Majestic Kramnik In Dortmund
What is it about the Dortmund tournament that seems to bring out the very best in Vladimir Kramnik?
The great Russian won another game in majestic style in the 5th round against Anish Giri to finish the first half of this double round-robin event with an amazing score of 4½/5.
It was also a memorable fifth round in the other games too. Le Quang Liem scored a crucial win against Ruslan Ponomariov to leap over him to #2 in the standings, while Georg Meier and Hikaru Nakamura fought out an astonishing 8-hour, 150 move draw!
Tomorrow is a rest day. Meier and Nakamura are going to need it!
The standings at the halfway point:
| 1 | Kramnik, Vladimir | RUS | 2781 | 4½ |
| 2 | Le, Quang Liem | VIE | 2715 | 3 |
| 3 | Ponomariov, Ruslan | UKR | 2764 | 2½ |
| 4 | Giri, Anish | NED | 2701 | 2 |
| 5 | Meier, Georg | GER | 2656 | 1½ |
| 6 | Nakamura, Hikaru | USA | 2770 | 1½ |
Russia has sorely missed the formidable Vladimir Kramnik at the World Team Championships
Le beat Ponomariov to claim 2nd place
A long and tough day for Nakamura who struggled to hold for a draw
The tournament runs from 21-31 July, with 26 July being a rest day. Games start at 3pm local time, except the final round which starts 2 hours earlier.
More information on this double round-robin event can be found at the official website (in German). The live games link is here.
Photos: Georgios Souleidis (official website)
