The games today seemed to involve a general preferance to avoid critical theoretical variations. So off-beat sidelines were definitely the order of the day.
Pavel Eljanov continued his remarkable sequence of consecutive Black wins, at the expense of Teimour Radjabov whose run of eight straight draws is thus broken. The Ukrainian winning a manoeuvring game in the Nimzoindian.
In Eljanov's last five games, Black has turned out victorious! This is almost unheard of at this level.
| Game No. | Name | Rating | Result | Name | Rating | Opening |
| 1 | Wang Yue | 2752 | 0.5-0.5 | Peter Svidler | 2735 | King's Indian defence (E60) |
| 2 | Evgeny Alekseev | 2700 | 0.5-0.5 | Vugar Gashimov | 2734 | Sicilian defence (B53) |
| 3 | Ernesto Inarkiev | 2669 | 0-1 | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | 2763 | Sicilian defence (B40) |
| 4 | Ruslan Ponomariov | 2733 | 0.5-0.5 | Vladimir Akopian | 2694 | Slav/QGA (D23) |
| 5 | Teimour Radjabov | 2740 | 0-1 | Pavel Eljanov | 2751 | Queen's Gambit Ragozin (D38) |
| 6 | Peter Leko | 2735 | 0.5-0.5 | Boris Gelfand | 2741 | Petroff's defence (C42) |
| 7 | Vassily Ivanchuk | 2741 | 0.5-0.5 | Dmitry Jakovenko | 2725 | English opening (A30) |
The most direct was Mamedyarov who hammered away at Inarkiev after he tried to take the tactical Azerbaijani out of the book. The Russian's opening as White can't be recommended as he was soon worse!
Akopian was again involved in the longest game against the persistant Ponomariov. Two hundred moves in two days from the Armenian! He managed (eventually!) to force a draw in his inferior endgame.
There have been eleven black victories in this tournament so far, six of these by the Ukrainian trio!
White on the other hand has only managed a modest eight victories, one of these by a Ukrainian.
| Ranking | Name | Country | Present Rating | Points |
| 1st | Pavel Eljanov | Ukraine | 2751 | 5.5 |
| 2nd-5th | Vugar Gashimov | Azerbaijan | 2734 | 5 |
| 2nd-5th | Dmitry Jakovenko | Russia | 2725 | 5 |
| 2nd-5th | Peter Leko | Hungary | 2735 | 5 |
| 2nd-5th | Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | Azerbaijan | 2763 | 5 |
| 6th-9th | Evgeny Alekseev | Russia | 2700 | 4.5 |
| 6th-9th | Boris Gelfand | Israel | 2741 | 4.5 |
| 6th-9th | Ruslan Ponomariov | Ukraine | 2733 | 4.5 |
| 6th-9th | Wang Yue | China | 2752 | 4.5 |
| 10th-13th | Ernesto Inarkiev | Russia | 2669 | 4 |
| 10th-13th | Vassily Ivanchuk | Ukraine | 2741 | 4 |
| 10th-13th | Teimour Radjabov | Azerbaijan | 2740 | 4 |
| 10th-13th | Peter Svidler | Russia | 2735 | 4 |
| 14th | Vladimir Akopian | Armenia | 2694 | 3.5 |
Fortunes can change rapidly in such an event, for example Mamedyarov has won his last two and Inarkiev has lost his last three.
There is still time for basically anyone to snatch the tournament from Eljanov.
For further information on this event, I suggest that you go to the official tournament site.
The highest rated player is suddenly in contention.
