Ivanchuk the sole winner

Ivanchuk in a characteristic pose
Vassily Ivanchuk outplayed Hikaru Nakamura and won with the black pieces in a quiet line of the Grünfeld Defence. He now joins the lead with four other players: Levon Aronian, Magnus Carlsen, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Sergey Karjakin. The other four games were drawn.

Ivanchuk obtained the bishop pair, but didn't have anything concrete until Nakamura sought to simplify with a bishop exchange. Then Black's superior pieces, allied with his queenside majority, offered the Ukrainian a big, and ultimately decisive advantage.

Peter Svidler had a slight advantage throughout, with a superior pawn structure and rook and bishop against rook and knight. But his compatriot Ian Nepomniachtchi was able to defend.

In a symmetrical queenless middlegame, Boris Gelfand sought the full point with a combination that led to him obtaining rook and passed pawn for two pieces. However the endgame proved to be equal.

Although Levon Aronian gave up the bishop pair in a manoeuvring Spanish this didn't lead to any discomfort as simplification on the queenside led to a flat position and easy draw.

Viswanathan Anand produced another dull encounter. Magnus Carlsen equalized easily in the Grünfeld Defence and the presence of opposite bishops after an early queen exchange left the position dead equal.

Here is a summary of the seventh round games:

White Country Rating Result Black Country Rating Moves Opening description
Viswanathan Anand IND 2811 0.5-0.5 Magnus Carlsen NOR 2826 29 Grünfeld Defence (Exchange 7 .Be3)
Peter Svidler RUS 2755 0.5-0.5 Ian Nepomniachtchi RUS 2730 58 English Opening
Sergey Karjakin RUS 2763

0.5-0.5

Levon Aronian  ARM 2802 38 Spanish with d3
Boris Gelfand ISR 2744 0.5-0.5 Vladimir Kramnik RUS 2800 48 Queen's Gambit Declined  5.Bf4
Hikaru Nakamura USA 2758

0-1

Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 2775 40 Grünfeld Defence 4.Bf4

The table after the seventh round:

Rank Name Country Rating 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Points
1-5 Levon Aronian ARM 2802 * ½ ½ . 1 ½ . ½ ½ ½ 4
1-5 Magnus Carlsen NOR 2826 ½ * ½ . ½ ½ ½ ½ . 1 4
1-5 Sergey Karjakin RUS 2763 ½ ½ * ½ . ½ ½ . ½ 1 4
1-5 Ian Nepomniachtchi RUS 2730 . . ½ * ½ ½ ½ 1 ½ ½ 4
1-5 Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 2775  0 ½ . ½ * ½ 1 ½ 1 . 4
6-7 Viswanathan Anand IND 2811 ½ ½ ½ ½ ½ * ½ ½ . .
6-7 Peter Svidler RUS 2755 . ½ ½ ½ 0 ½ * . 1 ½
8 Vladimir Kramnik RUS 2800 ½ ½ . 0 ½ ½ . * ½ ½  3
9-10 Hikaru Nakamura USA 2758 ½ . ½ ½ 0 . 0 ½ * ½
9-10 Boris Gelfand ISR 2744 ½ 0 0 ½ . . ½ ½ ½ * 2½ 

Details of the earlier games:

The first round:

White Country Rating Result Black Country Rating Moves Opening description
Hikaru Nakamura USA 2758

0.5-0.5

Boris Gelfand ISR 2744 34 Queen's Gambit Declined 5.Bf4
Viswanathan Anand IND 2811 0.5-0.5 Sergey Karjakin RUS 2763 42 Nimzoindian 4.Qc2
Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 2775 1-0 Peter Svidler RUS 2755 61 Grünfeld 4.e3
Vladimir Kramnik RUS 2800 0-1 Ian Nepomniachtchi RUS 2730 53 English Symmetrical
Levon Aronian ARM 2802 0.5-0.5 Magnus Carlsen NOR 2826 57 Queen's Indian 4.g3 Ba6

