11/19/2015 – The Russian team maintained their lead in both the sections. The women team is in great form and have a perfect 10.0/10 score, while the men were held to a draw by Azerbaijan - yet with a score of 9.0/10 they have a point’s lead over the field. The biggest news was definitely Carlsen’s loss to Yannick Pelletier. The Norwegian is now down to 2832 on the live rating list. Round five report.
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Russia’s perfect score was spoilt after they drew the fifth round against Azerbaijan. All the four boards ended in draws. However, the top seeded team still has one point lead over the field with 9.0/10 match points.
Peter Svidler drew a wild game in the Open Variation of the Ruy Lopez against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov
Grischuk has played only two games till now and both of them ended in draws
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (right) with team member Arkadij Naiditsch, a German GM who has switched federations and now plays for Azerbaijan, which is currently in the fifth spot with a match score of 7.0/10
Judit Polgar's team had done pretty decently until the fourth round by drawing their
match against France and beating Poland. But in the fifth round they lost to Ukraine.
Pavel Eljanov once again proved to be the hero for the Ukrainian team as he featured
in the only decisive game of the match, beating Richard Rapport
The reason why the clash between Pavel Eljanov and Richard Rapport was especially interesting was because the Ukrainian is a solid player who believes in classical principles, while the Hungarian is a hyper-modernist who loves to break the rules. In the end Eljanov’s solid chess turned out to be too much for Rapport, as he blundered in an equal position, and lost the game.
White is a pawn up but Black has activity to compensate for it. With his next move Black starts to create concrete threats.38...Rc139.Kg2This is a move which requires a good amount of accurate calculation.Be4+40.f3Ne1+41.Kf2Bxf3?! Why did Richard not take the pawn with the knight? There is absolutely no good way to take advantage with regards to the placement of the black pieces.41...Nxf3!42.Bb2Rb143.Bc3=43.Rxe4?Nxe4+44.Kxf3Nd2+-+42.Bb2!Rb143.Bc3!The knight on e1 cannot move because the bishop on f3 is hanging. Black has to give up two pieces for a rook.Ne4+44.Rxe4Bxe445.Bxe1This is not so difficult to convert because the bishop has a fixed square on b4 and the d-pawn is quite strong.Rb2+46.Kg146.Be2?Bd3-+46...Rb147.Bb4+Kf748.Kf2Rb2+49.Ke1Rb1+49...Rxh250.Bb5+- and the d-pawn is ready to roll.50.Kd2Bxd551.Bd3!51.Nxd5?Rxf1 would be equal.51...Rb2+52.Bc2The sad news for Black is that the rook on b2 is trapped.Another way to win was52.Kc1Rb353.Kc2Be654.Nc4 and the rook is trapped on b3.52...Be653.Nd1Ra254.Nc3Ra155.Bb1 The cage is getting smaller and smaller.f556.Kc1Kg657.Kb2Rxb1+58.Kxb1+-This is a pretty easy one for a player of Eljanov's class.Kh559.Ne2g559...Kg460.h3+!+-60.Kc1Kg461.Kd2Kh362.Be7h663.Bf8Kxh263...h564.Be7g4?65.Nf4++-64.Bxh6Bc465.Bxg5Bxe266.Kxe2Kxg3 The a-pawn is a wrong coloured pawn, but the black king is just too far off.67.Ke3Kg468.Bf4b569.Be5f4+70.Bxf4Kf571.Kd4Kxf471...Ke672.Kc5Kd773.Kxb5Kc874.Kb6+-72.Kc5Ke573.Kxb5Kd674.Kb6A nice technical win for Eljanov ensuring 2.5-1.5 victory for Ukraine.1–0
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave, with a rating performance of 2936, is making sure that France remains right on the heels of the leaders. He beat Vallejo Pons and Vladislav Tkachiev’s victory ensured a 3:1 victory for France over Spain
Usually when the king is on e8 and the opponent attacks the f7 point with his queen on f3 and the bishop on b3 it makes sense to defend that point. But there are players like Maxime who don’t really care about how risky a move looks: if you cannot refute it, it works!
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1.e4c52.Nf3d63.d4cxd44.Nxd4Nf65.Nc3a66.Be3Ng47.Bc1Nf68.Be3Ng49.Bg5h610.Bh4g511.Bg3Bg712.h4Nc613.Nxc6bxc614.Bc4Qa515.Qf3 This position has been reached five times in the past. Some players thought they should defend the f7 point with Be6, some decided Rf8 was important and one guy even 0-0. But then comes Maxime Vachier Lagrave who says, why should the f7 point be defended at all?!Ne5!?16.Bxe5Qxe517.Bxf7+17.Qxf7+doesn't really change the nature of the position by much.Kd818.hxg5Qxg517...Kd8What has Black got in return for a pawn. Bishop pair, the bishop on g7 is super strong, the rooks can be used on semi open files on f8 and b8 and in general it is much easier to play as Black as his king is safe on d8 while the king on e1 is feeling the heat.18.hxg5Rb8!19.Bb3Rf820.Qe3Qxg521.Qxg5hxg5This endgame promises excellent compensation for Black.22.f3g4!23.Ke2a524.Na4 White intends to meet Ba6 with c4, but this weakens the dark squares quite a bit and makes the bishop on b3 very passive.24.Rad1was much better not fearing a check on a6.Ba6+25.Ke3Be525...c526.f4c427.Ba4Rxb228.e5The rook on d1 makes itself felt.26.Rh7∞24...Ba6+25.c4Rb426.Rac1gxf3+27.gxf3Bd428.Rc2c529.Rh2Rg830.Rc1
White is under a lot of pressure but how exactly should Black breakthrough?30...Bc8!The bishop on e6 would be much more useful both ways (kingside and queenside) than on a6.31.Nc3Be632.Kd3?32.Rd1Bxc4+33.Bxc4Rxc4is pleasant but not really winning.32...Rg3!33.Ke2?33.Rf1Bh334.Rff2Bxf235.Rxf2Be6should also win.33...Bxc4+34.Kd2Rxf335.Bxc4Rxb2+A superb game by Maxime!0–1
Baadur Jobava has got his magic working in this event. He is on 4.0/5 and his victory
over Ivan Ivanisevic helped Georgia beat Serbia 3:1.
