Levon Aronian secured his seat in the semifinals, defeating Keymer today. The now-American ace climbs to a stunning 4.0/5, and nobody in his group will be able to catch him.
Nakamura defeated Grishuck to reach the fantastic score of 3.5/5. Only Esipenko can still catch the American, Esipenko today won with Bacrot, going 3.0/5.
A curious note: Today Grischuk and Nakamura played a King's Indian semi-Averbakh.
Yesterday, Yuri Averbakh celebrated his centennial! Was it a coincidence? Probably yes, yet it is quite nice that the two top players used a variation that was named after the oldest living GM.
GM Yuri Averbakh - Photo from FIDE Facebook page
Pool A | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | PTS |
Grischuk | aa | 1/2-0 | 1/2-1/2 | 1/2-1/2 | 2.0 |
Nakamura | 1/2-1 | aa | 1 | 1/2-1/2 | 3.5 |
Esipenko | 1/2-1/2 | 0 | aa | 1-1 | 3.0 |
Bacrot | 1/2-1/2 | 1/2 | 0-0 | aa | 1.5 |
As previously said, Pool A seems to be Nakamura's realm, but with today's win, Esipenko follows the American player by only half a point. Tomorrow, in the last round of the pools, the semifinalist will be probably decided.
Pool B | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | PTS |
Wojtaszek | aa | 1/2-1/2 | 1-1/2 | 1/2 | 3.0 |
Fedoseev | 1/2-1/2 | aa | 0 | 1-1 | 3.0 |
Rapport | 0-1/2 | 1 | aa | 1/2-1/2 | 2.5 |
Oparin | 1/2 | 0-0 | 1/2-1/2 | aa | 1.5 |
In Pool B, we had two draws. the situation remains uncertain, with only Oparin out of the game. Wojtaszek and Fedoseev are favorites, but with a win over Fedoseev tomorrow, Richard Rapport could get back in contention.
Pool C | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | PTS |
Aronian | aa | 1/2 | 1-1 | 1-1/2 | 4.0 |
Dubov | 1/2 | aa | 1/2-1 | 0-1/2 | 2.5 |
Keymer | 0-0 | 1/2-0 | aa | 1/2 | 1.0 |
Gujrathi | 0-1/2 | 1-1/2 | 1/2 | aa | 2.5 |
In Pool C "le jeux sont fait". Levon Aronian is the first of the four semifinalists. Congratulations!
Pool D | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | PTS |
So | aa | 1/2-1 | 1/2 | 1-1/2 | 3.5 |
Dominguez | 1/2-0 | aa | 1/2-1 | 1 | 3.0 |
Harikrishna | 1/2 | 1/2-0 | aa | 1/2-1/2 | 2.0 |
Shirov | 0-1/2 | 0 | 1/2-1/2 | aa | 1.5 |
In Pool D, Dominguez won an important game today, defeating Harikrishna. Wesley So was held to a draw by the old lion Alexei Shirov. Now So leads by half a point over Dominguez, the only one who could catch him.
Tomorrow the last and decisive round (for three pools out of four), starts at 9 AM EST - 15:00 Berlin (CET) - 14:00 UTC
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