The last round of the Zurich Chess Challenge 2013 is taking place. Caruana was the sole leader before today, and unless he loses against Gelfand, he will take the winner’s trophy.
Follow the games live / Information
Viswanathan Anand played with white against Vladimir Kramnik. The contenders of the 2008 World Chess Championship went into the Berlin variation of the Ruy Lopez.
The Russian gave up his bishop pair to keep the passed pawn on d3. This was a double-edged decision – if the pawn survived, it would be pretty annoying for white, but it also could become a big weakness. Kramnik went astray on move 21, when he decided not to exchange queens. They played six more moves, but it was clear that Anand had a winning advantage.
Fabiano Caruana used the Catalan against Boris Gelfand. The Italian gave up his bishop pair to get an extra pawn.
Gelfand has doubled his rooks on the c-file, but it appears that he will have to defend for a long time because white’s advantage seems pretty solid. Until now, the players have managed their time correctly – they have about half an hour each to make 14 moves.
