Russian IM Marina Romanko is now the only player of the Moscow Chess Festival who managed to score five consecutive wins in the beginning of the tournament.
On the other hand, the Open section is getting more cramped at the top, with eight players sharing the lead: GM Rauf Mamedov, GM Ildar Ibragimov, GM Ian Nepomniachtchi, GM Pavel Ponkratov, GM Dmitry Kokarev, GM Igor Kovalenko, GM B. Adhiban and GM Pavel Maletin.
The International Chess Festival “Moscow Open 2013″ is taking place from 31st January to 11th February, 2013, at the Russian State Social University (RSSU), B. Pick Street, 4, metro station “Botanical Garden” in Moscow.
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Participants: Moscow Open 2013 / Moscow Open 2013 women / Young Grandmasters tournament / Young Grandmasters tournament for women
The two top boards of the Moscow Open finished with draws, making the new maximum score 4,5/5. The American GM Ildar Ibragimov was the one closest to achieve 5,0/5 as he got a pawn advantage against Rauf Mamedov, but could not convert it into a full point. This allowed a group of players from the chasing pack to catch the leaders.
The rating favorite Ian Nepomiachtchi has joined the new pack of leaders after beating the Indian G.N. Gopal with the black pieces in 52 moves. The Russian star showed his class in a positional setup of the Sicilian with a slightly strange material balance: two pieces for a rook and a pawn. Even though the Indian seemed to have a dangerous pawn on f7, the activity of Ian’s pieces proved to be decisive.
The other winners on the top boards were GM Dmitry Kokarev, GM Igor Kovalenko, and GM Pavel Maletin.
This is exciting.