Zurich Chess Challenge Round 5

Both games were drawn in the fifth round of the Zurich Chess Challenge, leaving Fabiano Caruana as the sole leader on 3/5 points going into the final round.

Seldom can a tournament have been so hard-fought, yet had so few decisive games!

In round three Vladimir Kramnik had shocked everyone by playing the Benoni with black. Today with the white pieces he played a kind of reverse Benoni!  Caruana came under pressure from an attack on his king with 23.g4 and 24.g5, provoking the Italian-American tournament leader into a defensive exchange sacrifice.

Kramnik maintained an advantage, but once again time-trouble played a part in the course of the game, and Caruana had at least an equal position when the first time control was reached. Kramnik then found a pretty way to force a draw, and the game ended after 47 moves.

Vladimir Kramnik: Benoni addict?

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Boris Gelfand provided a real test for the world champion Vishy Anand, sacrificing the exchange for 2 pawns and a strong position. However, when Gelfand missed the clever defensive move 25...Qa8 his advantage melted away and the game was agreed drawn once the players had reached the time control.

Boris Gelfand: Close, but no cigar

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Standings After 5 Rounds

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Final round pairings

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Final game starts 2 hours earlier (time = GMT+1)

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The time control is 2 hours for 40 moves, then 1 hour for the next 20 moves, and 15 minutes plus a 30-second increment for the remainder of the game. If a game is drawn before move 40, the players will play an additional rapid exhibition game (not counting towards the scores).

The tournament is being staged by the Zurich Chess Club and the main sponsor is Oleg Skvortsov of International Gemological Laboratories.  The venue is the Savoy Hotel, Paradeplatz.

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Photos from the official website. Games via TWIC.