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 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:


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