By Chess Coach William Stewart (FIDE 2234, USCF, 2256)
Original article on the 5th Kings Chess Tournament, Round 6, available here
- Sergey Karjakin – 2776 – Russia
Sergey Karjakin caught up to Magnus Carlsen today by winning against Nisipeanu with excellent opening preparation and precise technical conversion. Carlsen maintained his 1st place status with a draw against Nakamura in a Ruy Lopez and Ivanchuk easily achieved and maintained equality against Radjabov. Nakamura is a point back from the lead with 3/6, although I expect he will make a push in the last 4 rounds to give Carlsen a run for his money.
Karjakin was heading into a Ruy Lopez with white, however Nisipeanu played the complicated Latvian Gambit to test Karjakin’s preparation. After 20 moves, Karjakin was able to easily exchange into a won R+R+P endgame with an extra pawn. His computer-like opening preparation and computer-like precision in the endgame led to the conversion of a well-earned point.
I was slightly disappointed in Nakamura’s play against Carlsen, as it was not very aggressive. Carlsen has scored very well against Nakamura lately, although their games tend to be very sharp and evenly matched. I’m hoping Naka breaks his current even score towards the end of the tournament.
By Chess Coach William Stewart
Original article available here
You hope all this only because he is an American?…He could not even beat a 2660 player today!
Nisipeanu didn’t play the Latvian Gambit. He played the Schliemann Defense to the Ruy Lopez. He could’ve drawn in several ways, as Dennis Monokroussos’ analysis shows. http://bit.ly/llwsKZ The Schliemann is actually sound, surprisingly enough; Radjabov uses it as a drawing weapon. Look at Radjabov’s games with it: +1 -1 =13 against the strongest players in the world. http://bit.ly/kb4ucP That includes twice in this tournament – against Nisipeanu and Karjakin!