Qatar 2015 R05: Carlsen leads, eight follow

by Nisha Mohota
12/24/2015 – It was one of the most entertaining days at the Qatar open with some great masterpieces of contrasting nature for the fans. While Magnus Carlsen won a brilliant attacking game against the Chinese GM Li Chao to emerge as the sole leader with 4.5/5 points, Vladimir Kramnik displayed his usual endgame expertise to squeeze out a win from what looked like a completely drawn position. Express report.
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Qatar Masters 2015 Round five express

Full report from Doha will follow...

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Magnus Carlsen was in his element today! In a Grunfeld with 3.f3 that led to a sharp middlegame in which White wanted to attack on the kingside and Black on the queenside. Magnus first played some quiet defensive moves but then sacrificed his a-pawn with 17.h4 – the beginning of a very smooth attack. A few moves later he had blown open Li Chao’s kingside. Finally, Li had to give his queen not to get mated. After Carlsen had parried all counterthreats and the dust had settled he was winning.

After 17.h4!, the fans were glued to their computer screens and treated to a fine attacking display by Carlsen.

Carlsen won in 36 moves to become the first sole leader of the tournament.
He enters the rest day with 4.5/5.

The clash of the two elite players, Anish Giri and Wesley So ended in a fighting draw after 62 moves


The clash on board three between Maxim Matlakov and Vladimir Kramnik seemed to be heading towards a draw after the opening and the beginning of the middlegame. However, Kramnik showed what he is very good at – squeezing out a win from a very slight edge. He kept posing small problems to his opponent and reached a promising queen ending in which he sacrificed a pawn to push his passed d-pawn that finally helped him win!

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov continued to play exciting and entertaining chess. With his novelty 10.b4 he created a complicated and unbalanced position. Objectively, this was anything but sound but after his opponent Denis Khismatullin missed a couple of good opportunities to win or to get a clear advantage Mamedyarov finally managed to turn the tables and won in 38 moves.

The final position in the game Nikita Vitiugov vs. Zhang Zhong game. Black to move resigned
because he cannot parry White's threat against g7. A picturesque finish!

