but in return had two central passed pawns and the safer king and indeed a decisive advantage.
Karjakin and Shirov battled out yet another theoretical battle in the Spanish line that Shirov has popularized over the years and again frequently here in Wijk aan Zee.
The result of all the excitement: an entertaining draw that allows Shirov to catch Kramnik.
Jan Smeets has won again thus salvaging some honour although he still stays bottom. In fact he won convincingly and quickly as Van Wely's Najdorf again looked rather shaky.
Carlsen and Leko fought out their Najdorf to a drawn rook ending. Despite great intentions, neither side ever looked like getting any advantage.
Ivanchuk livened-up his struggle against Dominguez with an enterprising piece sacrifice. He obtained interesting compensation and set numerous practical problems but the Cuban held firm.
Nakamura played an early ...h5 and then ...d5. So although the game started as a Richter-Rauzer, it then resembled a Najdorf, before the closing of the centre finally made everything seem like a French!
Later on it was the American who was trying to win but although he finally won a piece he ran out of pawns.
Tiviakov kept a nominal edge against Short's Caro-Kann but it came to nothing.
Viswanathan Anand | IND | 2790 | 1-0 | Vladimir Kramnik | RUS | 2788 | C42 | Petroff's Defence |
Sergey Karjakin | RUS | 2720 | 0.5-0.5 | Alexei Shirov | ESP | 2723 | C78 | Spanish Modern Archangel |
Leinier Dominguez | CUB | 2712 | 0.5-0.5 | Vassily Ivanchuk | UKR | 2749 | B01 | Scandinavian Defence |
Peter Leko | HUN | 2739 | 0.5-0.5 | Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2810 | B90 | Sicilian Najdorf |
Fabiano Caruana | ITA | 2675 | 0.5-0.5 | Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2708 | B67 | Sicilian Richter-Rauzer |
Sergey Tiviakov | NED | 2662 | 0.5-0.5 | Nigel Short | ENG | 2696 | B16 | Caro-Kann Defence |
Jan Smeets | NED | 2657 | 1-0 | Loek van Wely | NED | 2641 | B96 | Sicilian Najdorf |
Kramnik's loss enables Carlsen to become sole leader and with the White pieces tomorrow he must fancy his chances. Shirov and Kramnik are just behind and also have White in the last round.
Anand's win takes him to fourth alone and he is now the only unbeaten player.
Seed | Name | Country | Rating | Points |
1= | Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2810 | 8 |
1= | Vladimir Kramnik | RUS | 2788 | 7.5 |
3 | Alexei Shirov | ESP | 2723 | 7.5 |
4 | Viswanathan Anand | IND | 2790 | 7 |
5= | Vassily Ivanchuk | UKR | 2749 | 6.5 |
5= | Sergey Karjakin | RUS | 2720 | 6.5 |
5= | Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2708 | 6.5 |
8= | Peter Leko | HUN | 2739 | 6 |
8= | Leinier Dominguez | CUB | 2712 | 6 |
10 | Fabiano Caruana | ITA | 2675 | 5 |
11= | Nigel Short | ENG | 2696 | 4.5 |
11= | Sergey Tiviakov | NED | 2662 | 4.5 |
11= | Loek van Wely | NED | 2641 | 4.5 |
14 | Jan Smeets | NED | 2657 | 4 |
See the latest video report here plus, in case you missed them before, those covering the earlier rounds.
