
Follow the games live on Playchess.com
Round 5 - Sunday 24 April | ||
Vladimir Kramnik
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½-½ | Pavel Eljanov |
Veselin Topalov
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1-0
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Nils Grandelius |
Magnus Carlsen
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½-½ | Anish Giri |
Levon Aronian
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½-½ | M Vachier-Lagrave |
Pentala Harikrishna
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1-0
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Li Chao |
All photos by Altibox Norway Chess/Joachim Steinbru
The stage where the players played
All eyes were on the young guns Magnus Carlsen and Anish Giri in round five, especially since many see Giri as a potential challenger to Carlsen sometime down the road. The young Dutch player has also the distinction of having emerged unscathed from nearly a dozen bouts in classical time controls, with only one decisive game having ended in his favor (albeit a non-game that ended before it started).
Playing black, Anish Giri was understandably less adventurous than his usual self, forgoing his sacrificial ways for a more sedate bout. The balance was never broken and a draw was the inevitable result.
The only two decisive games of the day were between Indian star Pentala Harikrishna and Li Chao, as well as Veselin Topalov and Nils Grandelius. Harikrishna has been rising slowly but steadily these last years, clawing away at the top Indian rank monopolized by Anand for the last decades. Although he has enjoyed the throne for a day thanks to the Live Ratings, it has never been enough to hold until the actual ratings list was published. With his win over Li Chao, he brings this dream one step closer.
Harikrishna played a superb game to defeat Li Chao
Li Chao has been having a solid event overall, in his first elite round robin. The invitation was full deserved with his Top 20 rating achieved over a career of strong opens around the world. Still, playing top players in a reduced field is quite different, even if the vagaries of fate have allowed him to bump heads with a few in the Qatar Masters among others.
Playing a game full of complications against a player such as Topalov is asking for it
Veselin Topalov was the second player to score a win, unable to reproduce his incredible good fortune and form from last year’s Norway Chess. He took on qualifier Nils Grandelius, and the game was a hard fought Closed Ruy Lopez that led to serious complications after it opened up in the middlegame. Unsurprisingly Topalov was the more adept at handling the complexities, and it was 1-0 for the Bulgarian.
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Day and round | English | German |
Round 4 Friday 22 April | Daniel King | Oliver Reeh |
Round 5 Sunday 24 April | Simon Williams | Thomas Luther |
Round 6 Monday 25 April | Yannick Pelletier | Thomas Luther |
Round 7 Wednesday 27 April | Simon Williams | Klaus Bischoff |
Round 8 Thursday 28 April | Yannick Pelletier | Klaus Bischoff |
Round 9 Friday 29 April | Daniel King | Klaus Bischoff |
LinksThe 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. |