Tbilisi Grand Prix, Round 5: Tomashevsky Still the Sole Leader
Evgeny Tomashevsky continues to lead in Tbilisi, and by a full point, but he looked a bit shaky today. Anish Giri was clearly pushing Tomashevsky for a long time, despite playing with the black pieces, and if he had won they'd have been tied for first with 3.5 points apiece. Tomashevsky had to defend for a long time, but he was up to the job and held. Giri thus remains tied for second, and has joined Hikaru Nakamura as the latest member of the prestigious (but undesirable) ex-2800s club.
Another player in the five-way tie for second is Rustam Kasimdzhanov, who is having an excellent tournament with three wins in his last four games. (Recall that he was much better if not winning against Alexander Grischuk in round 1 before going astray and losing. Had he won that game and everything else gone the same way, he'd have been tied for first at this point.) Today he won quickly against Peter Svidler, who was under pressure but still alive until he played 23...Rf7. It was a logical move, but too passive - he needed to play 23...Rc4 instead, keeping the rook active and annoying White's pieces. After the game move, White had a free hand and ransacked Black's position.
Leinier Dominguez is also tied for second after a long win against Dmitry Andreikin. Andreikin attempt at a kingside attack was rebuffed, and after 29 moves he was down a piece and simply lost. That he hung on as long as he did was a testimony to his resilience as a defender (not to any bad sportsmanship), and Dominguez had to play very well to convert his extra material into a full point.
Dmitry Jakovenko and Alexander Grischuk are also in the tie for second after their game, a very short draw by repetition in a Modern Benoni.
Turning to players who are further back, Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Teimour Radjabov drew what looked like a very correct Poisoned Pawn Winawer, while Baadur Jobava defeated Shakhriyar Mamedyarov in a game that was anything but correct. First Mamedyarov was (much) better with Black in one of Jobava's 1.b3/2.Bb2/3.Nc3 oddities, and later the evaluation went up and down like the mercury in a thermometer going from the oven to the freezer and back again. Finally, it looked like they were headed for a draw by perpetual check, but Mamedyarov uncorked 26...Kf7??, which loses the queen or walks into mate in two. Mamedyarov clearly didn't see the latter, as he made the next move and only then resigned before the mate appeared on the board.
Reader Comments (2)
No wonder Fabiano Caruana didn't do so well in Zurich - he had to play in Tbilisi too at the same time (at least for the first round vs. Kasimdzhanov)! :-)
I guess you mean Rustam Kasimdzhanov's Round 1 game against Alexander Grischuk - unless you are referring to a prior tournament. Fabiano may be very strong - but playing 2 tournaments in different places simultaneously might be a bit much for him too.