FIDE GP in Palma: The quiet after the storm

Round five

I don't know if many of you were disappointed with the extra quiet day in Palma, when all the games ended peacefully, but I sort of saw it coming. Too much energy had been expended by the players the day before, and many of them were already looking forward to the rest day after round five.

Once again, Aronian's game was in the center of my attention. Levon had black against Ding Liren. We remember these two facing each other just a month and a half ago in the World Cup final match in a match to decide the title. Aronian prevailed in Tbilisi, mainly thanks to his ability to completely neutralize Ding's white pieces.

Anish Giri going through the now-standard security checks. Just a decade ago this would have been scoffed as ludicrous. | Photo: Valerij Belobeev

With that factor firmly established it was only a matter of time before Aronian broke through with white in the rapid games. Today's encounter was intriguing because I expected Ding to give a little more effort. Perhaps, he planned exactly that, but Aronian's novelty beat him to the punch.

Strategy University Vol. 5: Winning Methods of great Players

Using ideas and games of great masters from the past, the famous Ukrainian trainer GM Adrian Mikhalchishin deals with various themes.

Very impressive indeed. Levon is playing with a lot of confidence, and one can expect his scoreline to fatten up as the tournament eases into the second half. Aronian has already faced MVL, Ding, Giri and Jakovenko; he has Svidler with white in round six and, likely, will be facing Nakamura and Harikrishna in the upcoming games. After that we might see the leader playing down against some 50% scorers. It's hard to bet against Levon winning this whole thing.

Jon Hammer and Boris Gelfand analyze their game over some cookies | Photo: Valerij Belobeev

Vachier-Lagrave cannot count on others stopping Aronian, but it's not really critical for Maxime, as he would be perfectly fine with a second place finish. The question is, how to get there. Today's game with Nakamura was a bit mystifying. I didn't expect Maxime's 3.Bb5+ against Hikaru's Sicilian, but the game being wrapped up after only 13 moves of play was truly shocking.

Whatever the reasons might have been, MVL is far from being out of the running. He's already played most top players here, but may still face Ding and Jakovenko before he gets easier pairings. Besides, Maxime and Teimour may meet each other in the end with the qualification at stake. That would be a treat.

Radjabov had white against Harikrishna today, and he came out with a reversed Benoni, an opening that in the opinion of many, myself included, doesn't really benefit from the extra tempo. In the Benoni, patterns of Black's counterplay aren't easily defined, and a lot depends on how hard White is going for a win. Hari did not burn his bridges, even when a good opportunity presented itself on move 20.

Winning Structures by GM Adrian Mikhalchishin

Great players always had and still have more than just broad theoretical knowledge. Every of them has some favourite methods, which simply help to score more points. The greatest even have favourite pawn structures! And they immediately exploited the knowledge of others - Alekhine invented some interesting structures, which were copied by his opponent in that game (Rubinstein), and later exploited by Botvinnik and then by Kramnik!

Radjabov now has black with Tomashevsky. The King's Indian Defense is the obvious choice, but Evgeny, being the classically trained player he is, has a great track record against this opening. Expect a huge battle in that game.

Li Chao enjoying his surroundings in beautiful Palma de Mallorca | Photo: Valerij Belobeev

Anish Giri is trying to shed the reputation of a drawmeister he earned after his infamous 14 draws at the 2016 Candidates. If anything, Anish plays considerably sharper these days. Perhaps he went a bit too far sacrificing two pawns against Riazantsev's solid Caro-Kann, but draw was agreed before we got to find out whether White had enough compensation.

Next Anish is facing another tough Russian, Dmitry Jakovenko, and possibly another Caro-Kann. Riazantsev gets white against Rapport, who is a sure bet to rock the boat first.

The Tactical Chigorin

Opening with the Chigorin shows your intention to play for a win right from the outset. After 2...Nc6 Black's pieces fly into the game putting pressure on White's position from a very early stage. This opening is ideal for the type of player who strives for an unconvential yet attacking game right from the start.

Standings after Round 5

World Chess video review

All Round 5 games

Links

• Round 4: Sac, sac, mate!
• Round 3: Missed opportunities
• Round 2: The lions are awakened
• Round 1: A promising start
• Official tournament site