Carlsen Defeats Topalov In Nanjing

If the first half of the Nanjing Pearl Spring tournament is anything to go by, Magnus Carlsen seems to have recovered from his recent loss of form.

In round five Carlsen thrashed Topalov to maintain his tournament lead at the halfway point.  It was a strangely low-key effort from Topalov who seems to have lost some of his spark since his unsuccessful title challenge against Anand.

Another decisive game in the round saw Bacrot beat Wang Yue with the black pieces to score his third win a row to keep up the chase behind Carlsen.

After his shock loss yesterday, Anand was more circumspect in round five and settled for a quick draw against Gashimov.

Tomorrow (Monday) is a rest day, so the second half of the tournament kicks off with round six on Tuesday.  Bacrot will have white against Carlsen in a contest that could easily decide the fate of the tournament.  Anand and Topalov will have black against Wang Yue and Gashimov respectively.