Gashimov Memorial 2016 - GOTD Round 2

Opening: D91: Grunfeld: 5.Bg5

Player(s): Caruana, Eljanov

After a first round with 5 draws, round 2 featured 3 decisive games, to turn the Gashimov memorial into a lively event. Harikrishna played well in Norway earlier this year,  almost overtaking in the rating list his legendary countryman Vishy Anand, and it looks like he's back for more now, in Shamkir. After today's win vs. Mamedyarov, Pentala sits only 0.7 points behind Anand in the live rating list. After 25 years we may be witnessing a generational shift in India. Karjakin lost with Giri. Giri, probably tired about jokes that want him be the draw-master, went for a random English opening, keeping the game swell alive; no King's Indian drawish lines for the young Anish. Karjakin, inexplicably, spent a lot of time on apparently simple moves, to find himself in time trouble early in the game: 5 minutes for 13 moves to make the first time control. And there was where the Candidate started going wrong. In a complicated position the clock ticking doesn't help, unless your name is Alexander Grischuk. Giri kept a steady hand, accumulating advantage patiently, and eventually crushing into black's defensive lines. Former Italian talent and current number 2 of the world Fabiano Caruana won vs. Eljanov with black. Caruana showed once again that he's able to keep a super-high level of play tournament after tournament. Today Fabiano played a very good game, pressing Pavel for a long time, until the strong Ukrainian GM had to give up, falling into an unavoidable mating net. Quite a round in Shamkir!  

Teacher's library (718) D91 Caruana Eljanov recap