Qatar 2015 round 7: Two rounds to go, three leaders!

by Sagar Shah
12/28/2015 – After a draw with Anish Giri in round seven Magnus Carlsen is no longer the sole leader at the Qatar Masters. He is joined by Shakhriyar Mamedyarov, who played yet another enterprising game against Surya Ganguly and Sanan Sjugirov, who was simply flawless in his execution of Dmitry Jakovenko. A pack of 16 players with half a point less follow the leaders. Exclusive pictures and In depth analysis from Doha.

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Qatar Masters 2015: Two rounds to go, three leaders!

Report from Doha by Sagar Shah and Amruta Mokal

Just two rounds remain at the Qatar Masters Open 2015 and the tournament is heading towards an exciting finish. At the start of the seventh round Magnus Carlsen was in the sole lead with 5.0/6, but after it ended he was joined by two more.

Magnus Carlsen leads along with Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (left) and Sanan Sjugirov (right) with 5.5/7

After facing relatively unknown players until round four it looks as if Magnus is now playing in a super tournament. His round five, six and seven opponents have been Li Chao (2750), Wesley So (2775), and Anish Giri (2784). Games between the World Champion and Anish Giri have always been interesting. As Daniel King said in an interview at the London Chess Classic, “They are not rivals, they just like to tease each other!” Anish, who had the black pieces, played the Sicilian Najdorf. The opening choice clearly reflected his ambitions before the game. Magnus went for a sedate setup. As the Dutch grandmaster rightly pointed out in the post-game conference: “The thing about Najdorf is that there is no easy way for White to play for a small solid edge. Either you have to go all out or you have to be satisfied with equality.” Both players tried their best to complicate the game. Anish even sacrificed an exchange to get a solid central pawn majority. But before things got out of hand Magnus sacrificed the exchange back and steered the game into calmer waters.

“My entire strategy of drawing with Ganguly yesterday was to avoid Magnus today!
Yet I am paired with him!” Anish Giri talks to Pentala Harikrishna before the start of the game.

Some mandatory loosening up before the game

“Please start your clocks!”

“But where is Magnus?”

There comes the World Champion with his famous black bag

Some preparatory actions by Magnus before making the first move of the game

And we are off! Carlsen and Giri fought hard but eventually drew their game in 52 moves

[Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.27"] [Round "7.1"] [White "Carlsen, Magnus"] [Black "Giri, Anish"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B92"] [WhiteElo "2834"] [BlackElo "2784"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "103"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 cxd4 5. Nxd4 a6 6. Be2 e5 7. Nb3 Be7 8. Bg5 Be6 9. Bxf6 Bxf6 10. Qd3 Be7 11. Nd5 Nd7 12. Rd1 Bxd5 13. Qxd5 Qc7 14. Nd2 O-O 15. O-O b5 16. c3 g6 17. a3 Rab8 18. Rfe1 Rfd8 19. Qa2 Nc5 20. Bf1 Bg5 21. Nb3 Qc6 22. Na5 Qc7 23. Nb3 Qc6 24. Rd5 Nd7 25. Rd3 Nc5 26. Rf3 Rd7 {[#] The entire battle in this game revolved around the d5 square. Giri has been careful not to allow Magnus to somehow get his knight to d5 and is thus maintaining equal chances.} 27. Na5 Qa8 $1 {Keeps an eye on the e4 pawn.} ( 27... Qc8 {Anish was afraid of b4 followed by an eventual c4.}) 28. Qd5 $5 { With this move Magnus gives up the fight for d5 but secures the c6 square for his knight. Both players thought that they were doing very well at this point in the game. The truth is somewhere is between - the position is round about equal.} Qxd5 29. exd5 e4 30. Rh3 f5 {The rook on h3 is quite stupidly placed, but with his next two moves Magnus clears the third rank.} 31. Nc6 Rb6 32. b4 Na4 33. c4 Rc7 34. Rb3 Bd2 (34... Bf6 35. f3 {is pretty good for White.}) ( 34... Kg7 35. Nd4 {followed by Ne6 looked scary to Anish, although here bxc4 is very good for Black.} bxc4 $15) 35. Rd1 Bg5 {In some lines now Black has Nb2 resources attacking the rook on d1. This was the idea of losing a tempo with Bg5-d2-g5.} 36. g3 Bf6 37. Rc1 Rbxc6 {Black gets good compensation for the exchange.} 38. dxc6 Rxc6 39. Rbb1 Bg5 $1 {This was the move that Magnus had missed. The rook has to move to a square where it will be undefended, and then the c4 pawn could be attacked further.} 40. Rc2 d5 41. c5 d4 {Optically Black's position looks superb. If he gets three moves and brings his king over to d5, it will be a horrible position for White. But Magnus senses the danger and quickly presses the emergency brakes.} 42. Rd1 Bf6 (42... d3 43. Bxd3 exd3 44. Rxd3 $16 {is clearly better for White because of the protected passed pawn on c5 and the active rooks that will wreak havoc in Black's position.}) 43. Rcd2 Nc3 44. Rxd4 Nxd1 45. Rxd1 Bb2 46. Rd8+ Kf7 47. Ra8 Bxa3 48. Bxb5 Rc7 ( 48... axb5 49. Rxa3 $14 {would be a sad endgame to defend for Black.}) 49. Rxa6 Bxb4 50. c6 Ke7 51. Rb6 Bd6 52. Rb7 {A nice game with a lot of subtle ideas.} 1/2-1/2

