The Daily Update: Reggio Emilia, Round 5

I had hoped to have a full presentation of yesterday's round, but was too busy to do so. Nevertheless, I highly recommend that you check out the games, if you haven't already.

Viktor Bologan continued his powerful comeback, defeating early co-leader Eltaj Safarli to win his third straight game. His play in the very tactical middlegame looked so smooth that I thought it was home prep, but it was Safarli who came up with the first new move with 14...Nb3. (That doesn't mean, of course, that Bologan hadn't prepared for it.) After the forced variation concluded with 21.fxe3 White may have had a slight edge, but after 21...Bxb4? it was a big one. The game soon reached an opposite-colored bishop ending where White had two extra pawns, and it was simple technique from there. From an 0-2 start, Bologan is just half a point out of first.

Zoltan Almasi - Konstantin Landa looked interesting as far as it went, which wasn't far enough. White played aggressively in the Advance Caro-Kann (that's almost redundant), sacrificing a pawn to keep Black's king in the center. In the end - sadly, on move 22 - White still enjoyed sufficient compensation for the pawn, but whether it would amount to anything tangible will remain a mystery. At any rate, Almasi remained in first with the draw.

He was caught there by Gata Kamsky, who defeated Baadur Jobava on the White side of a somewhat offbeat Botvinnik System English. (It was unusual, but it's strange that whatever program Mark Crowther of TWIC is using labels it "Dutch, QI and KID Systems".) Whatever it was, it led to a position where Kamsky was able to obtain an advantage by taking control of the light squares. Jobava's 19...a6 may have been inaccurate, as after 20.Bh3 Bxh3 21.Nxh3 (preventing ...f5) 21...Re5 22.Nf4 Rhe8 22.Nd5 White was clearly better. Black could achieve ...f5 before it would be forever too late, or he could protect his h-pawn, but not both. White's advantage was significant but not decisive, however, until the blunder (probably in time trouble) 34...d5, losing the exchange to 35.Ne6.

Michele Godena could have joined the tie for first if he beat Fabiano Caruana, but his very unambitious opening play gave him nothing. The play sharpened a little at the end, but it only served to make a race: who would give perpetual first?

Finally, good news for Sabino Brunello, who won his first game in the tournament. His opponent, his fellow Italian IM Daniele Vocaturo, obtained a pleasant advantage with White in the round's second Advance Caro-Kann. Perhaps he didn't handle things perfectly, but he was still a bit better prior to 29.Re4? He probably just missed Brunello's 29...Rxf3!, when after 30.gxf3 Nf6 he was faced with an uncomfortably choice: swap queens and get devoured by Black's minor pieces, or return the exchange while picking up a pawn with 31.Qxb7 Nxe4 32.Qxe4. He chose the latter, and while it might objectively have been a draw at the start of the ending, it was nearly impossible to hold from a practical standpoint. He didn't, and now he (Vocaturo) replaces his conquerer in last place.

Standings After Round 5:

1-2. Almasi, Kamsky 3½

3-4. Godena, Bologan 3

5-7. Caruana, Safarli, Jobava 2½

8. Landa 2

9. Brunello 1½

10. Vocaturo 1