Alekhine Memorial Round 5
The players in the Alekhine Memorial bade farewell to Paris today with another thrilling round for chess fans to enjoy!
World champion Vishy Anand clawed his way back to an even score with his first win of the tournament against DIng Liren. The Caro-Kann is taking a bit of beating in major tournaments lately, and Anand's novelty 14. Qe2 provoked the blunder 24...g6 after which black's king was doomed.
But the shock of the round was bottom seed Laurent Fressinet demolishing Vladimir Kramnik with the black pieces in just 32 painful moves for the Russian. Ouch!
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave completed a great day for the French fans by beating cellar-dweller Peter Svidler, also with the black pieces. The games between Michael Adams and Nikita Vitiugov, and Boris Gelfand and Lev Aronian ended all-square, so Maxime Vachier-Lagrave has the sole lead on 3½/5. "Sometimes it's nice to be french :)" tweeted Maxime!
The tournament now moves to St.Petersburg for the remaining 4 rounds, starting on Sunday.
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Tournament leader, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave (all photos by Leslie McAllister)
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Vishy Anand scored an easy win against Ding Liren
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Laurent Fressinet made beating Vladimir Kramnik with black look simple!
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Lev Aronian survived a tricky game with Boris Gelfand
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Nikita Vitiugov achieved a draw against Michael Adams
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The Alekhine Memorial Standings after 5 rounds
| # | Name | Fed | Elo | Pts |
| 1 | Maxime Vachier-Lagrave | FRA | 2722 | 3½ |
| 2 | Laurent Fressinet | FRA | 2706 | 3 |
| 3 | Boris Gelfand | ISR | 2739 | 3 |
| 4 | Michael Adams | ENG | 2727 | 3 |
| 5 | Levon Aronian | ARM | 2809 | 3 |
| 6 | Vishy Anand | IND | 2783 | 2½ |
| 7 | Ding Liren | CHN | 2707 | 2 |
| 8 | Vladimir Kramnik | RUS | 2801 | 2 |
| 9 | Nikita Vitiugov | RUS | 2712 | 2 |
| 10 | Peter Svidler | RUS | 2747 | 1 |
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The Alekhine Memorial takes place from 21 April - 1 May. The official site can be found here, with live game analysis here and video commentary here (with archive).
The tournament is a 10-player single round robin competition, with the first half held in the Louvre in Paris and the second half in the Russian State Museum in St. Petersburg.
The time control is 100 minutes for 40 moves, then 50 minutes for the next 20 moves, then 15 minutes to a finish with a 30 second increment from the start. No draw offers are allowed until after 40 moves have been played. The prize fund is €100,000 with €30,000 for first place.
All rounds start at 14:00 local time (12:00 UTC when in Paris, 10:00 UTC when in St. Petersburg), except the last round which is 1 hour earlier.
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The schedule of events
| 20 April 2013 | Paris | Opening Ceremony |
| 21 April 2013 | Paris | Round 1 |
| 22 April 2013 | Paris | Round 2 |
| 23 April 2013 | Paris | Round 3 |
| 24 April 2013 | Paris | Round 4 |
| 25 April 2013 | Paris | Round 5 |
| 26 April 2013 | St. Petersburg | Welcome Reception |
| 27 April 2013 | St. Petersburg | Children's Events |
| 28 April 2013 | St. Petersburg | Round 6 |
| 29 April 2013 | St. Petersburg | Round 7 |
| 30 April 2013 | St. Petersburg | Round 8 |
| 01 May 2013 | St. Petersburg | Round 9 & Prizegiving |
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Games from the official website coverage. Photos by Leslie McAllister.
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