Jermuk R3: Alekseev beats Inarkiev, six draws

Fifth FIDE Grand Prix in Jermuk, Armenia

This event is taking place from August 8th-24th 2009. It is a Category 19 tournament, with eleven of the 14 players rated over 2700. The event is a memorial to former world champion Tigran Petrosian, who held the title from 1963–1969 and would have turned 80 on June 17th this year.

Round three

Today's round saw six draws in seven games. Cheparinov-Aronian and Kamsky-Akopian finished rather rapidly, ending in 28 and 29 moves respectively. Eljanov-Karajakin and Kasimdzhanov-Jakavenko showed more spunk, with the former being a 70-move struggle in the Queen's Indian and the latter a 52-move exploration of the Queen's Gambit Declined with 5.Bf4. Unfortunately, the conclusions in these never seemed much in doubt.

Gata Kamsky kibitzing Cheparinov vs Aronian...

...while Dmitry Jakovenko follows the game Ivanchuk vs Leko

The King's Indian can make you thirsty, as these players in round three clearly show

Thankfully, Alekseev-Inarkiev was there to spare the audience from the taste of a wholly indecisive day. After 73 moves, Alekseev managed to bring the point home on the white side of a Classical King's Indian. Unfortunately, already having suffered a loss in the previous round, Alekseev's win was not enough to affect the leaderboard. So, we still see Aronian, Cheparinov and Leko sitting comfortably atop, each now holding 2.0/3 scores.

Hasn't yet reached take-off speed: GM Ernesto Inarkiev with 0.5/3

Postgame analysis with Inarkiev, IM Lilit Mkrtchian, and Alekseev

Current standings

Beautiful, idyllic Jermuk

Now isn't that a great move? Kibitzers in the park

Honored guest and chess legend Svetozar Gligoric, 86, in Jermuk

Board girls resting during the rigors of outdoor demos

Yet another draw – the cross table of the Grand Prix in Jermuk is updated

All pictures by courtesy of FIDE

FIDE Grand Prix Jermuk 2009 – Schedule and results

The games start at 15:00h Armenian time (12:00 noon CEST, 11:00h London, 6 a.m. New York and 3 a.m. California). Full live coverage, including discussion and analysis with thousands of other visitors, is available on Playchess.

Links Full information on the FIDE site All ChessBase reports on the Jermuk GP 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 the free PGN reader ChessBase Light, which gives you immediate access. You can also use the program to read, replay and analyse PGN games. New and enhanced: CB Light 2009!