The winner of the tournament will qualify for the 2013 Argentina Championship.

The event will be a nine round Swiss with the prize fund of 8000 USD. Official website.

Participants:

1 GM Flores Diego ARG 2594
2 GM Hernandez Guerrero Gilberto MEX 2523
3 GM Alonso Salvador ARG 2506
4 IM Real De Azua Ernesto ARG 2460
5 IM Dos Santos Ramiro ARG 2444
6 GM Slipak Sergio ARG 2440
7 IM Diaz Hollemaert Nahuel ARG 2421
8 IM Krysa Leandro ARG 2411
9 IM Dolezal Cristian ARG 2410
10 FM Pichot Alan ARG 2400
11 IM Lujan Carolina ARG 2380
12 IM Mahia Gustavo ARG 2377
13 IM Giardelli Sergio C. ARG 2344
14 FM Calderon Fernandez Gervasio ARG 2331
15 FM Mayorga Nicolas ARG 2312
16 IM Garcia Raimundo ARG 2310
17 FM Mussanti Diego ARG 2310
18 FM Paveto Kevin ARG 2298
19 IM Barrionuevo Pablo ARG 2287
20 Leon Juan Carlos PER 2280
21 Abarca Gonzalez Nicolas CHI 2265
22 FM Madina Yadarola Martin ESP 2256
23 Olivera Horacio ARG 2243
24 Sosa Tomas ARG 2234
25 Caceres Recalde Fernando ARG 2216
26 Vazquez Maximiliano VEN 2170
27 Quenallata Luciano ARG 2168
28 Fiori Hector ARG 2152
29 Fernandez Maria Florencia ARG 2134
30 Lopez Diego ARG 2133
31 Villarreal Hector ARG 2120
32 Calens Diego ARG 2112
33 FM Acosta Pablo Ismael ARG 2102
34 Arguinariz Enrique ARG 2085
35 Miranda Rafael ARG 2085
36 Perez Wertheim Rodolfo ARG 2017
37 Nejanky Maisa ARG 2016
38 Galleto Ricardo ARG 2014
39 Farias Guillermo ARG 2010
40 Zeta Rodrigo ARG 1986
41 Pazos David ARG 1974
42 Bradford Axel ARG 1946
43 Tomas Falcon Jesus ARG 1944
44 Hernandez Amura Gilberto ARG 1940
45 Cisneros German ARG 1939
46 Moscato Nestor Eduardo ARG 1931
47 Epelboin Matias ARG 1930
48 Paolini Claudio ARG 1909
49 Pernas Agustin ARG 1888
50 Espindola Juan Carlos ARG 1870
51 WCM Besso Guadalupe ARG 1861
52 Lidovsky Sergio ARG 1791
53 Ferrara Enzo ARG 1785
54 Besso Javier Alejandro ARG 1783
55 Ferreyra Gustavo ARG 1778
56 Yanez Almonacid Jermain Esteb CHI 1772
57 Garcia Ciuffani Mirco ARG 1758
58 Aguero Arce Matias ARG 1696
59 Escudero Jose Maria ARG 1680
60 Caceres Recalde Gonzalo ARG 1633
61 Abate Tomas ARG 1601
62 Medina Exequiel Alexis ARG 1572
63 Enciso Franco ARG 1569
64 Hernandez Amura Luis Eduardo ARG 1515
65 Altamiranda Maria Elisa ARG 1473
66 Arias Gabriel Agustin ARG 0
67 Baca Jorge ARG 0
68 Campolongo Federico ARG 0
69 Colque Jonathan ARG 0
70 Garcia Achilli Fernando ARG 0
71 Marcos Alan ARG 0
72 Martinez Maluge Francisco ARG 0
73 Nicolas Mitre Jorge Alberto ARG 0
74 Ortega Agustin ARG 0
75 Pandi Vali Americo ARG 0

Live games with analysis / Full list of participants

Viswanathan Anand was not able to recover from yesterday’s fall. His loss today was of a very different nature, however. The solid form he has been showing in the last couple of years – which was highly criticized – has become much more irregular lately. He already suffered three defeats in this event, something that was not seen in a while.

On the other hand, Hikaru Nakamura seems to be heading to a very important result in his career. He is now solidly established as a member of the top 10 in the live ratings list, only two points behind Vladimir Kramnik.

The game started as a Ruy Lopez, but Nakamura, playing black, went for a setup with  a fianchettoed bishop on g7. This strange system was handled with huge precision by the American, who fended-off all of white’s attempts to get the initiative with his strong central pawns. After a few simplifications, the players went into a knight endgame that seemed rather equalized. The big amount of pawns made the decisions really complicated for the players and Nakamura was able to finish on top after some clever maneuvers. Anand gave up on move 45.

Hikaru Nakamura

The co-leader before this round, Boris Gelfand, had a much more classical struggle against world’s number 1 Magnus Carlsen. The Israeli had he white pieces and did not push too hard in the opening. Carlsen obtained a symmetrical pawn structure with slightly weaker pieces. Gelfand tried to push to get a small edge but the players never left the realms of equality. The peace treaty was signed on move 54.

The longest game of the day, and the event so far, was the Russian battle between Alexander Morozevich and Sergey Karjakin. The game lasted 100 moves, where Morozevich tried to squeeze a win with his extra pawn in a very difficult rook endgame. He showed very creative play to get that slight advantage but was not able to break Karjakin’s solid defensive methods.

Boris Gelfand

Dmitry Andreikin and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov discussed a sharp variation of the Scotch Defense. White managed to stick a rook on the seventh rank and get a more active knight, but that was not enough to get a full point. Mamedyarov looked for counter-chances and was able to lead the game to its solid conclusion in 45 moves. These two players did not arrive as favorites and are showing a strong performance in this elite event.

The other draw of the day was signed between Fabiano Caruana and Vladimir Kramnik. The Russian showed yet again how impenetrable his Berlin Wall is. Caruana went for a very sharp line but could not avoid Kramnik’s three-fold repetition on the 30th move.

