Eljanov: Unstoppable with Black!

Peter Leko was the only one of the leaders to have the white pieces in the ninth round.
However Eljanov was the only one amongst his main rivals to win, and he thus reclaims the position of sole leader.
This is Eljanov's third win with Black!

The games today seemed to involve a general preferance to avoid critical theoretical variations. So off-beat sidelines were definitely the order of the day.

Pavel Eljanov continued his remarkable sequence of consecutive Black wins, at the expense of Teimour Radjabov whose run of eight straight draws is thus broken. The Ukrainian winning a manoeuvring game in the Nimzoindian.

In Eljanov's last five games, Black has turned out victorious! This is almost unheard of at this level.

Game No.NameRatingResultNameRatingOpening
1Wang Yue27520.5-0.5Peter Svidler2735King's Indian defence (E60)
2Evgeny Alekseev27000.5-0.5Vugar Gashimov2734Sicilian defence (B53)
3Ernesto Inarkiev26690-1Shakhriyar Mamedyarov2763Sicilian defence (B40)
4Ruslan Ponomariov27330.5-0.5Vladimir Akopian2694Slav/QGA (D23)
5Teimour Radjabov27400-1Pavel Eljanov2751Queen's Gambit Ragozin (D38)
6Peter Leko27350.5-0.5Boris Gelfand2741Petroff's defence (C42)
7Vassily Ivanchuk27410.5-0.5Dmitry Jakovenko2725English opening (A30)

The most direct was Mamedyarov who hammered away at Inarkiev after he tried to take the tactical Azerbaijani out of the book. The Russian's opening as White can't be recommended as he was soon worse!

Akopian was again involved in the longest game against the persistant Ponomariov. Two hundred moves in two days from the Armenian! He managed (eventually!) to force a draw in his inferior endgame.

Ponomariov: two wins with Black, none with White! @ official site

There have been eleven black victories in this tournament so far, six of these by the Ukrainian trio!

White on the other hand has only managed a modest eight victories, one of these by a Ukrainian.

RankingNameCountryPresent RatingPoints
1stPavel EljanovUkraine27515.5
2nd-5thVugar GashimovAzerbaijan27345
2nd-5thDmitry JakovenkoRussia27255
2nd-5thPeter LekoHungary27355
2nd-5thShakhriyar MamedyarovAzerbaijan27635
6th-9thEvgeny AlekseevRussia27004.5
6th-9thBoris GelfandIsrael27414.5
6th-9thRuslan PonomariovUkraine27334.5
6th-9thWang YueChina27524.5
10th-13thErnesto InarkievRussia26694
10th-13thVassily IvanchukUkraine27414
10th-13thTeimour RadjabovAzerbaijan27404
10th-13thPeter SvidlerRussia27354
14thVladimir AkopianArmenia26943.5

Fortunes can change rapidly in such an event, for example Mamedyarov has won his last two and Inarkiev has lost his last three.

There is still time for basically anyone to snatch the tournament from Eljanov.

What next from Vassily? @ official site

For further information on this event, I suggest that you go to the official tournament site.

Mamedyarov: On a roll! @ official site

The highest rated player is suddenly in contention.


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