On the starting list Norway is seeded eleventh. Their opponents Switzerland are the 28th seeds. Norway beat Switzerland 2.5:1.5. As expected, right? Yet this was the match which provided the biggest sensation of the fifth round.
Yannick Pelletier was able to beat the World Champion Magnus Carlsen with the black pieces!
Pelletier, ranked 403 in the world, has caught two big fishes in a month’s time – Nakamura at the European Club Cup and now Magnus Carlsen over here.
The game started out as a normal Hedgehog. Carlsen had a typical slight edge in the position, and it seemed as if he would crush the life out of his opponent by slowly improving his position. But nothing of that sort happened. Magnus made a few inaccuracies and Pelletier was able to equalize the game. This must have made Magnus lose his balance. In an equal position he blundered a full piece. After that it was just a matter of counting the moves before the World Champion resigned.
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1.c4Nf62.Nc3c53.Nf3e64.g3b65.Bg2Bb76.0-0Be77.b30-08.Bb2d69.d4cxd410.Nxd4Bxg211.Kxg2Qc812.e4Nc613.Rc1Nxd414.Qxd4Qb715.Rfd1a616.Ba3Rfd817.Qd3Rd718.Qf3Bf819.Rd4d520.Bxf8dxe421.Nxe4Kxf822.Rxd7Nxd723.c5bxc524.Nxc5Qxf3+25.Kxf3Nb626.Ke4Ke727.f4a528.Nd3Nd529.Rc5Kd630.Kd4f631.a4Ne732.Rb5Kc633.b4Nf5+34.Kc3axb4+35.Kxb4Nd436.Rh5h637.Rc5+Kb638.Rc4Nc6+39.Kc3Rd840.Re4Rd641.Re2Ne742.Rb2+Kc643.Rb8Nd5+44.Kb3Kc7 The position is round about equal. With his last move ...Kc7, Pelletier attacked Carlsen's rook on b8. There were many good square available, but Carlsen chooses the worst one, which instantly results in him losing a piece.45.Rg8??Ne7!46.Rxg7Rxd3+It's a check!47.Kc4Rd7 The rest is pretty straightforward.48.Rf7f549.Rf6Kd650.Rxh6Rc7+51.Kb3Nd552.Rh8Rc3+53.Kb2Re354.a5Kc555.h4Rxg356.h5Rh357.h6Nf658.a6Kb659.Rd8Ne4A disappointing loss for Carlsen.0–1
Three games in this tournament have made Magnus drop as many as 17.8 Elo points – loss to Aronian (-6), draw with Hansen (-3.4) and loss to Pelletier (-8.4). From a rating of 2850 he is now down to 2832. Still a hefty 29 points separate him from Topalov (2803) on the rating charts. But if Carlsen played in this fashion, it is highly probable that he would lose even more Elo points. Norway now faces Hungary in the sixth round. If Carlsen decides to play, he would be up against the super solid Peter Leko.
Sabino Brunello scored a crucial victory of Sergei Movsesian,
which helped Italy draw their match against Armenia
Luke McShane’s loss to Daniel Fridman was the reason why England went down 1.5:2.5 to Germany
The Russian team is unstoppable at the moment and leads the field by two points with a perfect score of 10.0/10. In the fifth round they chalked up a relatively easy victory over France with a 3:1 margin.
Alexandra Kosteniuk has been scoring heavily, 3.5/4, on the top board for Russia.
In their match against France she was able to defeat Marie Sebag.
Mariya Muzychuk’s Ukrainian team is currently on 8.0/10.
In the fifth round they were able to defeat the Romanian team.
The next round, the sixth, will be the most crucial one from the point of view of deciding the champion of this event. The Russian team will face the strong Ukrainians. If the latter can defeat Russia, then the tournament would be wide open and anyone could claim the top spot. But if Russia were to win or even the draw the match then it would be almost certain that they would go back with the Gold, considering that they have already played the Georgians.
It must be the hair! One of the main reasons why Germany is in the fifth place
currently is because of Elisabeth Paehtz’s fantastic 4.5/5
Nino Batsiashvili, Davit Jojua, Bela Khotenashvili and the entire Georgian team
would be hoping that the Ukrainians beat Russia in the sixth round
Russia’s Valentina Gunina (right) shares a light moment with the Ukrainians
Natalia Zhukova and Alexander Kovchan (centre)
The games are being broadcast live on the official web site and on the chess server Playchess.com. If you are not a member you can download a free Playchess client there and get immediate access. You can also use ChessBase or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.
Sagar ShahSagar is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He is the co-founder and CEO of ChessBase India, the biggest chess news portal in the country. His YouTube channel has over a million subscribers, and to date close to a billion views. ChessBase India is the sole distributor of ChessBase products in India and seven adjoining countries, where the software is available at a 60% discount. compared to International prices.
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