Round nine

In round nine, it was a dog-eat-dog world as the leaders saw numerous decisive games, notably at the top boards. On board one, David Navara played a Symmetrical English against Ian Nepomniachtchi, but somehow it all went wrong for the Russian as he tried his best to destabilize his opponent with a very optimistic 13...f5. The weakness that resulted ended up being decisive as the Czech player never strayed.

Nepomniachtchi finale lifting his hood, and Navara faced his aggressions undaunted

Board two saw Anton Korobov choose the Averbakh system against Ilia Smirin,
the top positioned Israeli, and within 15 moves the Ukrainian had a lone passer
on the a-file that decided the game in his favor as it sprinted forward.

Everything went right for Korobov (left) as he retook the lead after round nine

If Korobov enjoyed a passed pawn in his middle game, Evgeny Najer enjoyed two connected passers on the c and d-files that also worked favorably for him. This left the three players, Korobov, Navara, and Najer tied for first with 7.0/9, with Korobov once more enjoying the taste of gold in his mouth.

Round ten

Round ten changed much of this as Evgeny Najer faced down Anton Korobov in a Sicilian Nimzowitsch in a game where Black conceded some weaknesses on the dark squares with the intention of counterattacking on the wings to weaken Black's hold. Instead he found himself anchored to the defense of a backward pawn and his counterplay never got off the starting block. This left Najer in sole first with 8.0/10 after Navara failed to make anything of his position against Sjugirov.

The thriller of the round was easily the finale in the game between Russian Denis Khismatullin and Ukrainian Pavel Eljanov.

Before showing it, see the position as it stood on the board. Black not
only has an immensely threating looking d-pawn just two squares away
from queening, but he is attacking the rook with a mate in one threat as
well. Khismatullin is white, and what does he play?

Denis Khismatullin has always been in the contenders and is now third after a stroke of genius

We won't torture you too long, since just the idea behind his winning sequence boggles the mind.

Denis Khismatullin-Pavel Eljanov:

Although there are numerous tales of success in the tournament, one that sticks out far more prominently than others is that of current 11th place Ilia Iljushenok. Who? Ilia is a 21 year-old untitled Russian rated 2450 (ranked 128th at the start!), who has been having the tournament of his life. Not only is he in the group looking at a spot in the World Cup, but he has scored a GM norm and then some with 7.0/10 and a 2684 performance.

Although many will be watching to see who takes gold, for many it is one of the 23 qualifying spots to the next World Cup that matters, since there is prestige and an extra paycheck for even first round exits.

Standings after ten rounds

Click for complete standings

Report by Yachanan Afek and Albert Silver
Photos by Yoav Nis

Links Official tournament site All games in PGN 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 13 or any of our Fritz compatible chess programs.