April 29th, 2013
Boris Gelfand and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave are in the lead at the Alekhine Memorial
The 7th round of the Alekhine Memorial was played on April, 29th. Before the start of the round it was announced that the charity funds Ladoga and Neva created four special prizes: the best game in Alekhine’s style, the best combination, the best technique, and the best result in the St. Petersburg part. These prizes will be awarded at the closing ceremony on May 1st.
There were two decisive games in the 7th round. The World Champion Vishy Anand scored his second victory in the tournament, defeating the French grandmaster Laurent Fressinet with White. This sharp game was not ideally played by both sides, but Anand made a better use of the opponent’s mistakes, and is now just half a point behind the leaders.
His former opponent in the World Championship match Boris Gelfand defeated the young Chinese grandmaster Ding Liren with White. This victory allowed Gelfand to tie for the first place with two rounds to go.
Round 7 results. Anand – Fressinet 1-0, Gelfand – Ding Liren 1-0, Adams – Vachier-Lagrave, Vitiugov – Aronian, and Svidler – Kramnik – draws.
The standings after seven rounds: 1-2. Gelfand and Vachier-Lagrave – both 4.5; 3-5. Adams, Anand, and Aronian – all 4; 6. Fressinet – 3.5; 7-8. Kramnik and Vitiugov – both 3; 9. Ding Liren – 2.5; 10. Svidler – 2.
The 8th round pairings: Kramnik – Gelfand, Vachier-Lagrave – Vitiugov, Fressinet – Aronian, Ding Liren – Adams, Anand – Svidler.
Contact information for journalists:
Press-officer of the Alekhine Memorial
Mark Glukhovsky
Official website of the event www.alekhine-memorial.com
Can Kramnik win this? No. Can Nakamura win this? Yes.