Three players leading after the fantastic round with four decided games
Round 5 results:
Suat Atalik 2584 – Predrag Nikolic 2631 1-0
Viorel Iodrachescu 2587 – Anatoly Karpov 2668 0-1
Kiril Georgiev 2653 – Ivan Ivanisevic 2614 draw
Branko Damljanovic 2585 – Dusko Pavasovic 2567 1-0
Michael Roiz 2616 – Mihajlo Stojanovic 2588 1-0
Standings after round 5:
| 1. | GM Atalik Suat 2584 TUR | 3.5 |
| 1. | GM Karpov Anatoly 2668 RUS | 3.5 |
| 1. | GM Roiz Michael 2616 ISR | 3.5 |
| 4. | GM Damljanovic Branko 2585 SRB | 3.0 |
| 4. | GM Ivanisevic Ivan 2614 SRB | 3.0 |
| 6. | GM Iordachescu Viorel 2587 MDA | 2.0 |
| 6. | IM Stojanovic Mihajlo 2588 SRB | 2.0 |
| 6. | GM Nikolic Predrag 2631 BIH | 2.0 |
| 9. | GM Georgiev Kiril 2653 BUL | 1.5 |
| 10. | GM Pavasovic Dusko 2567 SLO | 1.0 |
Commented games
Karpov – Nikolic and Georgiev – Roiz – Comments by IM Kalin Karakehayov
Stojanovic – Georgiev – Comments by IM Kalin Karakehayov
Iordachescu – Stojanovic – Comments by Goran Urosevic
Thematic Week
Chessdom has scheduled interviews with a number of prominent chess figures. For now, check out the interviews with Lodi 2007 winner GM Jan Werle and Gorenje 2007 participant GM Michael Roiz. More to come…
Update 16:00
Two winners from the 4th round are matched to square off today. After the dropped advantage in the first round and two bloodless draws, Karpov finally reminded us of the great champion he is by slowly outplaying Georgiev yesterday. Iordachescu agreed on a draw against Stojanovic in the 3rd round, just when he had an opportunity to launch a strong attack. Yesterday, he showed no mercy against Pavasovic.
Good friends Atalik and Nikolic are playing on board one. Long-time companions from the Bosnia club and national team might agree on a fast draw. Nikolic surely needs a break after the yesterday’s tough defence, when he saved the lost endgame. Still, as Atalik shared with us, Nikolic is leading 2-0 against him.
Live games can be watched on the VSK website.
Atalik white against Nikolic
Update 16:20
Kiril Georgiev might be down to -2, but you have to know that his moral never drops and he is fighting until the last round. Today, he will try to take down one of the leaders.
Branko Damljanovic knows that Dusko Pavasovic is shaken after yesterday’s defeat, and he will slowly press with White pieces, playing on the small advantage.
Michael Roiz
Michael Roiz is a universal player, he does well in all kinds of positions and openings. He saw that Mihajlo Stojanovic played Rubinstein French against Iordachescu and prepared the line with Ne4-g5-h3.
Update 17:00
Nikolic employed his favorite Dutch defence (he was Dutch chess champion, too) against Atalik. Hopefully, our prediction won’t come true, and the two battle it out till the end. Ivan Ivanisevic sacrificed a pawn in Ruy Lopez against Kiril Georgiev. His intention is to attack on the kingside, while Nb4 is pinning White pieces for c2.
As expected, Branko Damljanovic is slowly building up against Dusko Pavasovic. This is his favorite position, slight advantage (better development for now) and open files for the Rooks.
Dusko Pavasovic
Update 17:45
Atalik has sacrificed the exchange against Nikolic. He will rely on the passed d-pawn, strong central outposts and somewhat exposed Black King. Karpov and Iordachescu are currently involved in a complicated struggle over the central squares control.
Kiril Georgiev has neutralized Ivanisevic’s kingside attack, but his pieces are still uncoordinated. If he solves that problem, he will be clear pawn ahead. Mihajlo Stojanovic is preparing central break with e6-e5, while Roiz is still hesitating to start direct pawn attack against Black King.
Update 18:45
Nikolic felt the heat and quickly gave the exchange back to Atalik. With a couple of nice moves, Atalik blasted opponent’s Kingside and earned a pawn. However, he has to be careful about Black’s queenside majority supported by Queen and Bishop
Ivan Ivanisevic sacrificed another pawn for the strong pressure over the central files and diagonals.
For the 4th time in five rounds, Michael Roiz has acquired his favorite pair of Bishops. Queenside majority could also be of the help, but the position is still too complex for predicting the final outcome.
Update 19:25
Suat Atalik seems to be winning with two extra pawns against Predrag Nikolic! From their earlier encounters Atalik is down 0-2, good moment to break the spell. Ivanisevic is searching for a way to open pawn shell in front of the Georgiev’s King. 30…g5 is significantly sharpening the game.
Dusko Pavasovic looks fully equalized after Branko Damljanovic was too shy with his development advantage. Michael Roiz has just performed an effective combination to earn a pawn against Stojanovic. Iordachescu-Karpov is slowly progressing and could be the longest game of the day.
Update 19:55
Michael Roiz clinched a victory against Mihajlo Stojanovic after very inspired middlegame play! Suat Atalik scored his first win ever against Predrag Nikolic! This puts the two in the leading position, but Karpov and Ivanisevic can still join them on the top.
Atalik breaking through Dutch defence
Update 20:45
Anatoly Karpov wins against Viorel Iordachescu and joins Michael Roiz and Suat Atalik in the lead!
Staying on the top – Anatoly Karpov
Damljanovic regained small advantage after he advanced with kingside majority. Ivanisevic is better against Georgiev, with an exchange up, but White is trying to build a fortress around the King and e5 pawn.
Update 21:00
Ivanisevic didn’t find a way to break through Georgiev’s defence and the players have agreed on a draw. Damljanovic-Pavasovic is an unclear Rook endgame
Update 21:10
Damljanovic finds the strongest plan (61.Kg3 and Kh4, e6) to win the game against Dusko Pavasovic. This leaves Slovenian GM knocked on the bottom of the crosstable
Games
