World Cup 2011: Round 6, Day 1: Two Quick Draws
Monday, September 12, 2011 at 10:03AM
Dennis Monokroussos in Grischuk, Ivanchuk, Ponomariov, Svidler, World Cup 2011, World Cup 2011

Today we had a pair of short draws, but in both cases it was due to successful opening play by Black rather than collusion aimed at an unofficial rest day.

Peter Svidler "declined" the Berlin against Ruslan Ponomariov, aiming for the sort of slow kingside buildup that has become popular lately both as an anti-Berlin weapon but also in the Italian Game. The most interesting moment came on move 12, when Ponomariov broke precedent by giving up his seemingly better bishop in order to open the center. The plan looked very effective, and if anything Svidler was soon more eager to split the point than his opponent.

In the second game, Vassily Ivanchuk chose a very passive, very solid line of the French against Alexander Grischuk, in effect daring him to do something with his extra space. On this occasion, he was unable to, and once Black achieved the liberating ...e5 the draw was at hand.

Hopefully we'll have a bit more action tomorrow. Meanwhile, those who missed the official site's live coverage can see it here, and/or take the quick route and replay the games (with my comments) here.

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