Alexander Morozevich

Fabiano Caruana and Vladimir Kramnik

Photos by Eteri Kublashvili

Standings after 6 rounds:

In round 4 top seeded players Humpy Koneru and Anna Muzychuk joined Nana Dzagnidze in the shared lead with three points each.

Koneru crushed Tatiana Kosintseva while Muzychuk clinched a nice positional victory against Viktorija Cmilyte.

In the other decisive game Olga Girya defeated local representative Elina Danielian.

Replay the games with computer analysis.

Humpy Koneru

Girya – Danielian

Round 4 results:
GM Cmilyte Viktorija 2511 – GM Muzychuk Anna 2593 0 – 1
GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2531 – IM Khotenashvili Bela 2531 ½ – ½
GM Koneru Humpy 2597 – GM Kosintseva Tatiana 2526 1 – 0
GM Dzagnidze Nana 2550 – GM Ushenina Anna 2499 ½ – ½
WGM Girya Olga 2436 – GM Danielian Elina 2475 1 – 0
WGM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs 2316 – GM Harika Dronavalli 2492 ½ – ½

Round 4 standings:
1-3. GM Muzychuk Anna SLO 2593, GM Koneru Humpy IND 2597 and GM Dzagnidze Nana GEO 2550 – 3
4-5. GM Stefanova Antoaneta BUL 2531 and WGM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs MGL 2316 – 2.5
6-7. GM Ushenina Anna UKR 2499 and WGM Girya Olga RUS 2436 – 2
8-9. IM Khotenashvili Bela GEO 2531 and GM Harika Dronavalli IND 2492 – 1.5
10-11. GM Kosintseva Tatiana RUS 2526, GM Danielian Elina ARM 2475 and GM Cmilyte Viktorija LTU 2511 – 1

Round 5 pairings:
GM Harika Dronavalli 2492 – GM Cmilyte Viktorija 2511
GM Danielian Elina 2475 – WGM Batchimeg Tuvshintugs 2316
GM Ushenina Anna 2499 – WGM Girya Olga 2436
GM Kosintseva Tatiana 2526 – GM Dzagnidze Nana 2550
IM Khotenashvili Bela 2531 – GM Koneru Humpy 2597
GM Muzychuk Anna 2593 – GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2531

Official website

Today marks the players’ rest day after Tuesday’s round 5 pushed the nine-game round-robin tournament past its halfway point. But despite a finish line that now looms, seven of ten players still sit within a point of each other, now with three tied atop the standings at 3.5/5 points. Report by Brian Jerauld.

California IM Daniel Naroditsky, the field’s highest-rated player, was the sole leader entering Tuesday and has yet to lose a game this week at the Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis. But his fifth-round draw against FM Sam Sevian slowed the pace, and wins from both FM Luke Harmon-Vellotti and FM Robert Perez brought them both up to speed.

Harmon-Vellotti’s come-from-behind shocker over IM Victor Shen made it two wins and a draw against the field’s three top-seeded IMs; and Perez has shrugged off a slow start to the tournament to notch three straight victories, including Tuesday’s turnaround matchup versus FM Yian Liou.

The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (CCSCSL)

After an outstanding opening that found Shen up two pawns, including one passed on the sixth rank, he did everything he could to let his solid position slip away against Harmon-Vellotti – and he eventually got his wish. The game transposed to a Queen’s Indian, with Shen grabbing a solid foothold in the center and prepping his bishops for dominance. But Harmon-Vellotti’s 12. … Qf6 was very suspicious, begging for Shen’s 13. Bc3 response. The move showed Shen’s position clearly winning, with an advantage in development, a better dominance of space and several tactical opportunities brewing. He quickly converted it to a material advantage.

But after wrecking the black queenside, Shen found trouble re-coordinating his pieces and was never able to find traction behind his three passed pawns, including two connected. Meanwhile, Harmon-Vellotti slowly pieced together a harmonious defense and let Shen sink into time pressure.

“That was going into a winning endgame [for Shen], so I just tried to make it as complicated as possible,” Harmon-Vellotti said. “And then he blundered in time trouble.”

Indeed, with under five minutes on his clock and eight more moves until time control, Shen offered up 32. Rxb5 with tactical eyes. But Harmon-Vellotti defied the play with 32. … Rbxb6, ultimately releasing nearly all of white’s pressure and gathering the d6 passer. Even still with winning chances, Shen struggled to find any continuance, and Harmon-Vellotti wreaked havoc on the white king with his remaining knight and rook. The move 57. … h5 kicked off a race to queen – one that Shen actually won, but left him positionally inferior.

“[Shen] was winning all the way down to [53.]Kg1,” Harmon-Vellotti said. “I think if he had gone Ke1, he would have won.”

Perez performed his own climb out of a dark position thanks to an outstanding endgame and some fantastic work with his king. The game progressed through an unusual line of the Sicilian, but one Liou was up to the task of pressing. For more than 20 moves, he kept Perez on the defensive and looked primed to push solid queenside space into an advantage.

But his 23. Ncd5 ignited a massive swap-out of material, ultimately leaving Perez with a bad bishop and Liou in control of the outpost – though limited in attacking ideas.

“He was still better, but compared to what the position was before, I was able to get rid of a lot of pieces and centralize my king,” Perez said. “Yeah, my d6 was weak, but bad bishops defend good pawns.”

That d6 pawn was more than “good” – it was the winner – as it was able to work its way over to the e-file and eventually down to its queening square. And it would not have been possible without the major play of Perez’s king, who helped open up some lanes against Liou’s kingside pawns and then escorted his passer to safety.

After 37. Rdxe5 dxe5 38. Bxf8 won white a pivotal pawn advantage, 42. c5 allowed entry to the black monarch, who became a monster on the d-file. And after pushing the white king backward, Perez was able to swing around to the other side of the advancing e-pawn, finding safety from Liou’s remaining rook behind white’s own pawn.

