Kramnik tried hard to make it three in a row, as he sacrificed to open Black's king, but it was only good enough for a perpetual check.
Georg Meier seemed to have enough activity early on, but Giri gradually unraveled and his bishop proved to be a most useful piece. The German released the pressure with a pawn offer, and may have been OK, but the decisive moment came when Meier let down his guard and allowed Giri to combine to win a piece deep into the endgame.
Round 3 results:
| White | Rating | Result | Black | Rating | Moves | Openings details |
| Kramnik, Vladimir | 2785 | ½-½ | Le, Quang Liem | 2689 | 48 | Slav Defence |
| Nakamura, Hikaru | 2774 | 0-1 | Ponomariov, Ruslan | 2743 | 41 | Nimzoindian |
| Giri, Anish | 2690 | 1-0 | Meier, Georg | 2669 | 75 | Catalan/Bogoljubov |
The standings after three rounds:
| Rank | Name | Country | Rating | Kw | Kb | Pw | Pb | Lw | Lb | Gw | Gb | Nw | Nb | Mw | Mb | Points | Perf. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Vladimir Kramnik | RUS | 2781 | * | * | 1 | . | ½ | . | . | . | . | . | . | 1 | 2½ | 2984 |
| 2. | Ruslan Ponomariov | UKR | 2764 | . | 0 | * | * | . | . | 1 | . | . | 1 | . | . | 2 | 2875 |
| 3-4 | Le Quang Liem | VIE | 2715 | . | ½ | . | . | * | * | . | . | ½ | . | . | ½ | 1½ | 2735 |
| 3-4 | Anish Giri | NED | 2701 | . | . | . | 0 | . | . | * | * | ½ | . | 1 | . | 1½ | 2730 |
| 5. | Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2770 | . | . | 0 | . | . | ½ | . | ½ | * | * | . | . | 1 | 2601 |
| 6. | Georg Meier | GER | 2656 | 0 | . | . | . | ½ | . | . | 0 | . | . | * | * | ½ | 2459 |
Schedule:
July 21st to 25th: Rounds 1 to 5
July 26th: Rest day
July 27th to 30th: Rounds 6 to 9
July 31st: Round 10
The first nine rounds begin at 3pm local time (3pm Paris, 2pm London, 9am New York).
The final round will be two hours earlier.
The time limit is 100 minutes for 40 moves, then 50 in 20, and finally 15 minutes for the remainder of the game. The players also receive an increment of 30 seconds per move.
Official site: http://www.sparkassen-chess-meeting.de/2011
Live games: http://schachtage.dokomserver.de/toma/live.htm
The transmission is with a 30 minute delay in order to avoid any possibility of 'external influences affecting the players decisions'.
