Dortmund 2011, Round 6: Three Draws
After the rest day, the players came out ready for battle - maybe a bit too equally ready for battle. The first game to finish was Le Quang Liem vs. Georg Meier, a Vienna QGD-turned-Navara Slav. The players quickly broke new ground, though the storyline in the middlegame was a famous one. Black took on an isolated d-pawn, an in return enjoyed lively piece play. Black never did manage to swap off the isolani, but White couldn't do anything to it in the middlegame or the ending, and Meier drew comfortably.
The next game to finish was the Ruslan Ponomariov - Vladimir Kramnik rematch. Despite his large lead in the event and having Black, Kramnik continued to play very sharp, enterprising, maximalist chess. Ponomariov kept his cool, neutralized his opponent's initiative, and his calm defense allowed him to draw without any scary moments.
Finally, Hikaru Nakamura once again had the longest game of the round, though today's 72-mover was a brevity compared to the 150-move monster in round 5. Anish Giri equalized with Black in a Karpov Variation Nimzo-Indian, but made his life a little more difficult than necessary when he blundered a pawn on move 29. Fortunately for him, his position was still so good that Nakamura's winning chances only increased from minuscule to tiny, and the draw could easily have been agreed to around move 47.
Standings After Round 6:
1. Kramnik 5 (3008 TPR!)
2. Le 3.5
3. Ponomariov 3
4. Giri 2.5
5-6. Meier, Nakamura 2
Round 7 Pairings:
- Nakamura - Le
- Giri - Ponomariov
- Kramnik - Meier
Reader Comments (1)
"He [Kramnik] hasn't been this consistently bloodthirsty in a long, long time."
I would disagree: I think he played in the same fashion in London December last year - every game but a "standard Berlin draw" with black against Anand. The main difference was in my opinion that (sticking to the picture) he couldn't quite quench his thirst: not converting favorable positions against McShane and Carlsen, spilling his own blood against Nakamura.
Talking about the Berlin: It almost seems as if 4.d3 became the main line at the highest level (my impression from the three most recent events). Probably just coincidence that this happens soon after you published your Berlin video ... .