Mamedyarov bounces back!

Karpov was passing through and made the first move in Kramnik-Ponomariov.
The winner of the day however was Shakhriyar Mamedyarov who shook off two consecutive losses with a win over bottom-placed Peter Leko.

After some jockeying for position Mamedyarov found a neat manoeuvre to activate his knights. Then he sacrificed them both for rook and a couple of pawns. Leko was unable to find good squares for his minor pieces while the Azeri tactician carved open the position for his rook pair. Leko resigned as he was faced with serious material losses.

NameRatingCountryResultNameRatingCountryNo. of MovesOpening
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov2761AZE1-0Peter Leko2734HUN39English Opening
Arkadij Naiditsch2684GER0.5-0.5Le Quang Liem2681VIE35Caro-Kann (Advance Variation)
Vladimir Kramnik2790RUS0.5-0.5Ruslan Ponomariov2734UKR37Queen's Indian Defence

A solid main line of the Queen's Indian was played in active fashion by Ponomariov. Kramnik won a doubled pawn in a 'major piece only middlegame' but couldn't hold onto it. The resulting rook ending was drawn.

Still the leader @ official site

Naiditsch's aggressive reaction to the Caro-Kann led to a forcing line and simplification. At the end of which a double-rook ending resulted, where both sides had weaknesses, which proved to be evenly balanced.

Posn.Player's NameWld. RankingNationRatingPoints
1stRuslan Ponomariov14UKR27344.5
2nd-3rdShakhriyar Mamedyarov6AZE27614
2nd-3rdLe Quang Liem55VIE26814
4thVladimir Kramnik4RUS27903.5
5thArkadij Naiditsch51GER26843
6thPeter Leko16HUN27342

Mamedyarov's win has taken him back to equal second with Le Quang Liem.

A bad run comes to an end @ official site

For more information (and further photos!) see the Official site


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