Today's round was a funny one, in that almost all the top teams drew, allowing Armenia to grow their lead by defeating India 2.5-1.5. All three draws in that match were hard-fought, but Harikrishna didn't have enough to hold Aronian. He played the Lasker Defense of the Queen's Gambit Declined, which is a good start for someone trying to be solid, but Aronian produced a fascinating new plan that changed the usual character of that opening. After 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nf3 d5 4.Nc3 Be7 5.Bg5 h6 6.Bh4 0-0 7.e3 Ne4 8.Bxe7 Qxe7 9.Rc1 h6 Aronian uncorked 10.h4!?, continuing 10...Nd7 11.g4. Harikrishna continued thematically with the central break 11...e5, but Aronian maintained control in that part of the board too: 12.cxd5 Nxc3 13.Rxc3 cxd5 and now 14.g5 h5 15.Bb5 probably left him a slight edge. Harikrishna soon sacrificed a pawn for play, but it was never quite enough, and soon White's passed e-pawn decided the game.
Russia remains in second, on tiebreaks, after a 2-2 draw with Ukraine, drawn on every board. On board 1 ex-Ukranian Karjakin hoped to crush Ivanchuk a second time from the white side of an Austrian Attack Pirc, but nothing doing. At most Karjakin had a small edge at some point, and on board two Eljanov had at best a tiny edge against Grischuk before complete equality was reached. On board threes and four, though, Russian missed out on some real opportunities. Nepomniachtchi did have a serious advantage aginst Efimenko at one point, but after 25.Qf4 rather than 25.Rfh5 it dissipated, while 37...Bb6 or 37...Rb8 rather than 37...Bb4 would have kept a serious advantage for Vitiugov against Moiseenko. Vitiugov probably missed Moiseenko's tactical trick with 41.Nxf7, after which the ending was just a draw.
Hungary is in third, behind Russia on tiebreaks, after a more eventful but also drawn match against the U.S. Kamsky-Leko was a quick draw on board 1, and on board 4 Hess held comfortably against Balogh. On board 3 Seirawan had White against birthday girl Judit Polgar, and gave her an anti-present: he crushed her. Polgar's kingside quickly grew vulnerable, but it might have been tenable until she played 30...hxg5(?) 31.hxg5 fxg5(??) - ...Rb7 had to be played on both moves 30 and 31. After 32.f6, with the idea of Qg6, it was basically over. Polgar delayed the end by coughing up a rook and then an exchange, but the end was never in doubt. The US was in great shape to win the match, as Shulman was completely equal against Almasi with Black in a French, but around move 34 he was unable to work out the best way to achieve counterplay. Shulman's c-pawn was falling, but he had a move or two to drum up a counterattack against White's king. Probably something like 34...Re1+ 35.Kh2 Qc2! 36.Rxc6 Re2 37.Kg3 Qd3+ does the job: if the king goes back to h2, Black's queen returns to c2, while 38.f3 Qc2 39.Qg1 then 39...Qb2 gives at least enough counterplay for the pawn. In the game, Shulman was unable to keep sufficient pressure, and Almasi eventually converted his extra pawn.
Another drawn match - surprisingly so - was Azerbaijan-Israel. Radjabov won convincingly with Black against Sutovsky on board 1. His e-pawn sac was a neat idea: if 19.Rxe7 Ne5 White is in some trouble, e.g. 20.Qe4 Ra6! and now 21.Rxe5 Bxe5 22.Qxe5 Re6! 23.Qf4 Re4! followed by 24...Re1+ and 25...Rxc1 is probably winning for Black, while the better 21.Qxa8+ Rxa8 22.d4 Nd3 23.Bd2 Bf8 24.Re3 Nxb2 25.dxc5 Ra1 26.Re1 Bxc5 favors Black as well. Sutovsky did have one good chance, and surprisingly, given his lively attacking style, he missed it. He should have played 23.Rxe5 Bxe5 24.Qxe5, because White's dominant queen can create threats with either the knight (going to d5) or the bishop (going to h6). Thus 24...bxc3?? 25.Bh6 f6 26.Qd5+ Kh8 27.Qd7 wins for White, while 24...Re6 25.Qd4 Re1+ 26.Kh2 Rxc1 27.Nd5 is unclear. As things went Black was slowly making use of his material advantage until Sutovsky blundered with 38.Qf4??, when 38...Re1+ 39.Kh2 Qf1 forced White's resignation (White must give up the queen to avoid 40...Qh1#). There were hard-fought draws on boards 2 and 4, and on board 3 Postny accepted Mamedov's sacrifices, neutralized Black's attack, and eventually cashed in.
Finally, a non-drawn match: China routed Egypt 3.5-.5, and as you'll have guessed if you've been following the event or have read my summaries, it was of course Shoker who got the one half-point for Egypt.
Standings After Round 6:
1. Armenia 5
2-3. Russia, Hungary (Russia is currently second on tiebreaks) 4
4-5. China, Ukraine 3.5
6-7. Azerbaijan, USA 3
8. Israel 2.5
9. India 1.5
10. Egypt 0