The secret of IM Kayden Troff’s fondness for the Grunfeld defense is out, as FM Atulya Shetty was the second player in a row to attack Troff with Anti-Grunfeld designs. But Troff showed little concern, looking solid through the opening including an excellent Nf6-Nd5-Nb4 transfer of his knight before castling his king. The series attacked the white queen and earned Troff the bishop pair, but it was not a reward held for long. Shetty was able to push back, eventually swapping out the light-squared bishop with 17. Nxe6, while taking control of the center and stacking pawns on Troff’s e-file in the process.

From there, however, the game became a complicated mess, beginning with Shetty offering his e-pawn as a sacrifice – with apparent intentions of opening the file – though he struggled to find much compensation. Trying to bail himself out of the position, Shetty offered up his other center pawn, setting up a confusing conglomerate that even Troff – eventually with a two-pawn advantage – found trouble navigating.

“After he played d4, trading the d-pawn for the e-pawn, I thought I was solid by being a pawn up,” Troff said. “But my pieces were really awkward, and the position was tough. It ended up becoming complicated.”

In the end, the frustration of opposite-colored bishops fizzled into the expected draw. Shetty was able to recollect a pawn with 43. Qxh7 and harass Troff’s king, which never did find time to castle.

Sevian came at Naroditsky with the Ruy Lopez and met the Breyer, in a game that moved quickly through theory for more than 15 moves. Sevian’s 16. d5 intended to close the center, while Naroditsky’s response of Rc8 showed intentions of opening it, and both sides battled over their central intentions. Sevian grabbed the first material advantage with 22. Qxd6, but at the cost of being pushed into some awkward defense with Naroditsky controlling several key lanes.

The position was headed swiftly toward an endgame featuring Sevian’s two knights versus Naroditsky’s two bishops, though white’s cavalry sat rather passive on the kingside wing. It prompted Naroditsky to push the envelope, acknowledging that he “didn’t want to let the knights get to good squares.” He traded off rooks with 29. … Rxc1, and then put Sevian on the spot with 32. … Qc3. Naroditsky offered a draw several minutes after the move, and Sevian accepted after ten minutes of thought.

“There were three concrete lines that I saw, but I could not get the advantage,” Sevian said. “One line where I was worse, another where I was equal, and another that forced a draw. I was up a pawn and consolidated, so I wanted to keep that extra pawn and play for the win, but his two bishops were going to be very strong at the end.”

FM Jeffrey Xiong is starting to roll after two losses to open the tournament. He drew both his third- and fourth-round matches to Shen and Sevian, and then notched his first full-point win over WFM Sarah Chiang in round 5 as black. The game began in a Rubinstein Nimzo-Indian line, but Chiang looked to fall out of prep early, first moving 6. Ng3 and then following it with the unnecessary a3. The folly converted directly to the loss of her c4 pawn, which Xiong collected on move 13.

Chiang all-but abandoned her queenside, instead loading her pieces around Xiong’s temporarily exposed king for an assault. But Xiong foresaw too strong of an advantage with his pawn majority, opting to give back his pawn advantage with 27. … e5, which traded the queens off the board and ultimately left Chiang far removed from Xiong’s connected passers on the queen wing.

It was not an easy close for Xiong, as Chiang kept the black pieces occupied with her own passed pawn on the f-file and not able to help usher the a and b pawns in for promotion. Black eventually found its way through.

“I thought I was okay, but she found some really nice resources in the endgame that made the win really tough,” Xiong said. “After [43. …] Rf5, she played [44.] Nb3, but if she had played Nd3, I think she would still have been in it. It would have been a long fight.”

Play resumes tomorrow, Thursday, June 19, at 1 p.m. local time. Follow live commentary with Grandmasters Yasser Seirawan and Ben Finegold at www.uschesschamps.com/live.

The time control was 90 minutes plus 10 seconds per player, but the famous Grandmaster managed his time wisely and succeeded in winning all 12 games.

After the session Shirov analysed all games with the players. The venue for the event was Hotel Ol’gino in St. Petersburg.

Russian Chess Federation

Alexei Shirov

The tournament is organized by the Municipality of Kandanos – Selino and Chania Chess Academy, with support from the Region of Crete and Greek Chess Federation.

The 9-round Swiss event is providing possibility to win FIDE title norms. Total prize fund is 7000 EUR.

Tournament directors are Papadimitrakis Ioannis and Naoum Giorgos, chief arbiter is Logothetis Sotiris.

Last year winner was GM Andrey Rychagov

Official website

Pre-registered players:

