Qatar 2015 Rd8: Carlsen smashes Mamedyarov

by ChessBase
12/28/2015 – After his recent success in the London Chess Classic which helped him to win the Grand Chess Tour, Magnus Carlsen is close to another tournament victory as he emerges as the sole leader with 6.5/8 at the end of the eighth round at the Qatar Masters. Kramnik and Yu Yangyi trail with 6.0/8 and hope for a miracle in the last round. Express report.

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Qatar Masters 2015

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Round eight

By Nisha Mohota

Photos by Amruta Mokal

Only three of the games on the top boards were decided, the others all ended in a draw. Magnus Carlsen outplayed Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in just 25 moves with Black and with 6.5/8 is now sole leader again. Carlsen commented after the game, “He can play extremely well but he doesn’t deal very well with bad trends in his games”. The Azeri grandmaster collapsed soon after getting a slightly unpleasant position out of the opening.

Magnus Carlsen has been in steamroller mode

Half a point behind Carlsen follow Vladimir Kramnik, who beat Sanan Sjugirov, and last year’s champion, Yu Yangyi, who won against Nils Grandelius from Sweden.

Vladimir Kramnik stopped the run of Sanan Sjugirov who started the round as one of three leaders. Kramnik had the white pieces and chose to play the London System which soon led to a complicated middlegame. Here Kramnik slowly gained the upper hand and finally won after 56 moves.

After his win in round eight Vladimir Kramnik has now a live-rating of 2801.

Last year Yu Yangyi won the tournament though he was half a point behind the leader before the last round. This year the Chinese Grandmaster is again trailing half a point behind the leader and will hope for a rerun of the 2014 tournament. In the last and final round Yu Yangyi will play with white against Wesley So while Carlsen has White against Kramnik.

Nils Grandelius (playing with White) during his game against Yu Yangyi

The untitled Chinese player Xu Yinglun (2470) continued his run with a draw against David Howell from England. With this draw Xu secured a GM norm - even if he loses in the final round. His fellow countryman, Chinese IM Lin Chen, kept his chances for a GM norm alive by drawing against Wesley So in round eight, while Indian IM Shardul Gagare, who won against Wei Yi in the first round, also inched closer to a GM norm by drawing against GM Daniele Vocaturo.

Photos by Amruta Mokal of ChessBase India

Replay games of round eight (with times per move)

Top pairings for round eight on 28.12.2015 at 15:00

Bd
No
Ti.
Name
Rtg
Pts
Res
Pts
Ti.
Name
Rtg
No
1
7
GM
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
2748
0-1
GM
Carlsen Magnus
2834
1
2
2
GM
Kramnik Vladimir
2796
5
1-0
GM
Sjugirov Sanan
2646
33
3
3
GM
Giri Anish
2784
5
½-½
5
GM
Ponomariov Ruslan
2710
17
4
4
GM
So Wesley
2775
5
½-½
5
IM
Lin Chen
2532
57
5
36
GM
Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son
2642
5
½-½
5
GM
Karjakin Sergey
2766
5
6
18
GM
Ni Hua
2693
5
½-½
5
GM
Harikrishna P.
2743
9
7
40
GM
Grandelius Nils
2632
5
0-1
5
GM
Yu Yangyi
2736
11
8
34
GM
Swiercz Dariusz
2646
5
½-½
5
GM
Vitiugov Nikita
2724
13
9
16
GM
Ivanchuk Vassily
2710
5
½-½
5
GM
Akopian Vladimir
2648
29
10
79
 
Xu Yinglun
2470
5
½-½
GM
Howell David W L
2688
20

Standings after eight rounds

Rk
SNo
Ti.
Name
FED
Rtg
Pts
 TB 
rtg+/-
1
1
GM
Carlsen Magnus
NOR
2834
6,5
2902
7,3
2
2
GM
Kramnik Vladimir
RUS
2796
6,0
2840
4,6
3
11
GM
Yu Yangyi
CHN
2736
6,0
2819
8,9
4
3
GM
Giri Anish
NED
2784
5,5
2837
6,1
5
79
 
Xu Yinglun
CHN
2470
5,5
2811
35,4
6
4
GM
So Wesley
USA
2775
5,5
2806
3,7
7
7
GM
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar
AZE
2748
5,5
2806
6,3
8
34
GM
Swiercz Dariusz
POL
2646
5,5
2787
15,6
9
46
GM
Zhang Zhong
SIN
2619
5,5
2776
17,0
10
5
GM
Karjakin Sergey
RUS
2766
5,5
2769
0,6
11
17
GM
Ponomariov Ruslan
UKR
2710
5,5
2752
4,8
12
33
GM
Sjugirov Sanan
RUS
2646
5,5
2750
11,9
13
9
GM
Harikrishna P.
IND
2743
5,5
2749
0,9
14
30
GM
Ganguly Surya Shekhar
IND
2648
5,5
2746
11,0
15
18
GM
Ni Hua
CHN
2693
5,5
2745
5,8
16
29
GM
Akopian Vladimir
ARM
2648
5,5
2705
6,4
17
13
GM
Vitiugov Nikita
RUS
2724
5,5
2692
-2,4
18
36
GM
Nguyen Ngoc Truong Son
VIE
2642
5,5
2685
5,3
19
57
IM
Lin Chen
CHN
2532
5,5
2675
15,2
20
16
GM
Ivanchuk Vassily
UKR
2710
5,5
2661
-4,3

Click for complete standings

Schedule for Playchess Commentary

Day Round Time English German
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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