Kramnik maintained his space advantage in a King's Indian with a totally blocked centre. He gradually managed to make progress on the queenside whilst holding off Van Wely on the other wing. The breakthrough came with a piece sacrifice for two connected passed pawns which led to a race which Kramnik won by a tempo.
Dominguez sacrificed a pawn for more comfortable development and the centre, but Black's position stayed solid until the Cuban managed to smash open the centre with d4-d5. Then Tiviakov's poorly developed pieces were unable to cope as White decisively generated a passed pawn.
Caruana sacrificed a piece for a couple of pawns in some interesting complications but Leko gradually consolidated before pressing home his advantage.
With Shirov drawing the only '100% records' remaining are the six draws achieved so far by Anand and Karjakin.
Viswanathan Anand | IND | 2790 | 0.5-0.5 | Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2810 | B77 | Sicilian Dragon |
Vassily Ivanchuk | UKR | 2749 | 0.5-0.5 | Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2708 | D17 | Slav Defence 6 Ne5 |
Alexei Shirov | ESP | 2723 | 0.5-0.5 | Nigel Short | ENG | 2696 | C96 | Spanish Chigorin (Keres) |
Vladimir Kramnik | RUS | 2788 | 1-0 | Loek van Wely | NED | 2641 | E92 | King's Indian Gligoric |
Sergey Karjakin | RUS | 2720 | 0.5-0.5 | Jan Smeets | NED | 2657 | C42 | Petroff's Defence |
Leinier Dominguez | CUB | 2712 | 1-0 | Sergey Tiviakov | NED | 2662 | E11 | Bogoljubov/Catalan |
Peter Leko | HUN | 2739 | 1-0 | Fabiano Caruana | ITA | 2675 | C78 | Spanish Modern Archangel |
Shirov has a clear lead and would seem to be comfortable so far, but things may become rocky starting from tomorrow as he will play Nakamura with Black. Another noticeable pairing will be Carlsen-Ivanchuk.
Seed | Name | Country | Rating | Points |
1 | Alexei Shirov | ESP | 2723 | 5.5 |
2= | Magnus Carlsen | NOR | 2810 | 4 |
2= | Vladimir Kramnik | RUS | 2788 | 4 |
2= | Vassily Ivanchuk | UKR | 2749 | 4 |
2= | Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2708 | 4 |
6 | Leinier Dominguez | CUB | 2712 | 3.5 |
7= | Viswanathan Anand | IND | 2790 | 3 |
7= | Peter Leko | HUN | 2739 | 3 |
7= | Sergey Karjakin | RUS | 2720 | 3 |
10= | Nigel Short | ENG | 2696 | 2 |
10= | Fabiano Caruana | ITA | 2675 | 2 |
10= | Sergey Tiviakov | NED | 2662 | 2 |
13= | Loek van Wely | NED | 2641 | 1 |
13= | Jan Smeets | NED | 2657 | 1 |
B-Group
Giri seems to go from strength to strength! Winning with black against Nyback was another turn-up for the books.
Sutovsky and Howell had a long struggle but the Israeli eventually won the queen ending.
Erwin l'Ami | NED | 2615 | 1-0 | Parimarjan Negi | IND | 2621 | A16 | English (Anti-Grünfeld) |
Penteala Harikrishna | IND | 2672 | 0.5-0.5 | Varuzhan Akobian | USA | 2628 | A21 | English opening |
Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu | ROM | 2681 | 0-1 | Wesley So | PHI | 2656 | A07 | Reti Capablanca |
Dimitri Reinderman | NED | 2573 | 0.5-0.5 | Arkadij Naiditsch | GER | 2687 | A18 | English opening |
Ni Hua | CHN | 2657 | 1-0 | Anna Muzychuk | SLO | 2523 | B01 | Scandinavian |
Emil Sutovsky | ISR | 2666 | 1-0 | David Howell | ENG | 2606 | C99 | Spanish Chigorin |
Tomi Nyback | FIN | 2643 | 0-1 | Anish Giri | NED | 2588 | D12 | Slav Defence 4 e3 |
With previously second-placed David Howell losing, Anish Giri finds himself a full point ahead.
