Nalchik Set For High-Stakes Finish
Round-robin events rarely produce final round head-to-heads between the leading players, but going into the 13th and final round of the Nalchik Grand Prix, Lev Aronian and Peter Leko (pictured) are joint leaders on 7.5/12 and by sheer chance they clash head on in the final round.
Leko caught Aronian by virtue of his second consecutive victory against the dreaded Petroff defence. Bravo Peter!
The Armenian has the advantage of the white pieces, but will he push for a win and a clear overall victory, or will the lure of a guaranteed share of first place be too much for both players?
I predict a few polite moves for the press and public, before a draw is agreed. I hope I'm proved wrong and a real battle is fought...
The full draw for the final round is:
| Aronian, Levon | Leko, Peter |
| Ivanchuk, Vassily | Kamsky, Gata |
| Bacrot, Etienne | Alekseev, Evgeny |
| Svidler, Peter | Grischuk, Alexander |
| Gelfand, Boris | Karjakin, Sergey |
| Eljanov, Pavel | Akopian, Vladimir |
| Kasimdzhanov, Rustam | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar |
It's been an excellent tournament with lots of high-quality games and tremendous fighting chess, and rounds 11 and 12 were no exception. Results and decisive games below. All the games and more information can be found at the official website.
The results in round 11:
| Alekseev, Evgeny | Kamsky, Gata | ½-½ | 44 | Sicilian Paulsen |
| Bacrot, Etienne | Karjakin, Sergey | 1-0 | 38 | Sicilian Najdorf |
| Svidler, Peter | Akopian, Vladimir | ½-½ | 22 | Ruy Lopez |
| Eljanov, Pavel | Leko, Peter | ½-½ | 44 | Queens Gambit Meran |
| Gelfand, Boris | Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | 1-0 | 56 | Blumenfeld Counter Gambit |
| Ivanchuk, Vassily | Grischuk, Alexander | 1-0 | 37 | King's Indian Classical |
| Kasimdzhanov, Rustam | Aronian, Levon | ½-½ | 67 | Anti-Meran |
The results in round 12:
| Leko, Peter | Kasimdzhanov, Rustam | 1-0 | 30 | Petroff Defence |
| Grischuk, Alexander | Bacrot, Etienne | 1-0 | 56 | Benoni |
| Alekseev, Evgeny | Ivanchuk, Vassily | ½-½ | 37 | Sicilian Rauzer |
| Akopian, Vladimir | Gelfand, Boris | ½-½ | 31 | Petroff Defence |
| Karjakin, Sergey | Svidler, Peter | 1-0 | 52 | Ruy Lopez Chigorin |
| Kamsky, Gata | Aronian, Levon | ½-½ | 40 | Barcza System |
| Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | Eljanov, Pavel | ½-½ | 50 | QGD 5.Bf4 |
The standings before the final round:
| Leko, Peter | HUN | 7½ |
| Aronian, Levon | ARM | 7½ |
| Grischuk, Alexander | RUS | 6½ |
| Alekseev, Evgeny | RUS | 6½ |
| Akopian, Vladimir | ARM | 6½ |
| Karjakin, Sergey | UKR | 6 |
| Bacrot, Etienne | FRA | 6 |
| Kamsky, Gata | USA | 5½ |
| Mamedyarov, Shakhriyar | AZE | 5½ |
| Svidler, Peter | RUS | 5½ |
| Eljanov, Pavel | UKR | 5½ |
| Gelfand, Boris | ISR | 5½ |
| Ivanchuk, Vassily | UKR | 5 |
| Kasimdzhanov, Rustam | UZB | 5 |
