Norway Chess Tournament 2016 - GOTD Round 5

Opening: E60, C84: King's Indian defense, Ruy Lopez: closed defense

Player(s): Harikrishna, Li Chao, Topalov, Grandelius

Two decisive results today. Not at the very top of the standings, but the games were interesting and entertaining. Topalov vs. Grandelius started with a regular, slow, non-Berlin Ruy Lopez, which led to a slight advantage for white. Topalov was maneuvering in the typical Ruy Lopez fashion, calmly amassing pieces  on the king side, when Grandelius decided to break the equilibrium in the center. Topalov took advantage of the unbalanced position, starting to play strong on both sides of the board, a la Petrosian, and planting a uber-strong and extremely annoying knight on h5. Topalov kept playing very solid and precise, putting the Swedish GM under pressure a bit more after every move. An excellent game by the former world champion, Li Chao vs. Harikrishna was the other decisive result today. It was a very interesting positional battle in the King's Indian defense. Li Chao seemed to be able to hold with the black pieces, but then he gave the Indian GM a chance to improve his position, and Harikrishna played very well, bringing home the full point. Carlsen drew Giri, confirming that the young Hollander is not an easy opponent for the World Champion. The game was quiet, without any real danger for either player. After today's round, Topalov joined the small but belligerent pack with Kramnik and MVL, that is chasing Magnus half a point behind the leader. Tomorrow round 6 starts at 10AM EDT -- 16:00 CEST. ICC will have live commentary with IM Voja Milanovic and GM Max Dlugy.