1 October 2016
Leaders Makes Draws in Tal Memorial
Vishy Anand defeats Boris Gelfand.
In the 5th round of the Tal Memorial, Vishy Anand, playing White, defeated Boris Gelfand. After an early queen trade White kept the initiative in an endgame with rooks and minor pieces. He improved his position to a maximum and then won four pawns for a bishop. White's passed pawns, supported by a rook and king, decided the outcome.
The leaders of the tournament, Anish Giri and Ian Nepomniachthi, played a well-known line of the Gruenfeld Defense and both showed a remarkable book knowledge. Eventually a rook ending 4 vs 3 emerged. The Dutch grandmaster tested his opponent for quite a while, but Ian defended accurately and made a draw.
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov played White against Peter Svidler and was first to deviate from the theory. The game that started in the Gruenfeld Defense, turned into a typical Indian. White had certain advantage with kingside initiative prospects, but played indecisively in the middlegame, and Svidler got an edge. However, the 7-time Russian champion also missed the strongest continuation, and an ending with opposite-colored bishops emerged. A draw was agreed on the move 50.
Li Chao and Tomashevsky played the Nimzo-Indian with 4. Nf3. The game was generally equal, and immediately after the control the players agreed to a draw in a closed position.
The game between Levon Aronian and Vladimir Kramnik was a slow and maneuvering one. The Armenian managed to outplay the ex-World Champion in a complicated endgame, but the resulting rook ending with 4 pawns against 3 was still objectively drawn, and Kramnik's technique has not failed him.
Standings after 5 rounds:
Giri – 4
Nepomiachtchi – 3.5
Anand, Li Chao – 3
Kramnik, Aronian, Mamedyarov – 2.5
Svidler – 2
Tomashevsky – 1.5
Gelfand – 0.5
Round 6 pairings:
Kramnik-Gelfand, Tomashevsky-Anand, Svidler-Li Chao, Nepomiachtchi-Mamedyarov, Aronian-Giri.
Photos by Eteri Kublashvili