Video impressions from round five by Vijay Kumar

Photos by Katerina Savina

Pairings/Results Round 5 on 24.12.2015

Bo. Ti. Name Rtg
Pts.
Res.
Pts.
 Ti. Name Rtg
1 GM Carlsen Magnus 2834
3½
1-0
3½
 GM Li Chao B 2750
2 GM Giri Anish 2784
3½
½-½
3½
 GM So Wesley 2775
3 GM Matlakov Maxim 2684
3½
0-1
3
 GM Kramnik Vladimir 2796
4 GM Karjakin Sergey 2766
3
1-0
3
 GM Dubov Daniil 2655
5 GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 2748
3
1-0
3
 GM Khismatullin Denis 2654
6 GM Yu Yangyi 2736
3
1-0
3
   Xu Yinglun 2470
7 GM Bologan Viktor 2654
3
½-½
3
 GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw 2723
8 GM Korobov Anton 2713
3
0-1
3
 GM Swiercz Dariusz 2646
9 GM Salem A.R. Saleh 2622
3
½-½
3
 GM Ni Hua 2693
10 GM Howell David W L 2688
3
0-1
3
 GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar 2648
11 GM Sjugirov Sanan 2646
3
½-½
3
 GM Hou Yifan 2683
12 IM Vignesh N R 2422
3
½-½
3
 GM Fedoseev Vladimir 2664
13 GM Harikrishna P. 2743
2½
1-0
2½
 GM Ipatov Alexander 2619
14 GM Bromberger Stefan 2521
2½
0-1
2½
 GM Jakovenko Dmitry 2737
15 GM Vitiugov Nikita 2724
2½
1-0
2½
 GM Zhang Zhong 2619
16 IM Gagare Shardul 2470
2½
½-½
2½
 GM Ivanchuk Vassily 2710
17 GM Ponomariov Ruslan 2710
2½
1-0
2½
 GM Bluebaum Matthias 2590
18 GM Moiseenko Alexander 2689
2½
0-1
2½
 GM Tregubov Pavel V. 2589
19 GM Adhiban B. 2669
2½
0-1
2½
 GM Al-Sayed Mohammed 2520
20 IM Wang Yiye 2438
2½
½-½
2½
 GM Duda Jan-Krzysztof 2663
21 GM Akopian Vladimir 2648
2½
½-½
2½
 GM Kosteniuk Alexandra 2542
22 GM Khairullin Ildar 2647
2½
½-½
2½
 IM Yuffa Daniil 2504
23 GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi 2644
2½
1-0
2½
 GM Sundararajan Kidambi 2513
24 WGM Abdumalik Zhansaya 2390
2½
0-1
2½
 GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son 2642
25   Raja Harshit 2325
2½
½-½
2½
 GM Sasikiran Krishnan 2638
26 IM Pham Le Thao Nguyen 2319
2½
½-½
2½
 GM Grandelius Nils 2632
27 GM Stefanova Antoaneta 2521
2
0-1
2
 GM Tomashevsky Evgeny 2744
28 GM Harika Dronavalli 2513
2
+ - -
2
 GM Shankland Samuel L 2646
29 GM Sethuraman S.P. 2639
2
1-0
2
 IM Sunilduth Lyna Narayanan 2494
30 GM Schroeder Jan-Christian 2511
2
0-1
2
 GM Piorun Kacper 2637
31 GM Naroditsky Daniel 2628
2
1-0
2
 IM Puranik Abhimanyu 2442
32 WGM Goryachkina Aleksandra 2493
2
0-1
2
 GM Lenderman Aleksandr 2626
33 GM Shoker Samy 2489
2
0-1
2
 GM Bartel Mateusz 2620
34 GM Lu Shanglei 2618
2
1-0
2
   Mohammad Nubairshah Shaikh 2414
35 IM Sagar Shah 2441
2
0-1
2
 GM Hamdouchi Hicham 2597
36 GM Vocaturo Daniele 2597
2
½-½
2
 IM Abhishek Kelkar 2393
37 IM Aryan Chopra 2436
2
½-½
2
 GM Bok Benjamin 2594
38 GM Esen Baris 2562
2
1-0
2
   Firouzja Alireza 2372
39 FM Rohan Ahuja 2426
2
½-½
2
 GM Rambaldi Francesco 2560
40 IM Lin Chen 2532
2
1-0
2
 IM Tissir Mohamed 2346
41 GM Xu Jun 2526
2
1-0
2
   Roy Prantik 2370
42 WGM Saduakassova Dinara 2407
2
0-1
1½
 IM Svane Rasmus 2529
43 IM Vogel Roven 2439
1½
0-1
1½
 GM Wei Yi 2730
44 GM Khotenashvili Bela 2496
1½
½-½
1½
 FM Basso Pier Luigi 2438
45   Fang Yuxiang 2438
1½
½-½
1½
 GM Zhukova Natalia 2488
46 IM Padmini Rout 2437
1½
0-1
1½
 GM Aravindh Chithambaram Vr. 2486
47 IM Saiyn Zhanat 2394
1½
½-½
1½
 IM Tabatabaei M.Amin 2482
48 GM Krush Irina 2468
1½
0-1
1½
 IM Karavade Eesha 2379
49 FM Li Di 2389
1½
1-0
1½
 FM Moroni Luca Jr 2466
50 IM Christiansen Johan-Sebastian 2385
1½
0-1
1½
 IM Ma Zhonghan 2463
51 IM Ali Marandi Cemil Can 2454
1½
1-0
1½
   Dai Changren 2328
52 IM Khademalsharieh Sarasadat 2380
1½
½-½
1½
 IM Lorparizangeneh Shahin 2454
53 IM Guramishvili Sopiko 2368
1½
½-½
1½
 IM Kashlinskaya Alina 2448
54 WIM Pratyusha Bodda 2260
1½
½-½
1½
 IM Firat Burak 2446
55 GM Dzagnidze Nana 2559
1
1-0
1½
 FM Goriatchkin Jouri 2318
56 IM Nezad Husein Aziz 2425
1
1-0
1
 IM Batsiashvili Nino 2498
57 IM Ezat Mohamed 2490
1
½-½
1
 IM Seyb Alexander 2425
58 IM Sanal Vahap 2487
1
1-0
1
 WGM Pourkashiyan Atousa 2322
59 GM Neelotpal Das 2475
1
½-½
1
 FM Gholami Aryan 2422
60 IM Ly Moulthun 2462
1
1-0
1
 IM Konguvel Ponnuswamy 2377
61 FM Haria Ravi 2416
1
0-1
1
 GM Carlsson Pontus 2433
62 FM Abdusattorov Nodirbek 2429
1
0-1
1
 WFM Vaishali R 2313
63 IM Li Ruofan 2372
½
0-1
½
 GM Venkatesh M.R. 2451
64 WGM Bartel Marta 2271
½
1-0
½
   Siva Mahadevan 2400
65 IM Slavin Alexey 2388
½
0-1
½
 WIM Bivol Alina 2344
66 WIM Derakhshani Dorsa 2307
½
½-½
0
 IM Piasetski Leon 2287