B-Group
Anna Muzychuk | SLO | 2523 | 0-1 | Arkadij Naiditsch | GER | 2687 | C69 | Spanish Exchange |
Erwin l'Ami | NED | 2615 | 0.5-0.5 | Dimitri Reinderman | NED | 2573 | A52 | Budapest Defence |
Ni Hua | CHN | 2657 | 0.5-0.5 | Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu | ROM | 2681 | B83 | Sicilian Scheveningen |
Emil Sutovsky | ISR | 2666 | 0.5-0.5 | Penteala Harikrishna | IND | 2672 | B17 | Caro-Kann Defence |
Tomi Nyback | FIN | 2643 | 1-0 | Parimarjan Negi | IND | 2621 | D85 | Gruenfeld Exchange |
Anish Giri | NED | 2588 | 0.5-0.5 | Varuzhan Akobian | USA | 2628 | B07 | Pirc Defence |
David Howell | ENG | 2606 | 0.5-0.5 | Wesley So | PHI | 2656 | C07 | French Tarrasch |
Giri needs just half-a-point to win the Group and book his place in the top section in 2011.
Rank | Title | Name | Country | Rating | Points |
1 | GM | Anish Giri | NED | 2588 | 8.5 |
2= | GM | Ni Hua | CHN | 2657 | 7.5 |
2= | GM | Erwin l'Ami | NED | 2615 | 7.5 |
2= | GM | Arkadij Naiditsch | GER | 2687 | 7.5 |
5 | GM | Wesley So | PHI | 2656 | 7 |
6= | GM | Parimarjan Negi | IND | 2621 | 6 |
6= | GM | Penteala Harikrishna | IND | 2672 | 6 |
6= | GM | David Howell | ENG | 2606 | 6 |
9 | GM | Emil Sutovsky | ISR | 2657 | 5.5 |
10= | IM | Anna Muzychuk | SLO | 2523 | 5 |
10= | GM | Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu | ROM | 2681 | 5 |
12= | GM | Dimitri Reinderman | NED | 2573 | 4.5 |
12= | GM | Tomi Nyback | FIN | 2643 | 4.5 |
14 | GM | Varuzhan Akobian | USA | 2628 | 3.5 |
Group C
Soumya Swaminathan | IND | 2323 | 0-1 | Abhijeet Gupta | IND | 2577 | B67 | Sicilian Scheveningen |
Ray Robson | USA | 2570 | 0.5-0.5 | Nils Grandelius | SWE | 2515 | C67 | Spanish Berlin |
Robin Swinkels | NED | 2495 | 0.5-0.5 | Kjetil Lie | NOR | 2547 | B39 | Sicilian Accelerated Dragon |
Marya Muzychuk | UKR | 2447 | 1-0 | Robin van Kampen | NED | 2456 | B51 | Sicilian Moscow/Rossolimo |
Stefan Kuipers | NED | 2340 | 0.5-0.5 | Li Chao-b | CHN | 2604 | C42 | Petroff's Defence |
Zhaoqin Peng | NED | 2402 | 0-1 | Sjoerd Plukkel | NED | 2279 | A40 | Keres |
Benjamin Bok | NED | 2322 | 1-0 | Daniele Vocaturo | ITA | 2495 | C99 | Spanish Chigorin |
Li Chao has a decisive lead and thus wins the C-Group with a round to spare.
Rank | Title | Name | Country | Rating | Points |
1 | GM | Li Chao-b | CHN | 2604 | 9 |
2= | GM | Abhijeet Gupta | IND | 2577 | 7.5 |
2= | GM | Ray Robson | USA | 2570 | 7.5 |
4= | GM | Daniele Vocaturo | ITA | 2495 | 7 |
4= | IM | Robin van Kempen | NED | 2456 | 7 |
6= | IM | Robin Swinkels | NED | 2495 | 6.5 |
6= | FM | Benjamin Bok | NED | 2322 | 6.5 |
8= | IM | Nils Grandelius | SWE | 2515 | 6 |
8= | FM | Stefan Kuipers | NED | 2340 | 6 |
10 | GM | Kjetil Lie | NOR | 2547 | 5.5 |
11= | WGM | Marya Muzychuk | UKR | 2447 | 5 |
11= | GM | Zhaoqin Peng | NED | 2402 | 5 |
13 | WGM | Soumya Swaminathan | IND | 2323 | 3 |
14 | - | Sjoerd Plukkel | NED | 2279 | 2.5 |
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