In the crunch game, Ruslan Ponomariov and Vladimir Kramnik indulged in a sharp struggle. Ponomariov refused to enter the main lines of the Berlin and, after provoking Kramnik to advance on the kingside, the game sharpened up. Ponomariov managed to steal a pawn on the queenside while Kramnik continued to push on the other wing. The Russian won back his pawn, but this led to a drawn endgame.
In Hikaru Nakamura-Anish Giri,a classical line of the Nimzoindian led to White having 'hanging pawns' in the centre, a structure that is often difficult to judge. Giri broke these up but in the blood-letting that followed Nakamura managed to win a pawn. However, he was unable to win the three versus two on the same wing with bishop against Giri's excellent defensive knight.
In Le Quang Liem versus Georg Meier the centre opened with a tactical flourish and Meier declined to exchange queens, as he had the safer king. The Vietnamese No.1 was able to consolidate and drawish simplification ensued.
Round 6 summary:
| White | Rating | Result | Black | Rating | Moves | Openings details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Le Quang Liem | 2715 | ½-½ | Georg Meier | 2656 | 38 | Slav (by transposition) |
| Ruslan Ponomariov | 2764 | ½-½ | Vladimir Kramnik | 2781 | 50 | Spanish 4.d3 |
| Hikaru Nakamura | 2770 | ½-½ | Anish Giri | 2701 | 72 | Nimzoindian 4.e3 |
The standings after the sixth round:
| Rank | Name | Country | Rating | Kw | Kb | Lw | Lb | Pw | Pb | Gw | Gb | Nw | Nb | Mw | Mb | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vladimir Kramnik | RUS | 2781 | * | * | ½ | . | 1 | ½ | 1 | . | . | 1 | . | 1 | 5 |
| 2 | Le Quang Liem | VIE | 2715 | . | ½ | * | * | 1 | . | . | ½ | ½ | . | ½ | ½ | 3½ |
| 3 | Ruslan Ponomariov | UKR | 2764 | ½ | 0 | . | 0 | * | * | 1 | . | . | 1 | ½ | . | 3 |
| 4 | Anish Giri | NED | 2701 | . | 0 | ½ | . | . | 0 | * | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | . | 2½ |
| 5 | Hikaru Nakamura | USA | 2770 | 0 | . | . | ½ | 0 | . | ½ | ½ | * | * | . | ½ | 2 |
| 6 | Georg Meier | GER | 2656 | 0 | . | ½ | ½ | . | ½ | . | 0 | ½ | . | * | * | 2 |
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'.