Rank | Title | Name | Country | Rating | Points |
1 | GM | Anish Giri | NED | 2588 | 5 |
2= | GM | Ni Hua | CHN | 2657 | 4 |
2= | GM | Erwin l'Ami | NED | 2615 | 4 |
4= | GM | Arkadij Naiditsch | GER | 2687 | 3.5 |
4= | GM | Penteala Harikrishna | IND | 2672 | 3.5 |
4= | GM | Wesley So | PHI | 2656 | 3.5 |
4= | GM | David Howell | ENG | 2606 | 3.5 |
8 | GM | Parimarjan Negi | IND | 2621 | 3 |
9= | GM | Emil Sutovsky | ISR | 2657 | 2.5 |
9= | GM | Tomi Nyback | FIN | 2643 | 2.5 |
11= | GM | Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu | ROM | 2681 | 2 |
11= | IM | Anna Muzychuk | SLO | 2523 | 2 |
13= | GM | Varuzhan Akobian | USA | 2628 | 1.5 |
13= | GM | Dimitri Reinderman | NED | 2573 | 1.5 |
Group C
The US whizz-kid Ray Robson won again and thus consolidated his lead. Tomorrow he will have the Black pieces against Vocaturo, who has 3/3 with White, but the stiffest test of all could well be in the ninth round when he will have Black against Li Chao-b.
Soumya Swaminathan | IND | 2323 | 0-1 | Robin van Kampen | NED | 2456 | B90 | Sicilian Najdorf 6 Be3 |
Kjetil Lie | NOR | 2547 | 0-1 | Li Chao-b | CHN | 2604 | C43 | Petroff's Defence |
Nils Grandelius | SWE | 2515 | 1-0 | Sjoerd Plukkel | NED | 2279 | C42 | Petroff's Defence |
Abhijeet Gupta | IND | 2577 | 1-0 | Daniele Vocaturo | ITA | 2495 | E70 | King's Indian Defence |
Ray Robson | USA | 2570 | 1-0 | Benjamin Bok | NED | 2322 | C78 | Spanish Modern Archangel |
Robin Swinkels | NED | 2495 | 0.5-0.5 | Zhaoqin Peng | NED | 2402 | A25 | English Opening |
Marya Muzychuk | UKR | 2447 | 0-1 | Stefan Kuipers | NED | 2340 | B23 | Sicilian Defence |
The two Robins are both on plus one. IMs Swinkels and Van Kempen are the leading Dutch players and are both handily placed on 3.5/6.
Rank | Title | Name | Country | Rating | Points |
1 | GM | Ray Robson | USA | 2570 | 5.5 |
2 | GM | Li Chao-b | CHN | 2604 | 5 |
3 | GM | Abhijeet Gupta | IND | 2577 | 4 |
4= | GM | Daniele Vocaturo | ITA | 2495 | 3.5 |
4= | IM | Robin Swinkels | NED | 2495 | 3.5 |
4= | IM | Robin van Kempen | NED | 2456 | 3.5 |
7= | GM | Kjetil Lie | NOR | 2547 | 3 |
7= | GM | Zhaoqin Peng | NED | 2402 | 3 |
7= | FM | Stefan Kuipers | NED | 2340 | 3 |
10 | IM | Nils Grandelius | SWE | 2515 | 2.5 |
11= | WGM | Marya Muzychuk | UKR | 2447 | 2 |
11= | FM | Benjamin Bok | NED | 2322 | 2 |
13 | - | Sjoerd Plukkel | NED | 2279 | 1 |
14 | WGM | Soumya Swaminathan | IND | 2323 | 0.5 |
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