1. GM Zhigalko Andrey BLR 2617
2. GM Baklan Vladimir UKR 2613
3. GM Banikas Hristos GRE 2609
4. GM Svetushkin Dmitry MDA 2605
5. GM David Alberto ITA 2597
6. GM Borovikov Vladislav UKR 2564
7. GM Rychagov Andrey RUS 2561
8. GM Zubarev Alexander UKR 2559
9. GM Kharitonov Alexandr RUS 2546
10. GM Zinchenko Yaroslav UKR 2536
11. GM Maiorov Nikita BLR 2529
12. GM Gopal G.N. IND 2522
13. GM Tukhaev Adam UKR 2520
14. GM Popilski Gil ISR 2515
15. IM Colovic Aleksandar MKD 2490
16. GM Pap Misa SRB 2489
17. GM Baron Tal ISR 2467
18. GM Skembris Spyridon GRE 2458
19. GM Kapnisis Spyridon GRE 2451
20. IM Georgiadis Ioannis GRE 2449
21. GM Polzin Rainer GER 2446
22. IM Lekic Dusan MNE 2430
23. Markidis Konstantinos GRE 2376
24. Krishna C.R.G. IND 2339
25. IM Vuilleumier Alexandre SUI 2321
26. FM De Wachter Matthias BEL 2281
27. FM Nogly Christoph GER 2261
28. Darmarakis Mihail GRE 2220
29. Naoum Spyridon GRE 2209
30. FM Valenti Giuseppe ITA 2207
31. Phadke Sohan IND 2201
32. Kourkoulos-Arditis Stamatis GRE 2171
33. Raguz Dario CRO 2169
34. Arnelind Mikael SWE 2161
35. Kalaitzoglou Panayotis GRE 2144
36. Fragakis Efstratios GRE 2130
37. Berset Philippe SUI 2129
38. Mauron Pierre SUI 2129
39. Terraz Christian SUI 2125
40. De Coninck Rafael BEL 2123
41. Theodorou Nikolas GRE 2121
42. Mangelschots Peter BEL 2095
43. Chernukhin Alexander RUS 2091
44. Kalogridakis Georgios GRE 2056
45. Roesch Mario GER 2045
46. Kalogeris Ioannis GRE 1989
47. Lauritzen Einar NOR 1981
48. Iasman Inna FRA 1970
49. Mathioulakis Fanis GRE 1966
50. Verikakis Manolis GRE 1958
51. Ponkshe Sarang IND 1938
52. Verikakis Ioannis GRE 1938
53. Skagseth Havard M NOR 1930
54. Hielscher Ursula GER 1904
55. Bielby Paul R ENG 1889
56. Adams Tim P ENG 1869
57. Gavrilov Mikhail RUS 1862
58. Parisis Apostolos GRE 1851
59. Tsarouha Marianthi GRE 1833
60. Singh Jagpreet IND 1825
61. Schwarz Pierre-Alain SUI 1814
62. Georgiou Andreas CYP 1767
63. Morote Patrick BEL 1762
64. Amarapala Sherington NOR 1738
65. Kalogridakis Theodoros GRE 1730
66. Minko Dmitry RUS 1694
67. Patrinos Ilias GRE 1685
68. Markaki Sofia GRE 1681
69. Karousos-Theodorakis Nikolaos GRE 1669
70. Jacobsen Trond NOR 1649
71. Petousis Konstantinos GRE 1643
72. Karousos-Theodorakis Anastasi GRE 1570
73. Hadjinicolaou Andreas CYP 1568
74. Falelakis Georgios GRE 1552
75. Petrakis Stylianos GRE 1552
76. Avgoustis Panagiotis GRE 1524
77. Anagnostakis Charalampos GRE 1520
78. Fidrilakis Stavros GRE 1520
79. Vozinaki Anthi – Maria GRE 1514
80. Amarapala Anton NOR 1513
81. Bravos Panagiotis GRE 1498
82. Minko Olga RUS 1456
83. Kourouklis Efthymios-Nektario GRE 1436
84. Kilakos Dimitrios GRE 1430
85. Georgakopoulos Nikolaos K. GRE 1429
86. Bairamian Artur GRE 1423
87. Triantos Konstantinos GRE 1415
88. Papadimitrakis Georgios GRE 1369
89. Kalikakis Nikolaos GRE 1352
90. Vrana Eirini GRE 1325
91. Alygizakis Apostolos GRE 1307
92. Betsos Nikolaos-Evangelos GRE 1235
93. Alevrakis Michail GRE 1222
94. Karavitaki Evaggelia GRE 1177
95. Kiriakakis Panagiotis GRE 1132
96. Marinakis Hristos GRE 1014
97. Amarapala Sheroni NOR 0
98. Archoleon Konstantinos GRE 0
99. Benakis Stelios GRE 0
100. Chatzidaki Dimokratia GRE 0
101. Chursina Ada RUS 0
102. Fidrilakis Kiriakos GRE 0
103. Georgiakakis Nikos GRE 0
104. Kaliontzaki Erietta GRE 0
105. Kaliontzakis Iakovos GRE 0
106. Kourakis Aristotelis Mihail GRE 0
107. Manioudaki Elia GRE 0
108. Ntemiris Georgios GRE 0
109. Pantelakis Antonios GRE 0
110. Pantelakis Lefteris GRE 0
111. Papadimitraki Stavroula GRE 0
112. Schwarz Mathilde GRE 0
113. Shinaraki Despina GRE 0
114. Shinarakis Manolis GRE 0
115. Tsivoles Giorgos GRE 0

Grandelius defeated Indian GM Arun Prasad in the last round to complete the tournament with 7,5/9 points.

Vladislav Nevednichy and MR Venkatesh were also victorious to catch Zbynek Hracek and Vladimir Georgiev on the shared second place.

WGM Mary Ann Gomes was the best placed woman with 6,5 points.

Last round video

Nils Grandelius

Final standings:

1 GM Grandelius Nils SWE 2544 – 7.5
2 GM Hracek Zbynek CZE 2625 – 7
3 GM Nevednichy Vladislav ROU 2580 – 7
4 GM Georgiev Vladimir MKD 2532 – 7
5 GM Venkatesh M.R. IND 2506 – 7
6 GM Solak Dragan TUR 2598 – 6.5
7 GM Nabaty Tamir ISR 2579 – 6.5
8 GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi IND 2554 – 6.5
9 IM Ashwin Jayaram IND 2472 – 6.5
10 GM Arun Prasad S. IND 2522 – 6.5
11 GM Spasov Vasil BUL 2565 – 6.5
12 GM Gupta Abhijeet IND 2600 – 6.5
13 GM Petrosian Tigran L. ARM 2649 – 6.5
14 IM Raznikov Danny ISR 2491 – 6.5
15 GM Rusev Krasimir BUL 2556 – 6.5
16 GM Chatalbashev Boris BUL 2560 – 6.5
17 GM Sengupta Deep IND 2548 – 6.5
18 GM Vajda Levente ROU 2617 – 6.5
19 WGM Gomes Mary Ann IND 2408 – 6.5
20 GM Solodovnichenko Yuri UKR 2565 – 6
21 GM Svetushkin Dmitry MDA 2605 – 6
22 GM Blagojevic Dragisa MNE 2524 – 6
23 GM Mareco Sandro ARG 2557 – 6
24 IM Bernadskiy Vitaliy UKR 2475 – 6
25 FM Bonafede Alessandro ITA 2353 – 6
26 GM Abasov Nijat AZE 2492 – 6
27 GM Grover Sahaj IND 2478 – 6
28 IM Givon Asaf ISR 2415 – 6
29 GM Shyam Sundar M. IND 2502 – 6
30 GM Sveshnikov Evgeny LAT 2512 – 6
31 GM Gopal G.N. IND 2522 – 6
32 GM Parligras Mircea-Emilian ROU 2565 – 6
33 IM Narayanan Srinath IND 2464 – 6
34 GM Drenchev Petar BUL 2485 – 6
35 IM Debashis Das IND 2482 – 6
36 IM Galinsky Timofey UKR 2439 – 6
37 IM Karthikeyan Murali IND 2435 – 6
38 IM Rombaldoni Axel ITA 2484 – 6
39 FM Ali Marandi Cemil Can TUR 2383 – 6
40 FM Lilov Valeri BUL 2434 – 5.5
41 IM Sanal Vahap TUR 2409 – 5.5
42 Paravyan David RUS 2373 – 5.5
43 IM Javakhadze Zurab GEO 2450 – 5.5
44 GM Berescu Alin-Mile ROU 2461 – 5.5
45 IM Arnaudov G. Petar BUL 2490 – 5.5
46 FM Anurag Mhamal IND 2401 – 5.5
47 GM Grigoryan Avetik ARM 2605 – 5.5
48 IM Stany G.A. IND 2384 – 5.5
49 Sagar Shah IND 2359 – 5.5
50 IM Ghosh Diptayan IND 2477 – 5.5
51 Pettersson Anders 1991 SWE 2279 – 5.5
52 IM Gorbatov Alexej RUS 2350 – 5.5
53 IM Dimitrov Pavel BUL 2310 – 5.5
54 WGM Pogonina Natalija RUS 2488 – 5.5
55 IM Cvetkovic Srdjan SRB 2387 – 5.5
56 FM Stojanov Stanislav BUL 2307 – 5.5
57 IM Georgescu Tiberiu-Marian ROU 2375 – 5.5
58 GM Gavrilov Alexei RUS 2454 – 5.5
59 FM Das Sayantan IND 2332 – 5.5
60 IM Skomorokhin Roman RUS 2331 – 5.5
61 WIM Raeva Elitsa BUL 2258 – 5.5
62 IM Arsovic Zoran SRB 2433 – 5.5
63 IM Kukov Velislav BUL 2396 – 5.5
64 IM Kanmazalp Ogulcan TUR 2382 – 5.5
65 IM Gagare Shardul IND 2407 – 5
66 IM Sveshnikov Vladimir LAT 2411 – 5
67 IM Swapnil S. Dhopade IND 2469 – 5
68 IM Arngrimsson Dagur ISL 2396 – 5
69 GM Ermenkov Evgenij BUL 2425 – 5
70 FM Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. IND 2328 – 5
71 IM Chighladze Iveri GEO 2396 – 5
72 IM Karavade Eesha IND 2398 – 5
73 GM Spassov Liuben BUL 2335 – 5
74 IM Nakar Eylon ISR 2390 – 5
75 GM Iturrizaga Eduardo VEN 2645 – 5
76 IM Atakisi Umut TUR 2351 – 5
77 IM Gagarin Vasilij RUS 2329 – 5
78 IM Roeder Matthias GER 2409 – 5
79 GM Drasko Milan MNE 2469 – 5
80 Iovcov Valerii MDA 2178 – 5
81 FM Friedrichs Klaus GER 2293 – 5
82 Baralic Nebojsa SRB 2259 – 5
83 WIM Baciu Diana MDA 2249 – 5
84 Tscharotschkin Michael GER 2217 – 5
85 WGM Soumya Swaminathan IND 2289 – 5
86 IM Virovlansky Semen RUS 2432 – 5
87 Goumas Georgios GRE 2401 – 5
88 Banov Boil BUL 2165 – 5
89 FM Hainke Guntram Dr. GER 2310 – 5
90 IM Dimitrov Radoslav BUL 2429 – 5
91 Xylogiannopoulos Antonios GRE 2129 – 5
92 GM Mekhitarian Krikor Sevag BRA 2544 – 5
93 FM Skomorokhin Vadim RUS 2383 – 5
94 IM Dimitrov Atanas GRE 2349 – 5
95 WGM Sukandar Irine Kharisma INA 2364 – 5
96 FM Bykov Alexey RUS 2378 – 5
97 Sari Yasin TUR 1967 – 5
98 Romanov Sergey RUS 2103 – 5
99 CM Kulkarni Bhakti IND 2246 – 4.5
100 Volodin Alexey RUS 2283 – 4.5
101 WGM Kiran Manisha Mohanty IND 2195 – 4.5
102 IM Panbukchian Valentin BUL 2331 – 4.5
103 Ivelinov Hristo BUL 2180 – 4.5
104 Primbetov Kazbek KAZ 2225 – 4.5
105 FM Mgeladze Tamaz GEO 2197 – 4.5
106 WGM Velcheva Maria BUL 2262 – 4.5
107 GM Abramovic Bosko SRB 2458 – 4.5
108 Gireman Ja IND 2186 – 4.5