 

Are they playing chess 960? A puzzled Ponomariov looks at the crazy position
in the game between Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Surya Shekhar Ganguly

If past games of Mamedyarov are anything to go by, then you can be relatively sure that the Azeri player has come to Doha in a creative mood. Creativity is not an unknown commodity when it comes to Shakhriyar but his games at the Qatar Masters Open 2015 have just surpassed all borders and lie somewhere on the edge of insanity. Although in his defense it must be said that in the seventh round it wasn’t him but Ganguly who started the madness with 7…Qd3!? This was a dream scenario for Mamedyarov who revels in unusual positions. The Indian grandmaster also showcased quite a lot of ingenious ideas, and the advantage fluctuated many times before it settled down into an opposite coloured bishop endgame where Shakhriyar was two pawns up. There were some technical difficulties, but he converted the position, nonetheless.

[Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.27"] [Round "7.5"] [White "Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar"] [Black "Ganguly, Surya Shekhar"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A22"] [WhiteElo "2748"] [BlackElo "2648"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "169"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. c4 e5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. g3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 Nb6 6. e3 $5 {This line with e3 is not common but has been seen many times in the past and hence is not really a surprise.} Nc6 7. Nge2 Qd3 $5 {An idea borrowed from the game Svidler-Nepomniachtchi, Russian Championships 2011. Try finding the game to see the similar contours to this move.} 8. f4 f6 9. Be4 Qa6 {This entire white strategy of Qd8-d3-a6 looks quite suspect.} 10. fxe5 fxe5 11. Ng1 $1 {Of course Mamedyarov undevelops! After seeing his games from this tournament we all know that we can always expect something unexpected from him!} (11. O-O { would be unambitious and would give Black a fine position after} Bg4 {and 0-0-0 coming up.}) 11... Nd7 12. Nd5 (12. Qh5+ g6 13. Bxg6+ hxg6 14. Qxh8 Nb4 $1 $17 {was Ganguly's idea.}) 12... Bd6 13. Qh5+ Kd8 14. Nf3 Nc5 15. Qg5+ Ne7 $1 16. Nxe7 Bxe7 17. Qxe5 {White has won a pawn, but the black king is safe on d8 and Black can quickly get his pieces in to the game.} Rf8 18. Rf1 Qc4 $2 ( 18... Bd7 {with the idea of Nxe4 and Bc6 could be quite strong as after} 19. d4 Nxe4 20. Qxe4 Bc6 21. d5 Qa5+ 22. Bd2 Qxd5 $17 {Black is just better.}) 19. Bxh7 Bh3 20. Rf2 $16 Bf6 21. Qf4 Nd3+ 22. Bxd3 Qxd3 23. g4 {Mamedyarov plays this phase of the game quite well and has a tangible edge. But in such wild positions you can never really have a stable assessment as humans are always prone to errors.} Qd7 24. Ne5 Qd5 25. Ng6 Qh1+ 26. Ke2 Qg1 27. Nxf8 { Mamedyarov has won a rook but now has to be careful against Black's counter attack.} Bxg4+ 28. Kd3 Ke8 {Making some space for the rook to come to d8. Now the next move is extremely easy for the computer to see but almost impossible for the humans to play.} 29. Rf1 {The more human approach.} (29. b3 $3 Rd8+ ( 29... Bxa1 $2 30. Qe4+ $1 Kd8 31. Ng6 $18 {A check on e7 with the queen and rook on f8 are threatened. Black is busted.}) 30. Kc4 $1 {The white king boldly moves around as if he is in a park. But there is absolutely no way to get to the king. He will escape.} Qd1 31. Qe4+ Kf7 (31... Kxf8 32. Ba3+ $18 { [%cal Ga1d1]}) 32. Rxf6+ gxf6 33. Qg6+ Ke7 34. Ba3+ $18) 29... Rd8+ 30. Kc2 Qg2 31. Nh7 $2 {An extremely bad move by Mamedyarov, who hands over the advantage to Black in just one move. It is a little unfair to condemn the play in such a complicated position with clocks ticking. It really is not easy.} Be2 $2 { This gives White an option to sacrifice his rook and wriggle out.} (31... Qc6+ 32. Kb1 Be2 {was the right move order as after} 33. Nxf6+ gxf6 {Bd3+ is an unstoppable threat and White will have to part with a huge chunk of his material advantage.} 34. a3 (34. b3 Bd3+ 35. Kb2 Rd6 $3 $19 {[%cal Gc6c2,Gd6a6] Once again not easy to see, but it does exist.}) 34... Bd3+ 35. Ka2 Qc2 $19 { and Bc4+ will claim the queen.}) 32. Nxf6+ gxf6 33. b3 $1 Bd3+ (33... Qc6+ 34. Kb2 Bd3 35. Qxf6 Qc2+ 36. Ka3 {is absolutely nothing now.}) 34. Kb2 Bxf1 35. Qxc7 $16 {White is better now. His king is safer and he is two pawns up.} Bd3 36. Ka3 Bf5 37. Bb2 Qxd2 38. Bxf6 Qd6+ {Unfortunately Ganguly had to exchange the queens.} 39. Qxd6 Rxd6 40. Bd4 {White is two pawns up although due to the opposite coloured bishop endgame it seems a tad difficult to convert this position. However in the end Mamedyarov did that and moved into the lead.} Ra6+ 41. Kb4 Be4 42. a4 Rh6 43. Ra2 a6 44. Rf2 Bd5 45. a5 Kd7 46. Kc3 Rc6+ 47. Kb2 Rh6 48. b4 Rh5 49. Kc3 Rh4 50. Kd3 Ke6 51. Rb2 Rh3 52. Ba7 Rh8 53. Bb6 Rh7 54. Kc3 Rh4 55. Bd8 Rc4+ 56. Kd3 Rc8 57. Bg5 Bc4+ 58. Ke4 Bd5+ 59. Kd4 Rc4+ 60. Kd3 Rg4 61. Bf4 Rg1 62. b5 Rd1+ 63. Kc2 Rg1 64. Rb4 axb5 65. Rxb5 Rg4 66. Kc3 Rh4 67. Rb6+ Kf5 68. Kd4 Bf3 69. Rb2 Rh7 70. Rb5+ Ke6 71. e4 Rd7+ 72. Ke3 Bg2 73. Rb6+ Kf7 74. h4 Re7 75. e5 Re6 76. Rb2 Bd5 77. Rd2 Bc6 78. h5 Re8 79. h6 Ra8 80. Rh2 Kg6 81. h7 Rh8 82. Rh6+ Kg7 83. a6 Bg2 84. a7 b5 85. e6 1-0

Sanan Sjugirov played what was in my opinion one of the most flawless
games of the tournament to beat Dmitry Jakovenko and join the leaders

[Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.27"] [Round "7.7"] [White "Sjugirov, Sanan"] [Black "Jakovenko, Dmitry"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "A07"] [WhiteElo "2646"] [BlackElo "2737"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. Nf3 d5 2. g3 Bg4 3. Bg2 c6 4. O-O e6 5. h3 Bh5 6. d3 {Just six moves into the game and we already have a position that has been played only once before.} Nd7 7. e4 Bd6 8. exd5 cxd5 9. c4 Ne7 {The knight on f6 can be pushed away with g4-g5 and hence Black prefers to develop it on e7.} 10. Nc3 O-O 11. cxd5 exd5 12. g4 Bg6 13. Nh4 Nb6 14. Bg5 $1 Qd7 (14... f6 15. Nxg6 Nxg6 16. Be3 $14) 15. a4 $1 Rae8 16. a5 Na8 17. Nxg6 Nxg6 18. Qa4 (18. Nxd5 Nc7 $44 {gives Black fine compensation for the pawn.}) 18... Qe6 19. Bd2 Qe5 20. f4 Bc5+ 21. Kh1 Qb8 22. Nxd5 Bd6 23. Qd4 Rd8 24. Bc3 f6 25. g5 $1 {Black's position is falling apart.} Ne7 26. gxf6 Nf5 27. Qc4 Rf7 28. fxg7 Rc8 29. Nf6+ Kxg7 30. Nd7+ Kg8 31. Nxb8 Rxc4 32. dxc4 Ng3+ 33. Kg1 Ne2+ 34. Kh2 Nxf4 35. Kh1 {Black is a rook down and completely lost – he decided to throw in the towel. Maybe this was the most accurate game played by Sanan Sjugirov in his entire career. Every move he made was almost the top choice of the engine. Just shows how strong this young lad really is.} 1-0

Wesley So against Ruslan Ponomariov was once again a demonstration of how good the Berlin Endgame really is. Wesley had some chances to even snatch the initiative, but in the end they had to split the point.

Wesley is currently in the chasers’ pack with 5.0/7, but has a good chance to move to six points as he faces the relatively unknown Lin Chen (2532) in the eighth round. It would not, however, be such a great idea to underestimate his Chinese opponent who scored a win against Hou Yifan in the seventh round.

Sergey Karjakin (right) employed the London System against Ni Hua in order to get
an original game of chess, but the Chinese was too solid and the game ended in a draw

After a dismal start which saw Nikita Vitiugov lose his first round to an untitled Chinese player,
the Russian is back in form and scored a fantastic win over Krishnan Sasikiran to move to 5.0/7.
And what a nice combination he employed to win the game:

[Event "Qatar Masters Open 2015"] [Site "Doha QAT"] [Date "2015.12.27"] [Round "7.9"] [White "Vitiugov, Nikita"] [Black "Sasikiran, Krishnan"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C50"] [WhiteElo "2724"] [BlackElo "2638"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "83"] [EventDate "2015.12.20"] 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. d3 Nf6 5. c3 d6 6. Bb3 a6 7. O-O h6 8. Re1 O-O 9. Nbd2 Be6 10. Nf1 Bxb3 11. Qxb3 Re8 12. Be3 Bxe3 13. Nxe3 Qd7 14. h3 Ne7 15. Nh2 c6 16. Nhg4 Nxg4 17. hxg4 d5 18. Rad1 Rad8 19. d4 exd4 20. Rxd4 c5 21. Rd2 d4 22. cxd4 cxd4 23. Red1 Nc6 24. f3 g6 25. Nd5 Kg7 26. Qb6 Re6 {White had a pleasant position, but Sasikiran's last move, Re6, turned out to be an error which was taken advantage of by Vitiugov in superb fashion.} 27. Rxd4 $1 Nxd4 28. Qxd4+ {If the king moves to g8 the Nf6 will win back the material, and hence Sasikiran played f6, asking Vitiugov to show his cards.} f6 {[#]} 29. Nc7 $3 {A brilliant move. Now Qxd4 loses to Nxe6+} Re7 30. Ne8+ $1 {What an aesthetic little check! The e8 square is guarded by all the three major pieces! If you go to h7 or g8 then f6 is taken by the knight with check and if you go to f7 or f8 or h8 then Qxf6 comes with check.} (30. Ne6+ {was also similar.}) 30... Qxe8 31. Qxd8 Qf7 {Black has a weak king and a pawn less. Quite easy for a player of Vitiugov's standard to convert this position.} 32. Rd6 g5 33. b3 Re8 34. Qb6 Re7 35. Qd4 Re6 36. Rd7 Re7 37. Rd5 Qe8 38. a4 Qc6 39. Rd6 Qc1+ 40. Kf2 Rf7 41. e5 Qc2+ 42. Kg3 1-0

Nguyen Ngoc Truongson scored a fine victory over the Ukrainian Anton Korobov

The game between Daniel Naroditsky and Li Chao sparked quite a lot of interest amongst the spectators.
The American was pressing throughout the game but in the end could not convert his material advantage.
In the picture you see the famous trainer Adrain Mikhalchishin, Wang Yiye and Mateusz Bartel engrossed in the game.

