Candidates Matches - Finals Round 1
Today the finals got under way in Elista. The 8 winners from the first round of matches are now matched against each other to find 4 players to go forward to the World Chess Championship in Mexico in September.
The finals matches are:
- Aronian v Shirov
- Leko v Bareev
- Grischuk v Rublevsky
- Kamsky v Gelfand
Shirov played the QGA against Aronian and got a promising game following an exchange sacrifice. However, his position turned sour and ended with a blunder on the last move before the time control.
Leko had more success against Bareev's Caro-Kann than his compatriot Judit Polgar. Bareev attempted a combination with 31...Bxg3 but whatever he had in mind, he must have missed something and he resigned just 3 moves later.
Grischuk blew away Rublevsky in an exciting Sicilian. A knight sacrifice on d5 was the key move of the game. Impressive stuff!
Kamsky and Gelfand managed the rare feat of playing an uneventful draw in a Sicilian!
