The Week in Chess

Veselin Topalov won yet another game to lead the Norway Chess tournament by 1.5 points with 3 rounds to go. Alexander Grischuk was probably not worse out of the opening but he had some problems and his 16.Nb5 proved to be a serious mistake that lost a piece. He did have some practical chances after this but he couldn't resist.

Viswanathan Anand was allowed a known sacrifice of a piece for a very strong attack by Maxime Vachier-Lagrave. I think MVL was saying he got confused in his opening preparation as he had these positions on his computer before the game but it seemed very odd to allow such a chance in a position he had prepared. Anand is very good at these attacks and won handily.

The remaining games were drawn. Magnus Carlsen needed to play 13.Ne5 to keep a theoretical advantage against Hikaru Nakamura and after 13. 0-0 the position was equal. Nakamura didn't completely shut the position down and had to go to a rook and pawn ending a pawn down which was theoretically drawn to secure the half point.

Anish Giri seemed to know the detailed theory of his sharp Vienna game against Levon Aronian better than his opponent and the game finished in a draw.

Fabiano Caruana was disappointed with his play against Jon Ludwig Hammer as he had the advantage early on before the mistaken 10.Na3 threw it away and left Hammer slightly better. The game finished in a draw.

Round 6 Standings: Topalov 5.5/6, Nakamura, Anand 4pts, Giri 3.5pts, Vachier-Lagrave, Aronian, Caruana 2.5pts, Carlsen, Grischuk 2pts, Hammer 1.5pts.

Round 7 Pairings Tuesday 23rd June 2015: Nakamura-Grischuk, Vachier-Lagrave-Carlsen, Aronian-Anand, Hammer-Giri, Topalov-Caruana.