This is what you need to have a 2826 performance. 2470 rated and untitled player Xu Yinglun beat Ildar Khairullin and is currently on 5.0/7. He has already crossed 2500 thanks to the 32 points
he has gained in the event. In the eighth round he plays David Howell.

Vassily Ivanchuk handed N.R. Vignesh his first loss of the tournament. The 17-year-old from Tamil Nadu, India, was quite close to drawing his game against the Ukrainian genius. In spite of this loss he has a rating performance of 2721 and will most probably achieve his GM norm with a draw in the next two rounds.

It was a day when a lot of female players were paired against each other.

Alexandra Kosteniuk (right) was able to beat Zhansaya Abdumalik

Dronavalli Harika (right) got the better of Sarasadat Khademalsharieh

Short curls against long curls! Padmini Rout (left) had a much better position,
but in the end lost to Dora Derakhshani from Iran

The huge tent outside the playing hall where the players analyze after the game and the spectators can sit comfortably on the sofa and enjoy the live commentary of Peter Svidler and Alejandro Ramirez

With a size of 100,000 square metres Villagio Mall is right next to the playing hall
and is a perfect place for the players to unwind after the rounds.

It has an architectural style that is Italian and you can do just about anything here...

… from shopping, having dinner, exchanging money, to buying groceries,
which is quite essential for a chess player during a tournament.

And just in case you are in the mood, you could also try the Gondola ride inside the mall!

The style quotient is quite high in the tournament! From the top left clockwise: Hou Yifan’s hairstyle and next to it her locket, Bela Khotenashvili’s ring, Sarasadat Khademalsharieh’s lucky bracelet, Marta Bartel’s chequred pendant, Hou Yifan’s king shaped earrings, Aexandra Kosteniuk’s bracelet filled with many interesting things and Alina Bivol’s ring.

Who said guys can’t keep up! Clockwise from top left: Truongson Nguyen Ngoc’s chain, Viktor Bologan’s key chain and watch, Salem Saleh’s watch, Daniele Vocaturo’s earrings, Li Chao’s bracelet, Vassily Ivanchuk’s cap and Daniil Yuffa’s watch.

Photos by Amruta Mokal of ChessBase India

Round seven video impressions by Vijay Kumar

Replay games of round seven (with times per move)

