Same target, same distance

Annotated games:

Carlsen – Ivanchuk / Svidler – Carlsen / Nisipeanu – Ivanchuk / Carlsen – Van Wely

Eljanov – Carlsen / Carlsen – Shirov / Shirov – Karjakin / Carlsen – Alekseev

All games of round six finished in draws, but not without excitement – Shirov and Karjakin have revived the Nxf7 sacrifice that was seen in Topalov-Kramnik earlier this year. The players will have a well deserved rest on Saturday. See Hans Arild Runde’s list for unofficial live ratings and join us on Sunday at 14:00 CET for the live coverage of Nisipeanu-Carlsen.

Round 6 results:

Van Wely, Loek ½ – ½ Onischuk, Alexander

Eljanov, Pavel ½ – ½ Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter

Carlsen, Magnus ½ – ½ Alekseev, Evgeny

Svidler, Peter ½ – ½ Jakovenko, Dmitry

Ivanchuk, Vassily ½ – ½ Volokitin, Andrei

Shirov, Alexei ½ – ½ Karjakin, Sergey

Round 6 standings:

1. Magnus Carlsen 2765 – 5.0

2-3. Sergey Karjakin 2732 and Andrei Volokitin 2684 – 3.5

4-8. Alexei Shirov 2740, Pavel Eljanov 2687, Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu 2684, Peter Svidler 2746 and Vassily Ivanchuk 2740 – 3.0

9-10. Dmitry Jakovenko 2711 and Evgeny Alekseev 2711 – 2.5

11-12. Alexander Onischuk 2664 and Loek Van Wely 2676 – 2.0

Round 7 pairings:

Jakovenko, Dmitry – Van Wely, Loek

Onischuk, Alexander – Eljanov, Pavel

Nisipeanu, Liviu-Dieter – Carlsen, Magnus

Alekseev, Evgeny – Shirov, Alexei

Volokitin, Andrei – Svidler, Peter

Karjakin, Sergey – Ivanchuk, Vassily

Photos:

Round 1 / More on the tournament website

Ivan Cheparinov scored first win

Round 6 results:

Kamsky Gata 2726 1 – 0 Adams Michael 2729

Bacrot Etienne 2705 ½ – ½ Grischuk Alexander 2716

Wang Yue 2689 ½ – ½ Navara David 2672

Svidler Peter 2746 1 – 0 Karjakin Sergey 2732

Inarkiev Ernesto 2684 0 – 1 Cheparinov Ivan 2695

Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2752 ½ – ½ Radjabov Teimour 2751

Carlsen Magnus 2765 ½ – ½ Gashimov Vugar 2679

Tomorrow LIVE on Chessdom: Teimour Radjabov vs Magnus Carlsen. See you there!

All news about Baku Grand Prix

Gata Kamsky beat Mickey Adams with white in the Zaitsev Ruy Lopez to catch up with Grischuk and Wang on the 1st place tie. English Grandmaster was a tad over-aggressive and we all know how Kamsky likes to collect pawns. Black couldn’t find any compensation and pawns on the queenside rolled like an avalanche.

In spite of finding a deadly theoretical novelty, that earlier brought a win to Topalov with white against Kramnik, Ivan Cheparinov this time allowed Anti-Moscow with black pieces. Ernesto Inarkiev is always ready to accept the challenge, and he took the route of Radjabov-Anand from this year’s Corus. Radjabov won that game but Inarkiev nevertheless deviated by avoiding the bishops exchange. Cheparinov patiently refuted all threats before storming into the counterattack. The imminent f-pawn promotion forced Inarkiev to finally resign.