Standings after five rounds

Rk. SNo   Name FED Rtg Pts.  TB1 
1 1 GM Carlsen Magnus NOR 2834 4,5 2946
2 3 GM Giri Anish NED 2784 4,0 2915
3 4 GM So Wesley USA 2775 4,0 2888
4 5 GM Karjakin Sergey RUS 2766 4,0 2848
5 2 GM Kramnik Vladimir RUS 2796 4,0 2848
6 7 GM Mamedyarov Shakhriyar AZE 2748 4,0 2848
7 34 GM Swiercz Dariusz POL 2646 4,0 2827
8 11 GM Yu Yangyi CHN 2736 4,0 2807
9 30 GM Ganguly Surya Shekhar IND 2648 4,0 2778
10 6 GM Li Chao B CHN 2750 3,5 2822
11 43 GM Salem A.R. Saleh UAE 2622 3,5 2817
12 102 IM Vignesh N R IND 2422 3,5 2809
13 14 GM Wojtaszek Radoslaw POL 2723 3,5 2756
14 21 GM Matlakov Maxim RUS 2684 3,5 2722
15 9 GM Harikrishna P. IND 2743 3,5 2720
16 17 GM Ponomariov Ruslan UKR 2710 3,5 2711
17 62 GM Al-Sayed Mohammed QAT 2520 3,5 2691
18 27 GM Bologan Viktor MDA 2654 3,5 2690
19 18 GM Ni Hua CHN 2693 3,5 2684
20 10 GM Jakovenko Dmitry RUS 2737 3,5 2684
21 22 GM Hou Yifan CHN 2683 3,5 2676
22 33 GM Sjugirov Sanan RUS 2646 3,5 2673
23 13 GM Vitiugov Nikita RUS 2724 3,5 2646
24 24 GM Fedoseev Vladimir RUS 2664 3,5 2610
25 52 GM Tregubov Pavel V. RUS 2589 3,5 2610
26 35 GM Vidit Santosh Gujrathi IND 2644 3,5 2601
27 36 GM Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son VIE 2642 3,5 2579
28 78 IM Gagare Shardul IND 2470 3,0 2756
29 79   Xu Yinglun CHN 2470 3,0 2750
30 39 GM Piorun Kacper POL 2637 3,0 2718
31 56 GM Kosteniuk Alexandra RUS 2542 3,0 2683

... 132 players

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.f3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5.e4 Nb6 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.Be3 0-0 8.Qd2 Nc6 9.0-0-0 f5 10.e5 Nb4 11.Nh3 Qe8 12.Kb1 a5 13.Be2 c6 14.Rc1 Kh8 15.Ka1 Be6 16.Nf4 Qf7 17.h4 Bxa2 18.h5 Kg8 19.hxg6 hxg6 20.g4 Bb3 21.Bd1 a4 22.Qh2 Rfd8 23.Qh7+ Kf8 24.d5 Nc4 25.Nxg6+ Ke8 26.e6 a3 27.exf7+ Kd7 28.Ne5+ Bxe5 29.Qxf5+ Kc7 30.Qxe5+ Nxe5 31.Bxb3 axb2+ 32.Kxb2 Nbd3+ 33.Kb1 Nxc1 34.Rxc1 Kc8 35.dxc6 bxc6 36.f4 1–0
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Carlsen,M2834Li,C27501–02015D70Qatar Masters Open 20155.1
Giri,A2784So,W2775½–½2015A07Qatar Masters Open 20155.2
Matlakov,M2684Kramnik,V27960–12015D55Qatar Masters Open 20155.3
Karjakin,S2766Dubov,D26551–02015B35Qatar Masters Open 20155.4
Mamedyarov,S2748Khismatullin,D26541–02015E12Qatar Masters Open 20155.5
Yu,Y2736Xu,Y24701–02015C02Qatar Masters Open 20155.6
Bologan,V2654Wojtaszek,R2723½–½2015B11Qatar Masters Open 20155.7
Korobov,A2713Swiercz,D26460–12015D70Qatar Masters Open 20155.8
Salem,A2622Ni,H2693½–½2015C42Qatar Masters Open 20155.9
Howell,D2688Ganguly,S26480–12015A14Qatar Masters Open 20155.10
Sjugirov,S2646Hou,Y2683½–½2015A33Qatar Masters Open 20155.11
Vignesh,N2422Fedoseev,V2664½–½2015A40Qatar Masters Open 20155.12
Harikrishna,P2743Ipatov,A26191–02015C67Qatar Masters Open 20155.13
Bromberger,S2521Jakovenko,D27370–12015B84Qatar Masters Open 20155.14
Vitiugov,N2724Zhang,Z26191–02015C19Qatar Masters Open 20155.15
Gagare,S2470Ivanchuk,V2710½–½2015D38Qatar Masters Open 20155.16
Ponomariov,R2710Bluebaum,M25901–02015C11Qatar Masters Open 20155.17
Moiseenko,A2689Tregubov,P25890–12015D17Qatar Masters Open 20155.18
Adhiban,B2669Al-Sayed,M25200–12015C26Qatar Masters Open 20155.19
Wang,Y2438Duda,J2663½–½2015B51Qatar Masters Open 20155.20
Akopian,V2648Kosteniuk,A2542½–½2015B30Qatar Masters Open 20155.21
Khairullin,I2647Yuffa,D2504½–½2015A58Qatar Masters Open 20155.22
Vidit,S2644Sundararajan,K25131–02015E11Qatar Masters Open 20155.23
Abdumalik,Z2390Nguyen,N26420–12015C92Qatar Masters Open 20155.24
Raja Harshit2325Sasikiran,K2638½–½2015B01Qatar Masters Open 20155.25
Pham,L2319Grandelius,N2632½–½2015B40Qatar Masters Open 20155.26
Stefanova,A2521Tomashevsky,E27440–12015A05Qatar Masters Open 20155.27
Harika,D2513Shankland,S26461–02015A01Qatar Masters Open 20155.28
Sethuraman,S2639Sunilduth Lyna,N24941–02015C96Qatar Masters Open 20155.29
Schroeder,J2511Piorun,K26370–12015B49Qatar Masters Open 20155.30
Naroditsky,D2628Puranik,A24421–02015D70Qatar Masters Open 20155.31
Goryachkina,A2493Lenderman,A26260–12015A40Qatar Masters Open 20155.32
Shoker,S2489Bartel,M26200–12015B50Qatar Masters Open 20155.33
Lu,S2618Mohammad,N24141–02015B10Qatar Masters Open 20155.34
Sagar,S2441Hamdouchi,H25970–12015D74Qatar Masters Open 20155.35
Vocaturo,D2597Abhishek,K23930–12015A23Qatar Masters Open 20155.36
Aryan,C2436Bok,B2594½–½2015C65Qatar Masters Open 20155.37
Esen,B2562Firouzja,A23721–02015E60Qatar Masters Open 20155.38
Rohan,A2426Rambaldi,F2560½–½2015A37Qatar Masters Open 20155.39
Lin,C2532Tissir,M23461–02015B56Qatar Masters Open 20155.40
Xu,J2526Roy,P23701–02015E11Qatar Masters Open 20155.41
Saduakassova,D2407Svane,R2529½–½2015E21Qatar Masters Open 20155.42
Vogel,R2439Wei,Y27300–12015A37Qatar Masters Open 20155.43
Khotenashvili,B2496Basso,P2438½–½2015A07Qatar Masters Open 20155.44
Fang,Y2438Zhukova,N2488½–½2015A13Qatar Masters Open 20155.45
Padmini,R2437Aravindh,C24860–12015B06Qatar Masters Open 20155.46
Saiyn,Z2394Tabatabaei,M2482½–½2015D85Qatar Masters Open 20155.47
Krush,I2468Karavade,E23790–12015A10Qatar Masters Open 20155.48
Li,D2389Moroni,L24661–02015A40Qatar Masters Open 20155.49
Christiansen,J2385Ma,Z24630–12015A20Qatar Masters Open 20155.50
Ali Marandi,C2454Dai,C23281–02015A05Qatar Masters Open 20155.51
Khademalsharieh,S2380Lorparizangeneh,S2454½–½2015A39Qatar Masters Open 20155.52
Guramishvili,S2368Kashlinskaya,A2448½–½2015A13Qatar Masters Open 20155.53
Pratyusha,B2260Firat,B2446½–½2015D85Qatar Masters Open 20155.54
Dzagnidze,N2559Goriatchkin,J23181–02015A13Qatar Masters Open 20155.55
Nezad,H2425Batsiashvili,N24981–02015D31Qatar Masters Open 20155.56
Ezat,M2490Seyb,A2425½–½2015D92Qatar Masters Open 20155.57
Sanal,V2487Pourkashiyan,A23221–02015A07Qatar Masters Open 20155.58
Neelotpal,D2475Gholami,A2422½–½2015B40Qatar Masters Open 20155.59
Ly,M2462Konguvel,P23771–02015B80Qatar Masters Open 20155.60
Haria,R2416Carlsson,P24330–12015A05Qatar Masters Open 20155.61
Abdusattorov,N2429Vaishali,R23130–12015C78Qatar Masters Open 20155.62
Li,R2372Venkatesh,M24510–12015A40Qatar Masters Open 20155.63
Bartel,M2271Siva,M24001–02015D10Qatar Masters Open 20155.64
Slavin,A2388Bivol,A23440–12015A15Qatar Masters Open 20155.65
Derakhshani,D2307Piasetski,L2287½–½2015B16Qatar Masters Open 20155.66

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Schedule for Playchess Commentary

Day Round Time English German
Wed 23 December  Round 4 3 PM Daniel King Thomas Luther
Thu 24 December  Round 5 3 PM Simon Williams Thomas Luther
Fri 25 December  Rest day      
Sat 26 December  Round 6 3 PM Mihail Marin Thomas Luther
Sun 27 December  Round 7 3 PM Simon Williams Sebastian Siebrecht
Mon 28 December  Round 8 3 PM Daniel King Sebastian Siebrecht
Tue 29 December  Round 9 12 PM Yasser Seirawan Sebastian Siebrecht

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Nisha Mohota became India’s youngest WIM in 1995 and India’s fourth WGM in 2003. Since February 2011 she has been a full IM – her highest ever Elo rating was 2416. She has represented India in 25 countries, playing for India in the 2004, 2008 and 2010 Olympiads. Her first love, chess, helps her continue her other passion: writing, photography and travelling.

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