Aronian Keeps on Winning in Wijk aan Zee
On Saturday Levon Aronian won yet again in round 6 of the Tata Steel tournament. The Armenian grandmaster beat Wesley So with the white pieces and increased his lead to a full point. Anish Giri and Sergey Karjakin are tied for second place. In the game between the two leaders of the Challengers Group, Baadur Jobava miraculously held the draw against Ivan Saric.
Levon Aronian is on a roll in Wijk aan Zee. In the 6th round the world's number 2 beat Wesley So, got his TPR above 3000 and his live rating to 2825.7 ("only" 46.3 points below Magnus Carlsen's). As so often, the Armenian made it look so easy! He showed his game in the press room and we're trying to get a video up, but in the mean time you can replay the game with his notes:
Sergey Karjakin joined Giri in second place as he beat Arkadij Naiditsch in an Open Catalan. It seemd like Naiditsch tricked his opponent in the opening, because Karjakin spent a lot of time early on. However, it was well spent and White got a tiny edge in an IQP position with just heavy pieces. Normally that shouldn't be enough to win, but with Karjakin's splended technique and a Naiditsch not in top shape, it was 1-0 this time.
Hikaru Nakamura wasn't too happy with his play, but he got away with a draw as Black against Leinier Dominguez. The Cuban didn't shy away from the Berlin Ending's complications and he probably missed one or two chances for a big advantage.
Like Giri, Loek van Wely missed a win - in fact several. He really should have won this game against Rapport:
It was really a round of missed opportunities. Pentala Harikrisna got an ending with an extra Exchange, but failed to convert it against Fabiano Caruana:
Tata Steel 2014 | Masters | Round 6 Standings
| # | Name | Rtg | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | Pts | SB |
| 1 | Aronian | 2812 |  |
1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 5.0/6 | ||||||
| 2 | Giri | 2734 | |
½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 4.0/6 | 9.25 | |||||
| 3 | Karjakin | 2759 | |
0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4.0/6 | 8.00 | |||||
| 4 | Dominguez | 2754 | ½ | |
1 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 3.5/6 | 10.00 | |||||
| 5 | Caruana | 2782 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
½ | 1 | 1 | 3.5/6 | 9.00 | |||||
| 6 | So | 2719 | 0 | ½ | |
½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 3.5/6 | 7.50 | |||||
| 7 | Harikrishna | 2706 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | |
½ | 3.0/6 | 10.75 | |||||
| 8 | Nakamura | 2789 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
½ | 1 | 3.0/6 | 7.25 | |||||
| 9 | Van Wely | 2672 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | |
½ | 2.0/6 | 6.25 | |||||
| 10 | Rapport | 2691 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | |
1 | 2.0/6 | 5.00 | |||||
| 11 | Gelfand | 2777 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | |
½ | 1.5/6 | ||||||
| 12 | Naiditsch | 2718 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | |
1.0/6 |
xxx
The Challengers group saw an amazing game between the two leaders, Ivan Saric and Baadur Jobava. The way the Georgian GM held the draw with Black was pure magic.
Tata Steel 2014 | Challengers | Round 7 Standings
| # | Name | Rtg | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Pts | SB |
| 1 | Saric | 2637 | |
½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5.5/7 | 16.00 | ||||||
| 2 | Jobava | 2710 | ½ | |
½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 5.5/7 | 15.75 | ||||||
| 3 | Muzychuk | 2566 | ½ | |
½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 5.0/7 | |||||||
| 4 | Timman | 2607 | ½ | ½ | |
½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4.5/7 | |||||||
| 5 | Bok | 2560 | ½ | ½ | |
1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 0 | 4.0/7 | 14.50 | ||||||
| 6 | Wojtaszek | 2711 | 0 | |
0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4.0/7 | 8.00 | ||||||
| 7 | Yu | 2677 | 1 | 0 | |
0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | 3.5/7 | |||||||
| 8 | Reinderman | 2593 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | |
0 | 3.0/7 | 12.00 | ||||||
| 9 | Duda | 2553 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | |
1 | 1 | 3.0/7 | 9.75 | ||||||
| 10 | Brunello | 2602 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | |
½ | ½ | 3.0/7 | 9.50 | ||||||
| 11 | Troff | 2457 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |
1 | 3.0/7 | 9.25 | ||||||
| 12 | Zhao | 2567 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | ½ | |
½ | 1 | 3.0/7 | 6.50 | ||||||
| 13 | Van Delft | 2430 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | |
1 | 2.0/7 | |||||||
| 14 | Goudriaan | 2431 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
0.0/7 |
The Tata Steel tournament runs 11-26 January and is held in Wijk aan Zee, Amsterdam and Eindhoven. You can find the official website here and the live games here. The live streaming commentary can also be found here on Chess.com!
