Gashimov and Radjabov lead in Elista

In a crazy game Gashimov defeated Grischuk to join the lead with his compatriot Radjabov, who drew with Leko. In this 5th round in Elista, Cheparinov won his first game, with Black against Inarkiev.

The 3rd Grand Prix takes place December 13-29 in Elista, Kalmykia. The 14 participants are Radjabov, Leko, Jakovenko, Wang Yue, Mamedyarov, Eljanov, Grischuk, Alekseev, Bacrot, Gashimov, Cheparinov, Akopian, Kasimdzhanov and Inarkiev. Rounds start daily at 15:00 local time (13:00 CET; 07:00 EST); rest days December 19 & 24; live games here.

Results Round 5, December 18 Mamedyarov-Kasimdzhanov ?Ǭ?-?Ǭ? Leko-Radjabov ?Ǭ?-?Ǭ? Jakovenko-Bacrot ?Ǭ?-?Ǭ? Inarkiev-Cheparinov 0-1 Gashimov-Grischuk 1-0 Eljanov-Akopian ?Ǭ?-?Ǭ? Alekseev-Wang Yue ?Ǭ?-?Ǭ?

Round 5

Gashimov did very well with an excellent win against Grischuk which might be theoretically important as well. He played the Poisened Pawn Najdorf with 8.Qd3!? and came up with the novelty 14.0-0 (compared to 14.g4!? as played in Radjabov-Rowson, Calvia OL 2004). His next move 15.Qc4! was a nice pointe - a rare thing to offer a queen exchange with White in this line!



However, Grischuk reacted quite well and kept his plus pawn for a while; he was certainly not worse. In fact, he'd been close to winning if he had gone for 37...Bxe2! 38.Rxe2 Qc6! but after a few more mistakes in timetrouble, Gashimov won a healthy pawn which he subsequently converted.



Cheparinov beat Inarkiev, and without much trouble, or so it seemed. He didn't go for the Scheveningen main lines but instead tried the old 7...Nbd7 line which was popular in the seventies. Inarkiev knew what he was doing and won Black's a-pawn, but then he let his opponent win back the pawn too easily. 22.Nc5? might be a mistake because of 23...Qxb2 (not played by Cheparinov) but 25.Bc4? was clearly wrong, where 25.Ra3 is necessary.



Eljanov-Akopian drew quickly and it was all known from analysis (see e.g. Sakaev-Gelfand, European Team Ch 2008) and Mamedyarov-Kasimdzhanov was another quick draw and not too interesting either. Jakovenko has quite a good score with White against the Berlin Wall, but still Bacrot went for it and held the draw. White did get a small edge, but this time it was not enough to win. Leko-Radjabov was a nice, positional Dragon that was always about equal and Wang Yue, well, again he was involved in the longest game, this time against Alekseev, and he almost won again. A great fight, recommended for replay too!















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Tomorrow is a rest day in Elista.

Pairings round 6, December 20

Kasimdzhanov-Wang Yue Akopian-Alekseev Grischuk-Eljanov Cheparinov-Gashimov Bacrot-Inarkiev Radjabov-Jakovenko Mamedyarov-Leko

Links:

• Tournament website
• Live games
• TWIC's games in PGN