Top results of round seven

Bo. No. Title Name Rtg Pts.
Res.
Pts. Title Name Rtg No.
1 1 GM Carlsen Magnus 2834 5
½-½
GM Giri Anish 2784 3
2 11 GM Yu Yangyi 2736
½-½
GM Kramnik Vladimir 2796 2
3 17 GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2710
½-½
GM So Wesley 2775 4
4 5 GM Karjakin Sergey 2766
½-½
GM Ni Hua 2693 18
5 7 GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2748
1-0
GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar 2648 30
6 9 GM Harikrishna P. 2743
½-½
GM Swiercz Dariusz 2646 34
7 33 GM Sjugirov Sanan 2646
1-0
GM Jakovenko Dmitry 2737 10
8 41 GM Naroditsky Daniel 2628 4
½-½
4 GM Li Chao B 2750 6
9 13 GM Vitiugov Nikita 2724 4
1-0
4 GM Sasikiran Krishnan 2638 38
10 15 GM Korobov Anton 2713 4
0-1
4 GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son 2642 36
11 102 IM Vignesh N R 2422 4
0-1
4 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2710 16
12 21 GM Matlakov Maxim 2684 4
0-1
4 GM Grandelius Nils 2632 40
13 57 IM Lin Chen 2532 4
1-0
4 GM Hou Yifan 2683 22
14 29 GM Akopian Vladimir 2648 4
1-0
4 GM Tregubov Pavel V. 2589 52
15 31 GM Khairullin Ildar 2647 4
0-1
4   Xu Yinglun 2470 79
16 8 GM Tomashevsky Evgeny 2744
1-0
4 IM Yuffa Daniil 2504 66
17 44 GM Bartel Mateusz 2620
½-½
GM Wei Yi 2730 12
18 45 GM Ipatov Alexander 2619
½-½
GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw 2723 14
19 19 GM Moiseenko Alexander 2689
0-1
GM Zhang Zhong 2619 46
20 20 GM Howell David W L 2688
1-0
GM Hamdouchi Hicham 2597 48
21 47 GM Lu Shanglei 2618
½-½
GM Fedoseev Vladimir 2664 24
22 25 GM Duda Jan-Krzysztof 2663
½-½
GM Bok Benjamin 2594 50
23 27 GM Bologan Viktor 2654
1-0
GM Al-Sayed Mohammed 2520 62
24 111 FM Li Di 2389
½-½
GM Khismatullin Denis 2654 28
25 35 GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi 2644
1-0
IM Karavade Eesha 2379 115
26 59 GM Xu Jun 2526
0-1
GM Lenderman Aleksandr 2626 42
27 126 IM Pham Le Thao Nguyen 2319
0-1
GM Salem A.R. Saleh 2622 43
28 23 GM Adhiban B. 2669 3
½-½
3 IM Gagare Shardul 2470 78
29 83 IM Ly Moulthun 2462 3
1-0
3 GM Dubov Daniil 2655 26
30 88 IM Firat Burak 2446 3
0-1
3 GM Sethuraman S.P. 2639 37
31 39 GM Piorun Kacper 2637 3
1-0
3 IM Puranik Abhimanyu 2442 89
32 49 GM Vocaturo Daniele 2597 3
½-½
3 IM Saiyn Zhanat 2394 108
33 92 IM Wang Yiye 2438 3
0-1
