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GRENKE Chess Classic 2018 (6)

Caruana survives against Hou Yifan as the leaders all draw in GRENKE Round 6

Fabiano Caruana managed to scrape a draw from a lost position against Hou Yifan. Photo ©

Fabiano Caruana managed to scrape a draw from a lost position against Hou Yifan. Photo © | http://www.grenkechessclassic.de

Fabiano Caruana had an escape against Hou Yifan in round 6 of the GRENKE Classic after his opponent couldn't find the correct winning idea. 34.Nd2? (34.h4) f5! was where Hou Yifan gained her winning advantage, 59.d4 with the idea 59.cxd4+ Kxd4 followed by c3+ was I believe the way to win. As it was Hou chose another plan that unfortunately for her was just holdable for Caruana.

The other joint leaders Nikita Vitiugov and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave drew. MVL was very well prepared in a King's Indian Fianchetto line but his 14...Rfd8 rather than 14...Nbc4= caused him some unnecessary suffering before the draw was agreed.

Magnus Carlsen also seemed to have been out prepared by his opponent, Levon Aronian played very quickly up to 19.Rc1 when he fell into a long think in a very complicated position. Aronian as Black was better, perhaps not by a great deal, and after 26...Qd6 (Aronian didn't like this and the computer prefers 26...Rd6) Carlsen found his way to equality and a draw on move 52.

Matthias Bluebaum scored his first win of the event, against former World Champion Viswanathan Anand. Anand seemed to be trying a bit too hard, encouraged perhaps by Bluebaum's lack of time, 19...Bd5 is a bit too optimistic. Bluebaum won a piece but Anand had a chance with 29...Nc4 to have pressure, after 29...b2? Bluebaum converted his advantage clinically.

Georg Meier made a one move blunder in a roughly equal position against Arkadij Naiditsch, after 33.cxb6?? Qb7! he walked into an unstoppable attack and resigned.

Round 6 standings: 1st-3rd MVL, Vitiugov, Caruana 4pts, 4th-4th Carlsen, Aronian 3.5pts, 6th Bluebaum 3pts, 7th Naiditsch 2.5pts, 8th-9th Anand, Hou Yifan 2pts, 10th Meier 1.5pts

Round 7 pairings 2pm BST Saturday 7th March: Naiditsch-Carlsen, Anand-Meier, Hou Yifan-Bluebaum, MVL-Caruana, Aronian-Vitiugov

GRENKE Chess Classic 2018 Karlsruhe/Baden Baden GER (GER), 31 iii-9 iv 2018 cat. XX (2736)
  1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0  
1. Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime g FRA 2789 * ½ . ½ ½ . ½ 1 1 . 4 2875
2. Vitiugov, Nikita g RUS 2735 ½ * . . . 1 ½ ½ ½ 1 4 2824
3. Caruana, Fabiano g USA 2784 . . * ½ . ½ 1 ½ ½ 1 4 2833
4. Carlsen, Magnus g NOR 2843 ½ . ½ * ½ ½ . . 1 ½ 2773
5. Aronian, Levon g ARM 2794 ½ . . ½ * . 1 ½ ½ ½ 2792
6. Bluebaum, Matthias g GER 2631 . 0 ½ ½ . * ½ 1 . ½ 3 2747
7. Naiditsch, Arkadij g AZE 2701 ½ ½ 0 . 0 ½ * . . 1 2673
8. Anand, Viswanathan g IND 2776 0 ½ ½ . ½ 0 . * ½ . 2 2606
9. Hou, Yifan g CHN 2654 0 ½ ½ 0 ½ . . ½ * . 2 2661
10. Meier, Georg g GER 2648 . 0 0 ½ ½ ½ 0 . . * 2555
Round 6 (April 6, 2018)
Vitiugov, Nikita - Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime ½-½ 68 E60 King's Indian without Nc3
Caruana, Fabiano - Hou, Yifan ½-½ 98 C42 Petroff's Defence
Carlsen, Magnus - Aronian, Levon ½-½ 52 A18 English Opening
Bluebaum, Matthias - Anand, Viswanathan 1-0 45 D30 Queen's Gambit (without Nc3)
Meier, Georg - Naiditsch, Arkadij 0-1 33 E10 Blumenfeld Counter Gambit

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