Gata Kamsky and Michael Adams

Round 6 standings:

1-3. Grischuk Alexander 2716 RUS, Kamsky Gata 2726 USA and Yue Wang 2689 CHN – 4.0

4-5. Radjabov Teimour 2751 AZE and Gashimov Vugar 2679 AZE – 3.5

6-10. Carlsen Magnus 2765 NOR, Svidler Peter 2746 RUS, Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2752 AZE, Adams Michael 2729 ENG and Bacrot Etienne 2705 FRA – 3.0

11. Karjakin Sergey 2732 UKR – 2.5

12-13. Navara David 2672 CZE and Inarkiev Ernesto 2684 RUS – 2.0

14. Cheparinov Ivan 2695 BUL – 1.5

Round 7 on 28th April at 15:00 local time

Gashimov Vugar 2679 - Kamsky Gata 2726

Radjabov Teimour 2751 - Carlsen Magnus 2765

Cheparinov Ivan 2695 - Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2752

Karjakin Sergey 2732 - Inarkiev Ernesto 2684

Navara David 2672 - Svidler Peter 2746

Grischuk Alexander 2716 - Wang Yue 2689

Adams Michael 2729 - Bacrot Etienne 2705

Morelia Linares 6th round report and replayable games

Round 6 results:

Veselin Topalov – Vishy Anand 1/2 – 1/2

Levon Aronian – Peter Leko 1/2 – 1/2

Teimour Radjabov – Magnus Carlsen 1-0

Vassily Ivanchuk – Alexei Shirov 1/2 – 1/2

Round 6 standings:

1. Vishy Anand 4.0

2. Levon Aronian 3.5

3-5. Alexei Shirov, Veselin Topalov and Teimour Radjabov 3.0

6-8. Magnus Carlsen, Peter Leko and Vassily Ivanchuk 2.5

Veselin Topalov attempted to repeat the Romanishin variation of Nimzo Indian defence that brought him wonderful win against Aronian, but Vishy Anand deviated and opted for more solid 5…b6. The middlegame was dynamically balanced, Topalov tried to inflict some damage on the black king’s shelter, and Anand was constantly offering queens’ exchange in order to reduce opponents attacking potential. At the end, all pieces were exchanged but the queens and Anand found perpetual check for his first draw with black pieces in this tournament. He still remains sole leader, half point ahead of Aronian.

Alexei Shirov introduced a dazzling 8…g5 novelty to Vassily Ivanchuk’s rare Qd2 in the Semi-Slav opening. This brave decision (g-pawn is usually moved only one square ahead) completely paralyzed white’s central activity and Ivanchuk had to do some damage control in order to escape with a draw, which was agreed on 27th move.

Alekhine defence served its purpose and Magnus Carlsen was back to usual 1…e5 in a game against Teimour Radjabov. This time, however, he left his favorite Marshall Attack on the shelve and tried Berlin variation of the Ruy Lopez, which was already seen earlier in Radjabov’s game against Topalov. Instead of challenging opponent’s preparation, Radjabov used Azeri secret recipe – improvisation. Already on move nine, the position was dead equal, but still playable with lots of resources. Carlsen stood well, until the pawn grab took him into certain passivity and the mistake on 25th move allowed Radjabov to claim the advantage with cute 27. Ba6! Already then, it was hard to include anything else than Radjabov’s win into the equation, since black didn’t have counterplay at all. Radjabov converted advantage on move 43 for his first win in Morelia.

The game between Levon Aronian and Peter Leko was the weirdest on this day. Aronian launched a stunning 9. Qa4! in the Symmetrical English, offering f2 pawn en price and with check. Leko dived into the deepest though seen in Morelia so far – almost an hour and a half long. He should be applauded for coming up with the strongest possible response, ignore f2 pawn and attack white bishop with 9…g5! He had a clear plan of expanding on the kingside, brining his king into safe place and launching offensive on the queenside, but he had to blitz through to the time control with only about 35 minutes for 30 moves. He managed to do so and Aronian’s fighting moral probably dropped at this point as he stopped with active operation. Righteous draw was signed soon after.

Goran Urosevic

Round 7 pairings:

Vishy Anand – Vassily Ivanchuk

Alexei Shirov – Teimour Radjabov

Magnus Carlsen – Levon Aronian

Peter Leko – Veselin Topalov

Join us on Saturday at 16:30 EST / 22:30 CET for the live commentary on the 7th round of Morelia-Linares. See you there!