Aronian Retains Lead In Closely Fought Nalchik GP
Back from their second rest day, the players were in fighting spirit in round 10 with five of the 7 games ending decisively. Alekseev had been joint leader with Aronian, but he lost to Grischuk to fall back into the pack. In contrast, Aronian (pictured) tortured Eljanov for 50 moves before the latter finally submitted.
Leko has been showing good form in Nalchik, and he played impressively again in round 10 to overcome Gelfand's Petroff defence.
Svidler blundered in time pressure against Mamedyarov to lose their encounter, while Akopian won a nice endgame against Bacrot.
However, the real winner of the round was the white pieces - all 5 wins came from the player with the first move!
The results in round 10:
| Aronian, Levon | Eljanov, Pavel | 1-0 | 50 | QGD 5.Bf4 |
| Leko, Peter | Gelfand, Boris | 1-0 | 43 | Petroff Defence |
| Akopian, Vladimir | Bacrot, Etienne | 1-0 | 57 | Sicilian Defence |
| Grischuk, Alexander | Alekseev, Evgeny | 1-0 | 52 | Nimzo Indian |
| Kamsky, Gata | Kasimdzhanov, Rustam | ½-½ | 36 | Petroff Defence |
| Karjakin, Sergey | Ivanchuk, Vassily | ½-½ | 40 | Sicilian Sveshnikov |
| Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | Svidler, Peter | 1-0 | 36 | Anti-Meran |
The standings after round 10:
| Aronian, Levon | ARM | 6½ |
| Leko, Peter | HUN | 6 |
| Alekseev, Evgeny | RUS | 5½ |
| Grischuk, Alexander | RUS | 5½ |
| Akopian, Vladimir | ARM | 5½ |
| Karjakin, Sergey | UKR | 5 |
| Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | AZE | 5 |
| Bacrot, Etienne | FRA | 5 |
| Svidler, Peter | RUS | 5 |
| Kamsky, Gata | USA | 4½ |
| Kasimdzhanov, Rustam | UZB | 4½ |
| Eljanov, Pavel | UKR | 4½ |
| Gelfand, Boris | ISR | 4 |
| Ivanchuk, Vassily | UKR | 3½ |
