Beijing GP: Three-way Tie As Mamedyarov Beats Karjakin
In what was a truly dramatic game, Shakhriyar Mamedyarov defeated Sergey Karjakin on Wednesday to join his opponent in the lead at the FIDE Grand Prix in Beijing. Alexander Grischuk, who drew with Black against Veselin Topalov, is the third player at the top of the leaderboard. There were two other decisive games this round: Wang Yue beat Wang Hao and Alexander Morozevich won against Gata Kamsky, who is having a disastrous tournament with a 1.0/6 score.
Like anyone else, (top) professionals hate losing. That's a fact. But you can imagine that a loss with White against the Petroff must feel even worse! Karjakin's kingside expansion with h3 and g4 was known, but at the press conference Mamedyarov said he didn't like it. Black was soon better and remained a pawn up in an ending. It was extremely difficult to win but of course Mamedyarov tried and tried, until he reached a winning position. With little time on the clock he then missed a killing check (74... Qf2+! 75. Kb3 Qb6+! or 75. Ka3 Qa7+!) and instead went for a queen ending that is a draw according to the tablebase. Karjakin defended flawlessly, until move 91...
This result meant that Grischuk could have taken the sole lead, but instead he's now shared first with Karjakin and Mamedyarov after a draw with Topalov. There was never any hope for more, as the Bulgarian went for a slightly better rook ending that appeared almost by force from Grischuk's Berlin.
Gelfand and Leko also reached an ending basically right out of the opening, although this one was a bit more interesting. White played a temporary pawn sac to activate his rook, but it was not enough to create serious winning chances.
Morozevich moved up to a "plus one" score by beating Kamsky in a Grünfeld. The Russian was ready to fight, as he castled queenside and later avoided a move repetition. Kamsky has five more rounds to do some damage control.
Vassily Ivanchuk outplayed Anish Giri in a Closed Ruy Lopez and won a healthy pawn. The Ukrainian then started pushing his f-pawn, which eventually took on g2 from where it was protected by a beautiful bishop on d5. However, by controlling the dark squares Giri could avoid getting mated.
Wang Hao is the highest rated Chinese player, but it was Wang Yue (third on the Chinese rating list, behind Ding Liren) who won the all-Chinese encounter. It was quite a good game in fact where White's knight played a leading role; just wonderful how it's jumping all the time!
Beijing GP 2013 | Scores
| Round 1 | 15:00 CST | 04.07.13 | Round 2 | 15:00 CST | 05.07.13 | |
| Giri | 0-1 | Karjakin | Karjakin | 1-0 | Wang Hao | |
| Morozevich | ½-½ | Wang Yue | Grischuk | ½-½ | Ivanchuk | |
| Gelfand | 0-1 | Topalov | Mamedyarov | ½-½ | Kamsky | |
| Leko | ½-½ | Mamedyarov | Topalov | ½-½ | Leko | |
| Kamsky | 0-1 | Grischuk | Wang Yue | ½-½ | Gelfand | |
| Ivanchuk | ½-½ | Wang Hao | Giri | ½-½ | Morozevich | |
| Round 3 | 15:00 CST | 06.07.13 | Round 4 | 15:00 CST | 07.07.13 | |
| Morozevich | 0-1 | Karjakin | Karjakin | ½-½ | Grischuk | |
| Gelfand | 0-1 | Giri | Mamedyarov | 1-0 | Wang Hao | |
| Leko | ½-½ | Wang Yue | Topalov | ½-½ | Ivanchuk | |
