London, Round 5: Carlsen, McShane Win
Monday, December 14, 2009 at 3:41AM
Dennis Monokroussos in Carlsen, London 2009, McShane

Magnus Carlsen extended his lead at the London Chess Classic to 3 points (meaning one win) thanks to his win over Ni Hua. Carlsen missed his opponent's 10.Qh5, but held fast, gradually obtained a slight advantage, and when Ni missed the idea of bringing his king to e2, crashed through on the queenside.

Vladimir Kramnik couldn't keep pace. With a win over bottom seed David Howell he'd have stayed within a point, but Howell played well and the result was a well-played draw. The battle for English supremacy between Michael Adams and Nigel Short was also drawn, but eventfully so. Short outplayed Adams well enough to gain an advantage with Black, and only strong defensive play kept the latter in the game. Near the end, Short nearly lost, missing a startling trick from his opponent. Fortunately (for Short), he had one defense, and it was enough.

Finally, Luke McShane bit again, defeating Hikaru Nakamura with Black in a King's Indian. Nakamura was worse most of the way, but McShane misplayed his advantage and (dynamic) equality was restored. Unfortunately for the American, he played too quickly and gave his opponent a second chance to win the game, and win it he did.

With two rounds to play, here are the standings:

1. Carlsen 11 (+3 =2)

2. Kramnik 8 (+2 -1 =2)

3. McShane 7 (+2 -2 =1)

4-5. Howell, Adams 5 (=5)

6-7. Short, Nakamura 4 (-1 =4)

8. Ni Hua 3 (-2 =3)

 

Round 6 pairings look like this:

Kramnik - Short

Carlsen - Adams

McShane - Ni Hua

Howell - Nakamura

 

The games, with my annotations, are here.

Article originally appeared on The Chess Mind (http://www.thechessmind.net/).
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