109 WGM Voiska Margarita BUL 2249 – 4.5
110 Forsberg Viktor SWE 2286 – 4.5
111 Sidhant Mohapatra IND 2233 – 4.5
112 FM Tchernyi Viktor RUS 2197 – 4.5
113 Parligras Cosmin ROU 2299 – 4.5
114 IM G. Akash IND 2380 – 4.5
115 IM Jasny Stanislav CZE 2298 – 4.5
116 Nalbantoglu Hulki TUR 1994 – 4.5
117 Gochev Mladen BUL 2282 – 4.5
118 WGM Ionescu Irina ROU 2222 – 4.5
119 IM Mohota Nisha IND 2297 – 4.5
120 Sofranov Velizar BUL 2154 – 4.5
121 IM Molina Roberto Junio Brito BRA 2423 – 4.5
122 Guven Baris TUR 2115 – 4.5
123 Hincu Olga MDA 1949 – 4.5
124 WFM Srija Seshadri IND 1953 – 4.5
125 Dimitrov Daniel BUL 1847 – 4.5
126 WFM Raghavi N. IND 2113 – 4.5
127 WIM Dragomirescu Angela ROU 2221 – 4
128 IM Matorin Evgeny RUS 2099 – 4
129 IM Enchev Ivajlo BUL 2473 – 4
130 FM Zalkind Konstantin ISR 2211 – 4
131 Yakimenko Alexander A. RUS 2214 – 4
132 FM Abdalla Luiz Guilherme Aurell BRA 2288 – 4
133 Yurtseven Melih TUR 2166 – 4
134 FM Voiteanu Gabriel ROU 2248 – 4
135 Limbourg Philipp Dr. GER 2187 – 4
136 FM Valles Manuel FRA 2261 – 4
137 Kubik Michael CZE 2153 – 4
138 Deac Bogdan-Daniel ROU 2226 – 4
139 WFM Pujari Rucha IND 2150 – 4
140 CM Koksal Ege TUR 2247 – 4
141 IM Todorov Ognjan BUL 2285 – 4
142 GM Radulov Ivan BUL 2304 – 4
143 FM Posedaru Bogdan ROU 2297 – 4
144 Arnaudov Petar BUL 2163 – 4
145 Kolev Atanas Tonchev BUL 2118 – 4
146 Ivanova Simoneta BUL 2018 – 4
147 FM Dragomirescu Calin ROU 2200 – 4
148 Parnali S Dharia IND 1934 – 4
149 Kozyrev Daniil RUS 2156 – 4
150 Matviishen Viktor UKR 2046 – 4
151 Dimitrov Dejan BUL 2029 – 4
152 Stoyanov Svetlomir BUL 1874 – 4
153 Gelip Ioana ROU 2023 – 4
154 Blagojevic Tijana MNE 2051 – 4
155 WGM Dolzhikova Olga NOR 2263 – 4
156 Mladenov Emil BUL 2119 – 4
157 WFM Beliaeva Natalia RUS 2019 – 4
158 WFM Monnisha Gk IND 2070 – 4
159 GM Sanduleac Vasile MDA 2414 – 3.5
160 IM Angelov Kosta BUL 2193 – 3.5
161 Karaivanov Alexander BUL 1894 – 3.5
162 IM Hassan Abdullah UAE 2363 – 3.5
163 Steimar Miroslav CZE 2026 – 3.5
164 Krischke Arnold CZE 2070 – 3.5
165 Stancu Ovidiu-Grigore ROU 2075 – 3.5
166 Drogovoz Irina RUS 2001 – 3.5
167 WFM Vaishali R IND 2009 – 3.5
168 Yordanov Lachezar BUL 1614 – 3.5
169 Sumin Vladyslav UKR 2020 – 3.5
170 Danielmeier Ralf GER 2159 – 3.5
171 Vassiliev G. RUS 2202 – 3.5
172 WCM Savant Riya IND 1966 – 3.5
173 Bochev Krasimir BUL 2095 – 3.5
174 Krumova Ani BUL 2038 – 3.5
175 Kazakov Danail BUL 1845 – 3.5
176 Simion Nicolae ROU 1898 – 3.5
177 Drogovoz Maria RUS 1891 – 3.5
178 Melderis Uldis LAT 1943 – 3.5
179 Canbulan Arda TUR 1854 – 3
180 IM Omar Noaman UAE 2355 – 3
181 FM Guempel Viktor RUS 2212 – 3
182 FM Kiselev Alexander S. RUS 2204 – 3
183 Diril Dogus TUR 1777 – 3
184 Mishkovski Lubomir BUL 2066 – 3
185 CM Gavrilescu David ROU 1923 – 3
186 Taylor Robert Graham WLS 1984 – 3
187 Elsbergs Janis LAT 1930 – 3
188 Saranya Y IND 1823 – 3
189 Sagaipov Timur RUS 0 – 3
190 Sunyasakta Satpathy IND 1930 – 3
191 Turek Ismet TUR 1634 – 3
192 Bulmaga Elena ROU 1841 – 3
193 Ilic Slobodan S SRB 2135 – 3
194 Cavusoglu Yildiz TUR 1946 – 3
195 Ozcan Kerem TUR 1603 – 3
196 Nikolov Nikolay Malchev BUL 1722 – 3
197 Kamenov Valentin BUL 1876 – 3
198 Lobanov Pavel RUS 0 – 3
199 Galinskyi Mykhalo UKR 1466 – 3
200 WFM Bharathi R. IND 2134 – 2.5
201 Gagarin Vasily RUS 1883 – 2.5
202 Hlinschi Mihai ROU 1710 – 2.5
203 Ljangov Petar BUL 2049 – 2.5
204 Cazacu Gabriela MDA 1864 – 2.5
205 Chidi Lovinia Sylvia GER 1810 – 2.5
206 Rosca Grigore ROU 1573 – 2.5
207 Zograbyan David RUS 1661 – 2.5
208 Radionov Deni RUS 0 – 2.5
209 Janev Pavel BUL 2223 – 2
210 Keze Arnis RUS 1775 – 2
211 Koleshnikov Alexander RUS 0 – 2
212 Raondi Yan-Martin RUS 1659 – 2
213 Slavov Vladislav RUS 0 – 2
214 Zibarev Timofei RUS 0 – 2
215 Wang Shujuan CHN 0 – 2
216 Orlovsky Konstantin RUS 0 – 2
217 Lozinina Olga RUS 0 – 2
218 Yordanov Ventsislav BUL 1636 – 1.5
219 Merkin German RUS 1904 – 1
220 FM Strugnell Carl FRA 2329 – 1
221 Mayorov Alexander RUS 0 – 1
222 Polomoshnova Mariya RUS 0 – 0