3 GM Bluebaum Matthias 2590 51
34 53 GM Esen Baris 2562 3
½-½
3 FM Rohan Ahuja 2426 99
35 96 IM Aryan Chopra 2436 3
½-½
3 GM Rambaldi Francesco 2560 54
36 110 WGM Abdumalik Zhansaya 2390 3
0-1
3 GM Kosteniuk Alexandra 2542 56
37 114 IM Khademalsharieh Sarasadat 2380 3
0-1
3 GM Harika Dronavalli 2513 63
38 70 WGM Goryachkina Aleksandra 2493 3
½-½
3   Raja Harshit 2325 124
39 72 GM Shoker Samy 2489 3
½-½
3   Roy Prantik 2370 119
40 120 IM Guramishvili Sopiko 2368 3
0-1
3 GM Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. 2486 75
41 118   Firouzja Alireza 2372 3
½-½
GM Bromberger Stefan 2521 60
42 55 GM Dzagnidze Nana 2559
½-½
GM Venkatesh M.R. 2451 86
43 82 IM Ma Zhonghan 2463
1-0
IM Svane Rasmus 2529 58
44 84 IM Ali Marandi Cemil Can 2454
½-½
GM Sundararajan Kidambi 2513 64
45 65 GM Schroeder Jan-Christian 2511
1-0
  Fang Yuxiang 2438 94
46 68 GM Khotenashvili Bela 2496
1-0
IM Sagar Shah 2441 90
47 109 IM Abhishek Kelkar 2393
½-½
IM Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan 2494 69
48 100 IM Nezad Husein Aziz 2425
½-½
GM Zhukova Natalia 2488 73
49 80 GM Krush Irina 2468
½-½
FM Basso Pier Luigi 2438 93
50 106 WGM Saduakassova Dinara 2407
1-0
FM Moroni Luca Jr 2466 81
51 61 GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2521 2
1-0
2 IM Seyb Alexander 2425 101
52 74 IM Sanal Vahap 2487 2
½-½
2   Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh 2414 105
53 76 IM Tabatabaei M.Amin 2482 2
0-1
2 IM Tissir Mohamed 2346 121
54 77 GM Neelotpal Das 2475 2
1-0
2 WIM Bivol Alina 2344 122
55 98 FM Abdusattorov Nodirbek 2429 2
1-0
2 IM Lorparizangeneh Shahin 2454 85
56 123   Dai Changren 2328 2
0-1
2 IM Kashlinskaya Alina 2448 87
57 91 IM Vogel Roven 2439 2
1-0
2 FM Goriatchkin Jouri 2318 127
58 95 IM Padmini Rout 2437 2
0-1
2 WIM Derakhshani Dorsa 2307 129
59 132 WIM Pratyusha Bodda 2260 2
0-1
2 GM Carlsson Pontus 2433 97
60 113 IM Christiansen Johan-Sebastian 2385
0-1
2 WFM Vaishali R 2313 128
61 67 IM Batsiashvili Nino 2498
½-½
WGM Pourkashiyan Atousa 2322 125
62 130 IM Piasetski Leon 2287
½-½
IM Ezat Mohamed 2490 71
63 131 WGM Bartel Marta 2271
1-0
FM Gholami Aryan 2422 103
64 104 FM Haria Ravi 2416 1
1-0
IM Li Ruofan 2372 117
65 107   Siva Mahadevan 2400 1
0-1
1 IM Konguvel Ponnuswamy 2377 116
66 112 IM Slavin Alexey 2388 ½
1
    bye    

