Poikovsky Tournament Update
The 11th Poikovky Tournament has reached the one and only rest day after 6 rounds of this 11-round event.
So far the tournament has seen a relatively high percentage of drawn games, some of them without a fight. However, there has also been plenty of sacrificial excitement to enjoy, especially from Sokolov who appears not to have got the memo about agreeing quick draws, and in round five when both the (then) leaders Karjakin and Jakovenko lost.
Not that it has done him much good; Sokolov is living up (or should that be down?) to his rating underdog status.
This has ensured that the field are still fairly close together with five rounds remaining. The current joint leaders with 4/6 are Jakovenko (pictured) and Riazantsev.
The official site (in Russian) is here.
The standings after six rounds:
| 1 | Jakovenko, Dmitry | RUS |
2725 | 4 |
| 2 | Riazantsev, Alexander | RUS | 2674 | 4 |
| 3 | Sutovsky, Emil | ISR | 2661 | 3½ |
| 4 | Karjakin, Sergey | UKR | 2739 | 3½ |
| 5 | Vitiugov, Nikita | RUS | 2707 | 3 |
| 6 | Motylev, Alexander | RUS | 2704 | 3 |
| 7 | Bologan, Viktor | MDA | 2668 | 2½ |
| 8 | Jobava, Baadur | GEO | 2715 | 2½ |
| 9 | Naiditsch, Arkadij | GER | 2686 | 2½ |
| 10 | Rublevsky, Sergei | RUS | 2704 | 2½ |
| 11 | Onischuk, Alexander | USA | 2699 | 2 |
| 12 | Sokolov, Ivan | BIH | 2654 | 2 |
Selected games from the first six rounds:
