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Round 5: Karjakin continues leading, Grischuk is on clear second |
 In the fifth round of Grand Prix in Beijing there were three decisive games and three draws. Sergey Karjakin drew with Boris Gelfand and remains on his leading position. His nearest rival after fourth round Shakhriyar Mamedyarov was defeated by Alexander Grischuk, who immediately jumped on clear second place. Azeri player shares third place together with Anish Giri, who won against Gata Kamsky, and Veselin Topalov, who made a draw against Wang Hao. Vassily Ivanchuk outplayed Wang Yue and has 50%. Peter Leko drew with Alexander Morozevich.
Kamsky, Gata - Giri, Anish 0-1
Gata Kamsky looked very upset with his play today. He could not explain neither why he “cannot equalize with White” nor why he gave up his pawn on e4. White could not prove he had any compensation and everything worked perfectly for Black. Anish Giri managed to win the second game in Grand Prix and has +1 after five rounds.
Grischuk, Alexander - Shakhriyar, Mamedyarov 1-0
During the press conference Alexander Grischuk pointed out: "It’s hard to play against Shakhriyar because my daughter is in love with him, she says she roots for me but I can see in her eyes it is not true". Russian player chose English opening against his opponent and got slightly better position after inaccurate move Rc8. Both players agreed 16…Bd6 was a better option. After sacrifice on c6 Grischuk got quite good chances for win but “started to play slowly”. Russian player was not sure if he was better before the first time control but kept on maintaining the tension and managed to win after six hours of play.
Leko, Peter - Morozevich, Alexander ½-½
The line in the game had been previously checked in a few rapid games between the same opponents. Peter Leko decided to give it a try in the game with classical control but didn’t get anything special from the opening. The interesting opportunity was to change bishop for knight by playing 18.Bg4 but Peter Leko was not really sure it would be in White’s favor. Both players could not find any chance to play for something more than draw and peace was signed on the 31st move.
Ivanchuk, Vassily - Wang Yue 1-0
Wang Yue decided to fight for initiative and after 18…Qg6 the position became very complex. Ukrainian player chose the most principal line and grabbed the bishop asking his opponent to show if Black had enough recourses for attack. According to Wang Yue, his position was winning somewhere but Ivanchuk’s evaluation was more precise. Black could have played 29…Nf3 with good chances to make a draw as after Rfd8 it was only White who was fighting for win.
Wang Hao - Topalov, Veselin ½-½
In Fianchetto Grunfeld Wang Hao sacrificed a pawn and managed to get quite strong initiative. He missed a very nice blow 21.Bd6 and chose 21.Nd6 instead which was not so strong. Veselin Topalov gave his opponent another chance after 29…Rf8 but Chinese player didn’t use it and later on the game finished in a draw.
Gelfand, Boris - Karjakin, Sergey ½-½
After exiting free day with testing Chinese food and massage (check the press conference) Boris Gelfand and Sergey Karjakin were ready for a long fight. Israeli player had quite pleasant position after the opening and the leader of the tournament had to be very accurate. The idea of Black was to play c5 in a good moment but it never happened during the game. Sergey Karjakin defended very well and Boris Gelfand didn’t find the way to break through the fortress. |