Top standings after round seven

Rk
SNo
Ti.
Name
FED
Rtg
Pts
 TB 
rtg+/-
1
7
GM
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
AZE
2748
5,5
2871
10,1
2
1
GM
Carlsen Magnus
NOR
2834
5,5
2867
3,5
3
33
GM
Sjugirov Sanan
RUS
2646
5,5
2813
14,9
4
3
GM
Giri Anish
NED
2784
5,0
2852
7,1
5
4
GM
So Wesley
USA
2775
5,0
2842
6,7
6
79
 
Xu Yinglun
CHN
2470
5,0
2826
32,6
7
2
GM
Kramnik Vladimir
RUS
2796
5,0
2805
1,6
8
34
GM
Swiercz Dariusz
POL
2646
5,0
2793
14,5
9
11
GM
Yu Yangyi
CHN
2736
5,0
2784
5,3
10
5
GM
Karjakin Sergey
RUS
2766
5,0
2784
2,3
11
9
GM
Harikrishna P.
IND
2743
5,0
2753
1,6
12
17
GM
Ponomariov Ruslan
UKR
2710
5,0
2744
3,8
13
18
GM
Ni Hua
CHN
2693
5,0
2742
5,1
14
40
GM
Grandelius Nils
SWE
2632
5,0
2701
7,7
15
29
GM
Akopian Vladimir
ARM
2648
5,0
2701
5,5
16
13
GM
Vitiugov Nikita
RUS
2724
5,0
2696
-1,3
17
36
GM
Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son
VIE
2642
5,0
2670
3,6
18
16
GM
Ivanchuk Vassily
UKR
2710
5,0
2660
-3,4
19
57
IM
Lin Chen
CHN
2532
5,0
2658
12,2
20
6
GM
Li Chao B
CHN
2750
4,5
2778
3,3
21
46
GM
Zhang Zhong
SIN
2619
4,5
2734
11,5
22
43
GM
Salem A.R. Saleh
UAE
2622
4,5
2726
10,9
23
20
GM
Howell David W L
ENG
2688
4,5
2710
2,7
24
30
GM
Ganguly Surya Shekhar
IND
2648
4,5
2705
6,4
25
10
GM
Jakovenko Dmitry
RUS
2737
4,5
2670
-5,1
26
8
GM
Tomashevsky Evgeny
RUS
2744
4,5
2670
-6,0
27
27
GM
Bologan Viktor
MDA
2654
4,5
2668
2,1
28
41
GM
Naroditsky Daniel
USA
2628
4,5
2661
4,4
29
42
GM
Lenderman Aleksandr
USA
2626
4,5
2579
-3,1
30
35
GM
Vidit Santosh Gujrathi
IND
2644
4,5
2578
-4,8
31
102
IM
Vignesh N R
IND
2422
4,0
2721
26,4
32
66
IM
Yuffa Daniil
RUS
2504
4,0
2682
16,4

Click for complete standings

Schedule for Playchess Commentary

Day Round Time English German
Mon 28 December  Round 8 3 PM Daniel King Sebastian Siebrecht
Tue 29 December  Round 9 12 PM Yasser Seirawan Sebastian Siebrecht

Links

The games will be broadcast live on the official web site and on the 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 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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