FM Luke Harmon-Vellotti entered atop the standings with 2.5/3 points, but he fell in glorious fashion to FM Samuel Sevian in round 4. The full-point victory was one of four on the day, with only one draw in the round between IM Victor Shen and FM Jeffrey Xiong. Report by Brian Jerauld.

The standings remain tight, with seven of the ten players still within one point of each other, entering round 5. California 17-year-old IM Daniel Naroditsky now sits atop the leaderboard on the proverbial hot seat and, with two wins and two draws in four rounds, is the last player in the field without a loss. Four players sit in a tie for second place, a half-point behind Naroditsky with 2.5 points.

Not 20 moves into Naroditsky’s game versus FM Atulya Shetty, things looked to be headed into a dead draw, which would have created a six-way tie for first place. Shetty gave fight with the French defense, producing an isolated queen’s pawn. It was one Naroditsky was up to the task of blockading, but unfortunately it was black’s only slight weakness.

The Chess Club and Scholastic Center of Saint Louis (CCSCSL)

But Shetty missed 19. … Bxd4 20. Bxd4 f6, which would have ushered in an opposite-colored bishop endgame and left white with no prospects. Naroditsky capitalized, with a powerful 24. Qg3 to set up the winning Re5 on the next move. Shetty blundered his major pieces to a knight fork soon after, and Naroditsky closed the game with some great back-rank tactical work.

“I just misevaluated the position,” Shetty said of his drawing chances. “I thought he would be able to keep pushing for awhile, with me suffering. I guess it was an easier draw than I thought it would be.”

Harmon-Vellotti had been nothing short of impressive through the first three rounds, including a win over IM Kayden Troff and a draw with Naroditsky, the field’s two highest-rated players. But his fourth-round match on Monday versus Sevian was a quick reminder that there would be no getting comfortable in this field.

Boise, Idaho’s 14-year-old pride looked solid through the earlygoings of a Ruy Lopez, prompting Grandmaster commentators Yasser Seirawan and Ben Finegold to comment on Harmon-Vellotti’s polished openings thus far in the tournament. But the middlegame held a different story.

If 16. c4 was confusing, then 18. Nfg5 was downright wrong. The former move, in a position that looked primed for white to push b4, greased the wheels for Sevian to come on the attack, and the latter simply sent a minor piece into the barbs of the enemy camp for no compensation.

“It was just one of those games where everything I calculated just didn’t work,” Harmon-Vellotti said. “I thought b4 didn’t work, because I was losing material – but I’m not. Then c4 was supposed to start this crazy kingside attack, where I thought I could get d4 and have something – but I don’t. Then Nb6, [Sevian] had several refutations – but I didn’t see any of them.”

Troff converted a solid endgame into a full point in his match versus FM Yian Liou. The Utah IM and reigning U-14 World Champion, who turned 15 while playing in his first U.S. Championship in May, came out clean against the Queen’s Gambit-Declined Slav defense and found himself with an early advantage. Liou’s 17. … b6 was suspect, especially without his king castled, and Troff created the first weakness in his opponent’s army with an isolated c-pawn.

But he fell a bit flat on his choice of attack, opting for 19. Bb5 which was met by Ra7, and Troff voluntarily traded minor pieces and queens to speed toward the endgame. But Liou missed 23. Bf6, which would have brought the devastating 24. … Bd4+ and paved the way for an easy draw. Instead, Troff cleaned up in an excellent rook-and-pawn endgame. Liou’s choice of 23. a5 was the one he wanted back.

“It wasn’t miscalculating as much as it was just misevaluating how much of an easy draw [Bf6] was,” Liou said. “I just thought a5 led to an easier draw.”

With a draw in round 3, her first points on the board, WFM Sarah Chiang looked to be warming up and cruising to a convincing win versus Robert Perez on Monday. She came with the Classical Nimzo-Indian, including c5 and Na6, to disrupt Perez’ middle and stack his c-pawns. After 20 moves, Chiang was looking strong and coming heavy with attack, while Perez played with under 15 minutes on his clock and another 20 moves needed before time control.

Chiang’s attack, however, seemed just a tempo late, as Perez had just enough defense set up to avoid an otherwise lethal 24. Rg4. As it was, the move did little more than trap her own rook. Still, Chiang hung solid all the way through 34. gxf3, a position which Perez had all but conceded to time troubles.

“After [34. Gxf3], I thought I was dead, because she was so far up on time. That position was really annoying to defend low on time,” Perez said. “After that, I didn’t know. I couldn’t figure out what to do. My pieces were passive, and her pieces were active.”

But her 37. Kg7, instead of Kh7 which would have drawn, brought Perez’ shocker of 38. Ne6+, bringing mate in several ways if 38. … fxe6. Chiang lost her queen to a fork with her king at move 40. Nf8.

The draw between Xiong and Shen also featured a Ruy Lopez, but one Xiong fell out of line of rather early. The result saw an early attack on his white-squared bishop and struggling to find initiative in the early going. He stumbled through an awkward advance through the center that momentarily left his king exposed, but he was able to eventually close the board and create a pawn fortress, where he weathered the storm through the endgame.

Shen found slightly more play with the black pieces throughout the middle game, but trading the knights at move 29 all but sealed the draw.

To watch live grandmaster commentary with GM Yasser Seirawan and Ben Finegold, tune into www.uschesschamps.com/live.

Live games with analysis / Full list of participants

The last challenger for the world championship is having a good run in the latest two elite tournaments. He finished tied in first place at the Alekhine Memorial and now shares the lead in Moscow. His victim today was risk-taker Alexander Morozevich. The Muscovite is not having a good run lately; he fell to the 21st place in the live ratings list and is sharing last place with Vladimir Kramnik in this event.

Morozevich chose the Benoni, which is a rather dubious choice against a classical player like Gelfand. Moreover, the Russian sacrificed an exchange on the tenth move! Clearly, he was looking for an unbalanced game to steal a point with the black pieces. However, this strategy backfired as Gelfand refuted the line with two strong exchange sacrifices. Morozevich gave up on move 33.

Boris Gelfand

The center of attention in the playing hall and through the internet was the duel Carlsen – Anand. Strangely, this was the first game to finish, and it did with a decisive result. The Norwegian only needed 29 moves to get the full point. Viswanathan Anand played passively and was not able to find the precise defensive moves to keep the balance. His pieces were left on the last rank while white’s passed e-pawn marched to the promotion square.

