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Topalov defeats Caruana and is one point ahead of Nakamura before the last round |
 In the tenth round of Grand Prix in Zug Veselin Topalov defeated his rival Fabiano Caruana and now is on a sole lead with 7 points, one point ahead of Hikaru Nakamura. American player won against Shakhriyar Mamedyarov to take the second place. Alexander Morozevich managed to outplay Teimur Radjabov, while Gata Kamsky won against Sergey Karjakin. Kasimzdhanov-Ponomariov, Giri-Leko were drawn. Ruslan Ponomariov and Fabiano Caruana share the third place while Kamsky, Morozevich, Karjakin share the fifth place.
Tie Break Criteria for trophies only: 1.direct encounter 2. number of wins 3. Sonnenborn-Berger System 4. Koya System.
Veselin Topalov won against Hikaru Nakamura at the fifth round and it means even in the worst scenario for him he will take the gold at Grand Prix in Zug.
 Caruana-Topalov 0-1
Despite the victory in the game and, as a result, the victory in the tournament, Veselin Topalov looked very serious and tired at the press-conference. It’s obvious that the tournament is not over for the former world champion and he will fight for the sole victory in the tournament at the last round.
Fabiano Caruana got a pleasant position and managed to create threats on the King’s side. Players showed many possible variations on the laptop and agreed that White could have played more precisely but at the same time they didn’t find any direct attack. The things went wrong when White lost a few tempos after dubious Qf2-Qa7 but Caruana had time trouble and it was not easy for him to find the right plan.
After the first time control Italian player could have kept the queens on the board to have better chances for a draw because the knight and bishop endgame turned to be absolutely winning for Black.
 Mamedyarov-Nakamura 0-1
Slav Defence happened in the game and Shakhriyar got an unpleasant position out of the opening. White could not prove he has enough compensation for the pawn and after 21. ..f5 his position became really bad. It was still not necessary to resign after 22…Rc4, even the position was still much better for Black but Azeri player miscalculated the variation and thought he would end up in the position with rook against 3 pieces. The game could have continued after 23. bc Bc4 24. Nb4 Be2 25. Nd5 ed 26. Be2 Nd2 27. Rc7…According to Hikaru Nakamura his position was still winning. However, White keeps some drawing chances in the endgame.
 Morozevich-Radjabov 1-0
Teymur Rajabov chose to play Sveshnikov variation against Alexander Morozevich and Black was OK until the moment he has to find a very accurate move 21…Qb3! The difference with the move in the game was that Black had 22…Qd5 after 22.Rc8 and after 23. Qa3 there was an important resource 23…Ra2. After 21…Qa4 White won an exchange and was increasing his advantage. Alexander Morozevich could have won easier but Black never got a real chance to fight for a draw. On the 43 move Black could have proposed White to miss the idea with stalemate by playing 43…Kh6 44. Rg7?? Qg2!
 Karjakin-Kamsky 0-1
Sergey Karjakin managed to get slightly better position after the opening. Nevertheless, Black were looking for counter play and the position became very sharp. Black could get a huge advantage after 27…Qd5 but both opponents missed this opportunity. After that the game was dynamically equal but with the 41st move Sergey Karjakin made a big mistake. After 41. Qf3 the game would most probably finish in a draw. Gata Kamsky found the force winning line and after 15 moves the game was over.
The last round will start at 1 p.m. local time. |
