The Quietest of Days

Round seven of the Vugar Gashimov Memorial in the review of Eteri Kublashvili.

Round seven of the Vugar Gashimov Memorial in Shamkir was as tranquil as what we hope to be a calm before the last two rounds’ storm. All games were drawn. 

The race leader Shakhriyar Mamedyarov has parted in peace as White with one of his pursuers Michael Adams. In the 5. Bf4 line of the Queen's Gambit White got a comfortable game with a slight advantage, but the careful Adams was precise in having all opponent’s threats thwarted. A draw by repetition in a bishop ending finished the game shortly prior to the first time control.   

The Russian derby Karjakin - Kramnik saw Black first resolving his opening problems in Giuoco Piano and then attempting to contest advantage in a multiple minor piece ending. However, the position was so much gravitating towards a draw that no sensation could be delivered by either player. A peace agreement was signed after Black's move 48.    

This is the first time that the Najdorf Variation has surfaced in this tournament. It has been employed  by Teimour Radjabov and Veselin Topalov. White castled long and Black left  his king in the center; having demonstrated deep home preparation, the opponents never in fact left the realm of equality. Thus, probing into the Sicilian was essayed in the test mode only. A draw by repetition was forced after the majority of pieces had been swept off the board. 

Pavel Eljanov and Wesley So clashed in the Reti Opening. Having traded queens in the middlegame, White got an edge by exchanging two minor pieces for a rook and a pawn. Pavel occupied the c-file and his pieces stood better than Wesley’s. In a critical moment, however, the Ukrainian grandmaster’s performance was not precise, so that Black managed to pull himself out of trouble by resorting to minor tactical tricks and bailing out by repetition. 

Pentala Harikrishna’s game as White in the Nimzo-Indian Defence against Radoslaw Wojtaszek was revolving around an isolani. The Polish grandmaster demonstrated competence in defensive skills to have all opponent’s threats dealt with. A draw was agreed on move 56.   

It is only natural that the tournament standing has remained unchanged after such an uneventful round. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov has retained his lead with 5 points under his belt now. Half a point behind are Wesley So, Michael Adams and Veselin Topalov.   

In the penultimate round 8 we are in for the following battles: 

V. Kramnik - M. Adams, R. Wojtaszek - S. Mamedyarov, V. Topalov - P. Harikrishna, W. So - T. Radjabov, S. Karjakin - P. Eljanov.