Karjakin Maintains Half-Point Lead in Beijing

Going into the first rest day, Sergey Karjakin has a half point lead over Shakhriyar Mamedyarov at the FIDE Grand Prix in Beijing. On Sunday the Russian GM drew a very theoretical game very quickly with Alexander Grischuk, and saw Mamedyarov winning a sharp Slav against Wang Hao. Alexander Morozevich defeated Boris Gelfand in a Grünfeld, and Wang Yue beat Gata Kamsky in a Symmetrical English.

Karjakin-Grischuk was a very sharp English Attack Sicilian, and you might consider it one of the most brilliant games of 2013... until somebody tells you that it was all theory! Well, almost. Grischuk had faced this variation already two times this year, against Rustam Kasimdzhanov and Peter Svidler, and so it was clear that the Russian knew all the ins and outs. Karjakin went for this line anyway "because of the tournament situation", as he said afterwards. And, because Black needs to make some only moves at the end: "I was hoping Alexander would not remember it" (Karjakin).

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov is now half a point behind Karjakin thanks to the following win against Wang Hao. You know you are in good shape when you get surprised by your opponent in the opening, you find yourself in a sharp position which he has prepared deeply, and you manage to find all the good moves and even get out of the complications with an advantage! This is what happened with Mamedyarov, who was better for most of the game. Just before move 40 he lost control for a moment, but Wang Hao missed 35...Kxe6!= and then lost anyway.

Vassily Ivanchuk plays so many openings that Veselin Topalov cannot have expected the 4...Qb6 Sicilian. His setup of both f4 and c4 wasn't very promising; Black could win the bishop pair and develop his pieces easily. A complicated middlegame followed where Black was a bit better, but Topalov used some good tactics to hold the balance.

Boris Gelfand surprised Alexander Morozevich with 7...Na6 in the Grünfeld, which Topalov also played earlier in the tournament. Morozevich decided to go for a sideline which doesn't promise White very much, but leads to a playable position. His bishop sacrifice on move 21 was a bolt from the blue; suddenly the board was on fire! Gelfand didn't dare to take it, but he should have: 21...Kxf7 22.d7 Rf8 23.Ng5+ Kg8  24. Qe4 Ne7 is OK for Black. In the game a second sacrifice was decisive; White answeres 22...Kxg6 with 23.Rd5+-.

Anish Giri and Peter Leko drew quickly in a Nimzo-Indian with 4.e3 and 5.Nge2, the line that was discussed by IM David Vigorito in our first Master's Bulletin. Leko said he could remember the setup with ...Nb6, ...a5 and ...c5, but still after 15.Bb2 he didn't feel too comfortable. The move 15...Bd6! was important, according to the Hungarian.

The last game to finish was Wang Yue vs. Gata Kamsky, a tough fight that lasted 81 moves, when the American had to resign in a rook ending. It was quite a good game by Wang Yue, who had been pressing for almost the whole the game. Maybe the rook ending was a draw somewhere with the pawn sac c5-c4 on move 53 or 57.

Monday is a rest day in Beijing. Play resumes on Tuesday with Karjakin defending his lead with Black against Gelfand; Mamedyarov has Black against Grischuk.

Beijing GP 2013 | Scores

Beijing GP 2013 | Round 4 standings

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.