The second round:

White Country Rating Result Black Country Rating Moves Opening description
Magnus Carlsen NOR 2826 1-0 Boris Gelfand ISR 2744 38 Slav Defence 4.e3
Sergey Karjakin RUS 2763

0.5-0.5

Hikaru Nakamura USA 2758 43 Sicilian Najdorf 6.Be2
Peter Svidler RUS 2755

0.5-0.5

Viswanathan Anand IND 2811 23 Caro-Kann Advance
Ian Nepomniachtchi RUS 2730

0.5-0.5

Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 2775 76 Sicilian Sveshnikov
Levon Aronian ARM 2802

0.5-0.5

Vladimir Kramnik RUS 2800 49 Queen's Gambit Tarrasch

The third round:

White Country Rating Result Black Country Rating Moves Opening description
Boris Gelfand ISR 2744 0-1 Sergey Karjakin RUS 2763 59 Open Catalan
Hikaru Nakamura USA 2758 0-1 Peter Svidler RUS 2755 48 Grünfeld Exchange 7.Bc4
Viswanathan Anand IND 2811

0.5-0.5

Ian Nepomniachtchi RUS 2730 27 Grünfeld (Russian Variation)
Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 2775 0-1 Levon Aronian ARM 2802 57 Spanish Berlin
Vladimir Kramnik RUS 2800

0.5-0.5

Magnus Carlsen NOR 2826 41 English (Botvinnik) 

The fourth round:

White Country Rating Result Black Country Rating Moves Opening description
Magnus Carlsen NOR 2826 0.5-0.5 Sergey Karjakin RUS 2763 67 Nimzoindian 4.Qc2
Peter Svidler RUS 2755 0.5-0.5 Boris Gelfand ISR 2744 40 Reti Opening
Ian Nepomniachtchi RUS 2730

0.5-0.5

Hikaru Nakamura USA 2758 85 Sicilian Dragon
Levon Aronian ARM 2802 0.5-0.5 Viswanathan Anand IND 2811 60 Queen's Gambit Declined 5.Bf4
Vladimir Kramnik RUS 2800

0.5-0.5

Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 2775 57 Chebanenko Slav

The fifth round:

White Country Rating Result Black Country Rating Moves Opening description
Sergey Karjakin RUS 2763 0.5-0.5 Peter Svidler RUS 2755 26 Sicilian Kan
Boris Gelfand ISR 2744 0.5-0.5 Ian Nepomniachtchi RUS 2730 62 Grünfeld Defence 4.Bg5
Hikaru Nakamura USA 2758

0.5-0.5

Levon Aronian ARM 2802 53 Queen's Gambit Declined 3...Be7
Viswanathan Anand IND 2811 0.5-0.5 Vladimir Kramnik RUS 2800 36 Queen's Gambit Declined 5.Bf4
Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 2775

0.5-0.5

Magnus Carlsen NOR 2826 76 Grünfeld 4.Bf4

The sixth round:

White Country Rating Result Black Country Rating Moves Opening description
Magnus Carlsen NOR 2826 0.5-0.5 Peter Svidler RUS 2755 53 Grünfeld Defence (Exchange 7 .Bc4)
Ian Nepomniachtchi RUS 2730 0.5-0.5 Sergey Karjakin RUS 2763 40 Nimzoindian Defence (4.Qc2)
Levon Aronian ARM 2802

0.5-0.5

Boris Gelfand ISR 2744 40 Queen's Gambit Declined  5.Bf4
Vladimir Kramnik RUS 2800 0.5-0.5 Hikaru Nakamura USA 2758 42 English (Anti-Grünfeld, Qb3)
Vassily Ivanchuk UKR 2775

0.5-0.5

Viswanathan Anand IND 2811 36 Queen's Gambit Declined (Lasker)

More information from the official site:

http://www.russiachess.org/

Live games from 2pm local time

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