The Week in Chess

Veselin Topalov beat Alexander Morozevich in a long complicated Symmetrical English where he slowly exploited an advantage. Morozevich missed a final chance to resist with 51.c4 near the end and Topalov won shortly after. Topalov leads the Zug Grand Prix with 5.5/8 half a point clear of Rusland Ponomariov and is a point clear of Caruana and Karjakin both of whom he is yet to meet.

Ruslan Ponomariov was put under sustained pressure by Hikaru Nakamura but managed to draw the game in the end. Nakamura suggested after the game that 27...Qh5 was a much better version of the game.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov had a small advantage against Gata Kamsky in a Slav but didn't get anything concrete.

Peter Leko said that he'd probably played around 100 Anti-Marshall Ruy Lopezes as black and Fabiano Caruana had studied a lot of them. Leko said engines suggest that lines Leko believed to be equal 10 years ago were now a bit difficult but today he did slightly better than equalise and the game was drawn by repetition.

Sergey Karjakin came quite close to a decisive edge against Anish Giri who was having to find his way out of danger move by move in a King's Indian. According to the computer 23.f5 allowed black equality and indeed Giri quickly forced a draw, they considered the better 23.e5 but neither fancied the rather out of control position that results from it.

Kasimdzhanov-Karjakin was a fairly forcing variation of the QGD which led to equality for black.

Round 8 Standings: Topalov 5.5pts, Ponomariov 5pts, Caruana, Karjakin 4.5pts Kamsky, Morozevich, Nakamura 4pts, Giri, Leko, Mamedyatov 3.5pts Kasimdzhanov, Radjabov 3pts

Rest day Saturday.

Round 9 28th Apr 2013 1pm: Giri-Kasimdzhanov, Leko-Karjakin, Kamsky-Caruana, Topalov-Mamedyarov, Nakamura-Morozevich, Radjabov-Ponomariov.