Vachier-Lagrave defeats Carlsen!

Magnus Carlsen keeps his lead but was rocked back by today's defeat against the No.1 Frenchman, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. Alexander Morozevich beat Fabiano Caruana and is close behind in second place.

Yannick Pelletier completed the first series of games with his fourth draw in a lively struggle against Alexei Shirov that ended in perpetual check.

Morozevich's win, at the expence of the bottom-placed Caruana, was in a Catalan where the Russian took the pawn on c4 and hung onto it until deep in the endgame.

Vachier-Lagrave had all the trumps in a uniquely major piece middlegame, and despite staunch resistance the World No.1 was eventually beaten into submission.

The summary of Round 5:

White	Rating	Results	Black	Rating	Moves	Opening
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave	2722	1-0	Magnus Carlsen	2821	96	Anti-Sicilian
Fabiano Caruana	2711	0-1	Alexander Morozevich	2694	52	Anti-Meran Gambit
Yannick Pelletier	2590	½-½	Alexei Shirov	2714	38	Catalan Opening

One unusual factor in the pairings system is that the players sometimes have three consecutive games with the same colour: Pelletier started with three Whites, and Caruana has already suffered three Blacks in a row!

The standings after round 5:

Rank	Name	Country	Rating	1w	1b	2w	2b	3w	3b	4w	4b	5w	5b	6w	6b	Points
1	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2821	*	*	.	½	1	.	.	0	.	1	1	.	3.5
2	Alexander Morozevich	RUS	2694	½	.	*	*	.	½	.	1	½	.	.	1	3.5
3-4	Alexei Shirov	ESP	2714	.	0	½	.	*	*	½	.	.	½	1	.	2.5
3-4	Maxime Vachier-Lagrave	FRA	2722	1	.	0	.	.	½	*	*	.	½	.	½	2.5
5	Yannick Pelletier	SUI	2590	0	.	.	½	½	.	½	.	*	*	½	.	2
6	Fabiano Caruana	ITA	2711	.	0	0	.	.	0	½	.	.	½	*	*	1

The classification according to the Biel points (3 for a win, 1 for a draw) is as follows:

Position	Name	Country	Rating	Biel Points
1	Magnus Carlsen	NOR	2815	10
2	Alexander Morozevich	RUS	2694	9
3-4	Alexei Shirov	ESP	2714	6
3-4	Maxime Vachier-Lagrave	FRA	2722	6
5	Yannick Pelletier	SUI	2590	4
6	Fabiano Caruana	ITA	2711	2

The rate of play: