Leaders Lose in Beijing
After a penultimate round with some unexpected results, the top of the leaderboard at the FIDE Grand Prix didn't change much on Monday. Shakhriyar Mamedyarov (Azerbaijan) lost to Alexander Morozevich (Russia), but kept his half-point lead as runner-up Alexander Grischuk (Russia) also lost, to Boris Gelfand of Israel. Veselin Topalov (Bulgaria) was defeated in just 23 moves by Anish Giri (Netherlands) and Gata Kamsky (USA) won his first game, against Vassily Ivanchuk (Ukraine).
Shakhriyar Mamedyarov never really got into the game and suffered from the start. His 8...Qd5!? was playable, but according to Alexander Morozevich Black should definitely have prevented 14.Na5 with the move 13...a5. "It's nothing special but the knight on a5 is extremely annoying," said Morozevich, who continued criticizing his opponent's knight play Ne8-f6-d5 (instead of Ne8-d6): "The knights stands worse on d5 than on d6." As it went, White's breakthrough on the queenside decided the game quickly.
In this crazy round Veselin Topalov, in shared third place after nine rounds and the leader in the overall Grand Prix standings, got beaten in a mere 23 moves by 19-year-old Anish Giri! The Bulgarian's piece sacrifice was simply incorrect and afterwards he admitted: "I overestimated my position."
Playing his pet opening, the London System, for the second time, Kamsky beat Ivanchuk in 34 moves. The American needed some help from his opponent, because out of the opening it was Black who had the advantage. Ivanchuk suggested the move 15...Bf5 instead of 15...Bg4 at the press conference, and also didn't like his 27...b5. Kamsky agreed and thought that the ending was about equal after 27...Re8.
About six years ago the Petroff Defence was one of the most popular defenses against 1.e4 at top level, but these days it's much less fashionable for no particular reason. Wang Yue decided to play it against Sergey Karjakin, and the two followed the important game Anand-D.Fridman, Baden-Baden 2013 for 19 moves. One move later the Chinese also deviated from an older game Shirov-Gashimov, Sestao 2010. The passive 23...Bh7 allowed White to create chances on the kingside, but Karjakin missed the strong 26.Bf3! after which Black's problems were over.
The other Chinese grandmaster equalized even quicker with Black against Peter Leko (Hungary). Wang Hao was well prepared for the Exchange Slav, improved upon the game Aronian-Nakamura, Sandnes 2013 with 11...Nd7! and the theoretical novelty 15...Bg5! basically killed all play in the position.
Don't forget that on Tuesday the final round starts two hours earlier, so 13:00 CST (07:00 CET, 01:00 EDT).
Beijing GP 2013 | Scores
| Round 1 | 15:00 CST | 04.07.13 | Round 2 | 15:00 CST | 05.07.13 | |
| Giri | 0-1 | Karjakin | Karjakin | 1-0 | Wang Hao | |
| Morozevich | ½-½ | Wang Yue | Grischuk | ½-½ | Ivanchuk | |
| Gelfand | 0-1 | Topalov | Mamedyarov | ½-½ | Kamsky | |
| Leko | ½-½ | Mamedyarov | Topalov | ½-½ | Leko | |
| Kamsky | 0-1 | Grischuk | Wang Yue | ½-½ | Gelfand | |
| Ivanchuk | ½-½ | Wang Hao | Giri | ½-½ | Morozevich | |
| Round 3 | 15:00 CST | 06.07.13 | Round 4 | 15:00 CST | 07.07.13 | |
| Morozevich | 0-1 | Karjakin | Karjakin | ½-½ | Grischuk | |
| Gelfand | 0-1 | Giri | Mamedyarov | 1-0 | Wang Hao | |
| Leko | ½-½ | Wang Yue | Topalov | ½-½ | Ivanchuk | |
| Kamsky | ½-½ | Topalov | Wang Yue | 1-0 | Kamsky | |
| Ivanchuk | 0-1 | Mamedyarov | Giri | ½-½ | Leko | |
| Wang Hao | ½-½ | Grischuk | Morozevich | 1-0 | Gelfand | |
| Round 5 | 15:00 CST | 09.07.13 | Round 6 | 15:00 CST | 10.07.13 | |
| Gelfand | ½-½ | Karjakin | Karjakin | 0-1 | Mamedyarov | |
| Leko | ½-½ | Morozevich | Topalov | ½-½ | Grischuk | |
| Kamsky | 0-1 | Giri | Wang Yue | 1-0 | Wang Hao | |
| Ivanchuk | 1-0 | Wang Yue | Giri | ½-½ | Ivanchuk | |
| Wang Hao | ½-½ | Topalov | Morozevich | 1-0 | Kamsky | |
| Grischuk | 1-0 | Mamedyarov | Gelfand | ½-½ | Leko | |
| Round 7 | 15:00 CST | 11.07.13 | Round 8 | 15:00 CST | 12.07.13 | |
| Leko | 1-0 | Karjakin | Karjakin | 0-1 | Topalov | |
| Kamsky | ½-½ | Gelfand | Wang Yue | ½-½ | Mamedyarov | |
| Ivanchuk | 1-0 | Morozevich | Giri | ½-½ | Grischuk | |
| Wang Hao | 1-0 | Giri | Morozevich | ½-½ | Wang Hao | |
| Grischuk | 1-0 | Wang Yue | Gelfand | 1-0 | Ivanchuk | |
| Mamedyarov | 1-0 | Topalov | Leko | ½-½ | Kamsky | |
| Round 9 | 15:00 CST | 14.07.13 | Round 10 | 15:00 CST | 15.07.13 | |
| Kamsky | ½-½ | Karjakin | Karjakin | ½-½ | Wang Yue | |
| Ivanchuk | ½-½ | Leko | Giri | 1-0 | Topalov | |
| Wang Hao | ½-½ | Gelfand | Morozevich | 1-0 | Mamedyarov | |
| Grischuk | ½-½ | Morozevich | Gelfand | 1-0 | Grischuk | |
| Mamedyarov | 1-0 | Giri | Leko | ½-½ | Wang Hao | |
| Topalov | ½-½ | Wang Yue | Kamsky | 1-0 | Ivanchuk | |
| Round 11 | 13:00 CST | 16.07.13 | ||||
| Ivanchuk | - | Karjakin | ||||
| Wang Hao | - | Kamsky | ||||
| Grischuk | - | Leko | ||||
| Mamedyarov | - | Gelfand | ||||
| Topalov | - | Morozevich | ||||
| Wang Yue | - | Giri |
Beijing GP 2013 | Round 10 standings
| # | Player | Rating | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | Points | SB |
| 1 | Mamedyarov,Shakhriyar | 2761 | * | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 6.5/10 | ||
| 2 | Grischuk,Alexander | 2780 | 1 | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 6.0/10 | ||
| 3 | Morozevich,Alexander | 2736 | 1 | ½ | * | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 5.5/10 | 27.25 | |
| 4 | Leko,Peter | 2737 | ½ | ½ | * | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 5.5/10 | 26.75 | |
| 5 | Karjakin,Sergey | 2776 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | * | 0 | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | 5.0/10 | 24.00 | |
| 6 | Topalov,Veselin | 2767 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | * | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 5.0/10 | 23.75 | |
| 7 | Giri,Anish | 2734 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 1 | * | ½ | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5.0/10 | 23.75 | |
| 8 | Wang Yue | 2705 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 5.0/10 | 23.50 | |
| 9 | Ivanchuk,Vassily | 2733 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | * | 0 | ½ | 0 | 4.5/10 | 23.25 | |
| 10 | Gelfand,Boris | 2773 | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 1 | * | ½ | ½ | 4.5/10 | 22.00 | |
| 11 | Wang Hao | 2752 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | * | 4.0/10 | ||
| 12 | Kamsky,Gata | 2763 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 1 | ½ | * | 3.5/10 |
The 5th Grand Prix takes place 4-16 July, 2013 in Beijing, China. The games start 15:00 CST (09:00 CET, 03:00 EDT); the final round starts two hours earlier. Tournament website: http://beijing2013.fide.com. Photos by Anastasiya Karlovich courtesy of FIDE. Games via TWIC.
