Another five draws!

Michael Tal

Despite the best will in the world, no one could break the deadlock for the third round running. The closest to a win could well have been Peter Svidler, who seemed to be doing well in the middlegame, but Carlsen fought back creating enough counterplay to maintain the balance.

Peter Svidler obtained a decent opening from his pet-opening the Grünfeld defence. In the middlegame he has the bishop pair and seemed to have the slightly better chances. His pawn push on the kingside had the Norwegian on the defensive, but a surprising tactical counter-blow gave White enough play to hold.

A solid opening system is the Queen's Gambit Declined. In the 5.Bf4 line Levon Aronian only obtained a nominal advantage against Boris gelfand, but Black's shell was too tough to crack.

Ivanchuk preferred to place his bishop on g5 against Viswanathan Anand. The Indian's Lasker variation proved to be equally rock-solid, and with symmetrical pawns a draw seemed inevitable right from the opening. Viswanathan Anand yet again proved that he is able to 'kill off' a game if he wants to.

In contrast, in an all-Russian encounter, Ian Nepomniachtchi and Sergey Karjakin played out a totally imbalanced struggle. Nepomniachtchi had queen and two pawns for rook bishop and knight, and spurning a repetition sacrificed a further exchange for two dangerous-looking passed pawns. Karjakin found the right moment to return a piece for equality.

Vladimir Kramnik and Hikaru Nakamura enteres the Grünfeld Defence, via a move order that generally arises via the English Opening. White delays expanding in the centre to limit Black's chances for counterplay. Even so the American was able to hit back at the centre inducing Kramnik to sacrifice a pawn in slightly dubious circumstances. Nevertheless, towards the time control White was able to resore material equality.

Here is a summary of the sixth round games:

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)

The table after the sixth round:

Rank	Name	Country	Rating	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	Points
1-4	Levon Aronian	ARM	2802	*	½	.	.	½	1	.	½	½	½	3.5
1-4	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2826	½	*	½	.	.	½	½	½	.	1	3.5
1-4	Sergey Karjakin	RUS	2763	.	½	*	½	½	.	½	.	½	1	3.5
1-4	Ian Nepomniachtchi	RUS	2730	.	.	½	*	½	½	.	1	½	½	3.5
5-7	Viswanathan Anand	IND	2811	½	.	½	½	*	½	½	½	.	.	3
5-7	Vassily Ivanchuk	UKR	2775	0	½	.	½	½	*	1	½	.	.	3
5-7	Peter Svidler	RUS	2755	.	½	½	.	½	0	*	.	1	½	3
8-9	Vladimir Kramnik	RUS	2800	½	½	.	0	½	½	.	*	½	.	2½
8-9	Hikaru Nakamura	USA	2758	½	.	½	½	.	.	0	½	*	½	2½
10	Boris Gelfand	ISR	2744	½	0	0	½	.	.	½	.	½	*	2

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

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