Lots of fight, but no wins in the Tal Memorial

Carlsen against Ivanchuk (from the live coverage, with analysis! See official site during play)

Some tense battles again today led to another five draws. However, unlike yesterday none of the players ever seemed on the verge of victory. The sixth round is on Tuesday after tomorrow's rest day. The same four players lead on 3/5.

Sergey Karjakin against Peter Svidler was relatively short, but was not without incident. White combined and opened Black's king, but a clever defensive move by Svidler forced Karjakin to settle for perpetual check.

Hikaru Nakamura was able to win the exchange with a combination involving a temporary piece sacrifice. However in return, Levon Aronian had an active deployment plus a pawn, and Nakamura was under some pressure until he sacrificed back the exchange for a drawish rook endgame.

Magnus Carlsen reacted actively in the Grünfeld, giving up a pawn for active development. Even the exchange of queens didn't stem his elan and it was Ivanchuk who was seeking drawish simplification. Black had strong pressure with Rook, bishop and superior king against passive rook and knight. Ivanchuk however was up to the defensive task.

Boris Gelfand gave up the exchange for a pawn in the middlegame. One consideration must have been his safer king, but Nepomniachtchi was able to consolidate and even take some advantage. However, Gelfand's ultra-safe monarch where Nepomniachthci's was vulnerable, meant that the Russian couldn't exoploit his extra material.

Finally, the Anand-Kramnik encounter was a dull affair. Black equalized and the symmetric pawns gave no real winning chances.

Here is a summary of the fifth round games:

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 table after the fifth round:

Place	Name	Country	Rating	Points
1-4	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2826	3
1-4	Levon Aronian	ARM	2802	3
1-4	Sergey Karjakin	RUS	2763	3
1-4	Ian Nepomniachtchi	RUS	2730	3
5-7	Viswanathan Anand	IND	2811	2.5
5-7	Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2775	2.5
5-7	Peter Svidler	RUS	2755	2.5
8-9	Vladimir Kramnik	RUS	2800	2
8-9	Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2758	2
10	Boris Gelfand	ISR	2744	1.5

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

More information from the official site:

http://www.russiachess.org/

Live games from 2pm local time

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11 am London

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