Beijing Rd6: Mamedyarov strikes, joins leaders

The fifth stage of the FIDE Grand Prix Series is taking place between the 3rd and 17th of July 2013 on the premises of the Chinese Chess Association in Beijing. The time controls are 120 minutes for the first 40 moves, 60 minutes for the next 20 moves and 15 minutes for the rest of the game, with an increment of 30 seconds per move from move 61 onwards. The games start at 3 p.m. local time, except the last round. The Grand Prix Series consists of six tournaments to be held over two years (2012-2013). 18 top players participate in four of these six tournaments. The winner and second placed player overall of the Grand Prix Series will qualify for the Candidates Tournament to be held in March 2014.

Making the event possible: A local Chinese journalist, Deputy Arbiter Anastasiya Sorokina,  organizer Abigail Tian and journalist Nastja Karlovich

Karjakin, Sergey - Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar 0-1
Mamedyarov was able to obtain a pleasant advantage from this Petroff defense, a certainly unusual situation, in the way of a better pawn structure and pressure against the h-pawn. Karjakin soon sacrificed it to free his pieces and after some simplification the resulting endgame saw the Azeri having an extra pawn. What followed was an incredibly long struggle in which Mamedyarov kept trying to promote his last remaining d-pawn in a queen endgame. Karjakin held on correctly for many moves but finally cracked with 87.Kb2?! and subsequently lost the game.

Topalov, Veselin - Grischuk, Alexander ½-½
Topalov's advantage throughout the game was minimal. By the time he converted it into an extra pawn all of the remaining foot soldiers were on the same side. The 3-on-2 in one flank rook endgame was not a problem for Grischuk to hold.

Nothing makes chess players happier than finding something cool over the board

"You... you're kind of good at this aren't you?" GMs Grischuk and Leko

Gelfand, Boris - Leko, Peter ½-½
It seemed as if Gelfand was going to obtain something out of the opening when massive simplifications gave White more space and better development. However one wrong move, 15.Rc7+?! and Leko was able to simplify even further and solidify his position.

Giri, Anish - Ivanchuk, Vassily ½-½
Giri quickly lost a daring e-pawn that went to the sixth rank as early as move 17. Ivanchuk was always better in this game but was unable to find a plan towards stabilizing his advantage as he was saddled with an extremely weak pawn on g2. In time pressure he lost his way and allowed Giri to equalize.

Ivanchuk concentrated as hard as possible, but couldn't break Anish Giri's defenses

Wang Yue - Wang Hao 1-0
The battle between the Chinese players was staged in a relatively quiet Catlan. Positionally it seemed like Wang Hao was fine, but Wang Yue launched his knight forward to the attack and caused havoc in his opponent's position, eventually ending in a very unpleasant endgame for Black in which his crippled pawns and passive bishop put him in a serious disadvantage. Wang Hao resigned as White was about to snag the e6 pawn.

Wang Hao found himself in the losing end of the Catalan today against his compatriot

Hou Yifan couldn't miss the duel between the top Chinese. Today it was announced that Yifan would play in the upcoming World Cup as she was one of the President's Nominees.

Morozevich, Alexander - Kamsky, Gata 1-0
Kamsky deviated from his usual a6 Slav and prefered a more reputable Gruenfeld defense. This backfired quite obviously as Morozevich obtained a nearly decisive advantage from the opening, gobbling pawn after pawn until Kamsky had to resign.

Kamsky wasn't a happy camper with his Gruenfeld experiment

Information and pictures by FIDE press chief WGM Anastasiya Karlovich

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The games start at 9:00h European time, 11:00h Moscow, 3 a.m. New York.
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