Another Grünfeld and yet again Aronian obtained some pressure. He had a strong light-squared bishop and was able to test Alexander Grischuk into the endgame. The Armenian favourite won a pawn, but Grischuk was active enough and able to hold the rook endgame.
Three draws, and Alexander Grischuk has White tomorrow.
| Nom | World rank | Pays | Elo | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Score so far |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Levon Aronian | 3 | ARM | 2808 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1½ | |
| Alexander Grischuk | 12 | RUS | 2747 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1½ |
Kramnik repeated the Queen's Gambit, but changed variation. This time he sacrificed a pawn, but forcing play led to him winning it back. A lively game led to a perpetual in a queen and rook pseudo-endgame.
Kramnik will have White in the fourth game. Another draw and the match will head into rapidplay tie-breaks.
| Nom | World rank | Pays | Elo | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Score so far |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Teimour Radjabov | 13 | AZE | 2744 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1½ | |
| Vladimir Kramnik | 4 | RUS | 2785 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1½ |
Veselin Topalov, seeking a win, repeated the Najdorf. Kamsky reacted quietly and again kept his king in the centre as the queens came off early. The queenless middlegame stayed fairly balanced, but there was still plenty of play. Kamsky found a simplifying combination which forced Topalov to repeat.
| Nom | World rank | Pays | Elo | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Score so far |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gata Kamsky | 18 | USA | 2732 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 2 | |
| Veselin Topalov | 7 | BUL | 2775 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 |
Game of the day was Boris Gelfand's win with Black. Mamedyarov sacrificed a pawn to obtain an attack, but Gelfand gave back the exchange in order to dominate the centre. Later, Mamedyarov was still able to obtain threats on the kingside, but Gelfand gave up a piece to stymy White's play. Later, with the unusual material balance of six pawns for a rook, there was no stopping the general advance of Black's forces.
A draw tomorrow will be enough for Boris Gelfand to progress.
| Nom | World rank | Pays | Elo | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Score so far |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shakhriyar Mamedyarov | 9 | AZE | 2772 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | |
| Boris Gelfand | 16 | ISR | 2733 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 2 |
Otherwise another useful source is the FIDE site:
Fédération Internationale des Échecs
To watch the games live : http://kazan2011.fide.com/live-games.html
The games will start at 3 pm local time
This means 1 pm in Paris & Madrid
12 noon in London
7am New York
4am Los Angeles