The main topic at the press conference was how would this affect the players before the upcoming match in Chennai. Carlsen declared: ”I thinks it’s important for the World Championship match to remind him that I can outplay him once in a while”. After this optimistic remark, he added “…but I’m not going to go around and pretend that he’s going to have such bad days in the match, I need to be ready for the worst as he will be very well prepared”.

When asked about the fact that the match will be played in India, the home soil of the world champion, he declared, with his usual wry sense of humor:  ”I would believe more on home advantage if a Russian would manage to win a game in this tournament”. Once again, he politely added “…which, to be fair, I think will happen very soon”.

Carlsen – Anand

Dmitry Andreikin used the Queen’s Indian Defense to neutralize Hikaru Nakamura. This draw stops the American’s whopping winning streak. Nakamura did not a see a reason to avoid a three-fold repetition on move 23.

Vladimir Kramnik looked for chances to recover from his bad start with his usual positional play in his game against Sergey Karjakin. The younger Russian defended accurately and never gave the ex-world champion an opportunity to demonstrate his ability in these slow structures.

The longest game of the day was Shakhriyar Mamedyarov – Fabiano Caruana. The players signed the peace treaty when the queens were about to left the board with a closed structure and bishops of opposite colors.

Hikaru Nakamura

Vladimir Kramnik

Photos by Eteri Kublashvili

Standings after 5 rounds:

Ten teams compete in the round robin tournament. Each team is lining six players and maximum four reserves. Official website has photos and games.

Team Compositions:

1. ŠK Glasinac, Sokolac
1 GM Bogosavljevic Boban 2548 SRB
2 GM Kovacevic Aleksandar 2557 SRB
3 IM Dumpor Atif 2357 BIH
4 FM Bilic Vladimir 2290 BIH
5 FM Batinic Predrag 2312 BIH
6 Stanisic Vlajko 2009 BIH
7 Kosoric Sasa 0 BIH
8 Plakalovic Predrag 2238 BIH

2. HŠK Napredak, Sarajevo
1 GM Jankovic Alojzije 2559 CRO
2 GM Kosic Dragan 2501 MNE
3 IM Bejtovic Jasmin 2397 BIH
4 IM Mujic Hamza 2364 BIH
5 FM Rasidovic Sead 2381 BIH
6 FM Galic Zeljko 2300 BIH
7 FM Bosnjak Damir 2274 BIH
8 FM Terzic Ilijas 2213 BIH

3. ŠK Široki Brijeg, Široki Brijeg
1 GM Palac Mladen 2560 CRO
2 GM Brkic Ante 2584 CRO
3 GM Dizdarevic Emir 2515 BIH
4 GM Kurajica Bojan 2513 BIH
5 GM Vukic Milan 2388 BIH
6 IM Bogut Zeljko 2437 BIH
7 WFM Dimitrijevic Aleksandra 2262 BIH

4. ŠK Rudar, Prijedor
1 GM Sedlak Nikola 2571 SRB
2 GM Popovic Dusan 2562 SRB
3 IM Jakovljevic Vlado 2440 BIH
4 IM Goric Esad 2321 BIH
5 FM Stojanovic Dobrisav 2361 BIH
6 FM Narancic Vlado 2329 BIH
7 FM Popovic Zoran 2338 BIH
8 Javoric Igor 0 BIH

5. ŠK Drina, Zvornik
1 GM Savic Miodrag R 2529 SRB
2 IM Tomic Bosko 2430 BIH
3 FM Djukic Boris 2280 BIH
4 Bulajic Ratko 2307 SRB
5 Jefic Srdjan 2166 BIH
6 FM Sekulic Vlatko 2295 BIH
7 Borojevic Dragoljub 2270 BIH

6. ŠK Alpong, Sarajevo
1 IM Indjic Aleksandar 2536 SRB
2 IM Nestorovic Nikola 2405 SRB
3 FM Burovic Ismet 2351 BIH
4 Mrndjic Muamer 2279 BIH
5 Bandic Adnan 2243 BIH
6 Hadzovic Amir 2212 BIH
7 Tucakovic Mario 2053 BIH
8 Miralem Mirza 2038 BIH
9 Cosovic Aziz 2045 BIH
10 Becirbasic Atif 1875 BIH

7. ŠK Slavija, Istočno Sarajevo
1 GM Miladinovic Igor 2556 SRB
2 IM Kadric Denis 2460 BIH
3 GM Pikula Dejan 2482 SRB
4 Marjanovic Dejan 2211 BIH
5 IM Arapovic Vitomir 2356 BIH
6 Jovovic Milan 1879 BIH
7 Janjic Nikola 0 BIH
8 Lubura Zoran 0 BIH
9 Janjic Jovo 2008 BIH

8. ŠK Bosna, Sarajevo
1 GM Erdos Viktor 2645 HUN
2 GM Perunovic Milos 2628 SRB
3 GM Predojevic Borki 2616 BIH
4 GM Nikolic Predrag 2612 BIH
5 GM Saric Ibro 2572 BIH
6 GM Stojanovic Dalibor 2514 BIH
7 FM Tutic Resad 2247 BIH
8 FM Jakupovic Neven 2324 BIH

9. ŠK Željezničar, Sarajevo
1 FM Kamberovic Senad 2255 BIH
2 Konjicanin Muris 2286 BIH
3 Hodzic Nihad 2286 BIH
4 Zlobec Srdjan 2045 BIH
5 Mehmedovic Mirza 2225 BIH
6 Colpa Husein 1952 BIH
7 Alihodzic Muzafer 2074 BIH

10. ŠK Čelik, Zenica
1 GM Tadic Branko 2513 SRB
2 IM Miljkovic Miroslav D 2462 SRB
3 IM Trkulja Goran 2390 BIH
4 Sutkovic Damir 2331 BIH
5 FM Muratovic Enver 2289 BIH
6 Popovic Darko 2171 BIH
7 Miskic Sejfudin 2159 BIH
8 Pasalic Harun 2171 BIH