
The stage

Fabiano Caruana vs Vladimir Kramnik

Vladimir Kramnik, the 14. World Champion
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave is famous for his good knowledge of the Najdorf. But Evgeniy Najer seemed to have his doubts and dared to play the Poisoned Pawn Variation of the Najdorf against the French Grandmaster. But Vachier-Lagrave could rely on his theoretical knowledge and won the game. With this victory he is now number two on the virtual ranking list.

The new number two

Evgeniy Najer lost the theoretical duel

Rainer Buhmann and Ruslan Ponomariov fought a sharp battle in the Queen's Indian Defense. The German sacrificed a pawn in the opening but Ponomariov defended well and had the upper hand. But with a few inaccuracies Ponomariov let Buhmann back into the game - however, the German Grandmaster failed to grab these opportunities and lost.


Missing a draw

Buhmann-Ponomariov
Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu drew against Leinier Dominguez and is still unbeaten.

Results of round five
Games - Rounds 1 to 5
Standings after five rounds
Photos: Georgios Souleidis
Tournament page...