| Kamsky | ½-½ | Topalov | Wang Yue | 1-0 | Kamsky | |
| Ivanchuk | 0-1 | Mamedyarov | Giri | ½-½ | Leko | |
| Wang Hao | ½-½ | Grischuk | Morozevich | 1-0 | Gelfand | |
| Round 5 | 15:00 CST | 09.07.13 | Round 6 | 15:00 CST | 10.07.13 | |
| Gelfand | ½-½ | Karjakin | Karjakin | 0-1 | Mamedyarov | |
| Leko | ½-½ | Morozevich | Topalov | ½-½ | Grischuk | |
| Kamsky | 0-1 | Giri | Wang Yue | 1-0 | Wang Hao | |
| Ivanchuk | 1-0 | Wang Yue | Giri | ½-½ | Ivanchuk | |
| Wang Hao | ½-½ | Topalov | Morozevich | 1-0 | Kamsky | |
| Grischuk | 1-0 | Mamedyarov | Gelfand | ½-½ | Leko | |
| Round 7 | 15:00 CST | 11.07.13 | Round 8 | 15:00 CST | 12.07.13 | |
| Leko | - | Karjakin | Karjakin | - | Topalov | |
| Kamsky | - | Gelfand | Wang Yue | - | Mamedyarov | |
| Ivanchuk | - | Morozevich | Giri | - | Grischuk | |
| Wang Hao | - | Giri | Morozevich | - | Wang Hao | |
| Grischuk | - | Wang Yue | Gelfand | - | Ivanchuk | |
| Mamedyarov | - | Topalov | Leko | - | Kamsky | |
| Round 9 | 15:00 CST | 14.07.13 | Round 10 | 15:00 CST | 15.07.13 | |
| Kamsky | - | Karjakin | Karjakin | - | Wang Yue | |
| Ivanchuk | - | Leko | Giri | - | Topalov | |
| Wang Hao | - | Gelfand | Morozevich | - | Mamedyarov | |
| Grischuk | - | Morozevich | Gelfand | - | Grischuk | |
| Mamedyarov | - | Giri | Leko | - | Wang Hao | |
| Topalov | - | Wang Yue | Kamsky | - | Ivanchuk | |
| Round 11 | 13:00 CST | 16.07.13 | ||||
| Ivanchuk | - | Karjakin | ||||
| Wang Hao | - | Kamsky | ||||
| Grischuk | - | Leko | ||||
| Mamedyarov | - | Gelfand | ||||
| Topalov | - | Morozevich | ||||
| Wang Yue | - | Giri |
Beijing GP 2013 | Round 6 standings
| # | Player | Rating | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | Points | SB |
| 1 | Karjakin,Sergey | 2776 | * | ½ | 0 | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 4.0/6 | 11.25 | |||||
| 2 | Grischuk,Alexander | 2780 | ½ | * | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 4.0/6 | 11.00 | |||||
| 3 | Mamedyarov,Shakhriyar | 2761 | 1 | 0 | * | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 4.0/6 | 10.50 | |||||
| 4 | Topalov,Veselin | 2767 | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | 3.5/6 | 7.75 | |||||
| 5 | Morozevich,Alexander | 2736 | 0 | * | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 3.5/6 | 7.50 | |||||
| 6 | Giri,Anish | 2734 | 0 | ½ | * | ½ | ½ | 1 | 1 | 3.5/6 | 7.25 | |||||
| 7 | Wang Yue | 2705 | ½ | * | ½ | 0 | ½ | 1 | 1 | 3.5/6 | 6.50 | |||||
| 8 | Leko,Peter | 2737 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | * | ½ | 3.0/6 | 9.75 | |||||
| 9 | Ivanchuk,Vassily | 2733 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | 1 | * | ½ | 3.0/6 | 9.75 | |||||
| 10 | Gelfand,Boris | 2773 | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | ½ | ½ | * | 1.5/6 | 5.25 | |||||
| 11 | Wang Hao | 2752 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | * | 1.5/6 | 5.25 | |||||
| 12 | Kamsky,Gata | 2763 | 0 | ½ | ½ | 0 | 0 | 0 | * | 1.0/6 |
The 5th Grand Prix takes place 4-16 July, 2013 in Beijing, China. The games start 15:00 CST (09:00 CET, 03:00 EDT); the final round starts two hours earlier. Tournament website: http://beijing2013.fide.com. Photos by Anastasiya Karlovich courtesy of FIDE. Games via TWIC.
