Biel, Round 7: Carlsen Keeps Winning
But not only Carlsen. All three of today's games had a winner, but Carlsen's ensured that he remained in clear first. His game with Shirov was a good battle, with both sides trying hard to win. Shirov in particular was pressing hard, but erred with 46.e5. It's a logical move, of course, with ideas of e6 and/or Bxg6 someday, but unfortunately for him it was a blunder. After 46...Qa2 47.Qe4, Black could (and did) simply snap it off: 47...Bxe5. Shirov played the rest of the game as if punchdrunk, and resigned after his 60th move three pawns down.
Carlsen is having a very good tournament, and it's overshadowing an almost equally impressive performance by Morozevich. Morozevich is only half a point behind Carlsen on traditional scoring (but 3 points behind here, on the 3-1-0 system they're using), and undefeated too. Today he defeated Vachier-Lagrave with White in a Gruenfeld sideline that's unlikely to show up again at the top level, if today's game is any indication.
Finally, Caruana ground out a win with Black against Pelletier in another Gruenfeld, this time the 8.Rb1 + 9...Nc6 + 13...Bc7 line. The win was Caruana's first of the tournament, and may leave Pelletier's supporters wondering if the field is starting to figure him out.
Standings After Round 7 (3-1-0 scoring first, normal scoring in parentheses):
1. Carlsen 16/21 (5.5/7)
2. Morozevich 13 (5)
3-4. Vachier-Lagrave, Shirov 7 (3)
5. Caruana 6 (2.5)
6. Pelletier 4 (2)
Tournament site here.
Reader Comments (3)
Tomorrow morning (Wed.) 8:00 am Eastern -- Carlsen vs. Morozevich.
Be there or be square!
Hmmm. Well, some may have found that a bit boring.
Perhaps tomorrow will be more interesting, when Carlsen goes for revenge against Vachier-Lagrave. Let's go Magnus!
[DM: You might be confusing this site with http://twitter.com/#!/magnuscarlsen.]
Magnus! Magnus! Magnus!Heh heh.
All right, I'm calm now. How about that MVL-Pelletier game??
[DM: You guys are incorrigible! Actually, it looks today like Morozevich's game is the most exciting one.]