Dortmund 2017 wasn't the most exciting tournament in chess history, but at least it finished with a bang. When we left off a few days ago, after round 4, Radoslaw Wojtaszek and Mathias Bluebaum were tied for first with +1 scores, while Wang Yue and Vladimir Kramnik were tied at the bottom on -1.
The next two rounds of this seven rounder saw only one decisive result, though not for want of trying and not because players didn't have their chances. Nevertheless, the one and only game with a winner in rounds 5 and 6 was in round 5, and it saw co-tailender Wang Yue defeat co-leader Bluebaum. That meant that entering the last round Wojtaszek was alone in first with a +1 score, Kramnik was alone in last at -1, and the other six players were on 50%.
Unfortunately, Kramnik and Wojtaszek had already played, so the possibility of an eight way tie for first through last was off the table. Even so, Kramnik did his job, and won a spectacular victory over Bluebaum. His reward was somewhat odd: before the round he was alone in last place while six players were on 50%, but after the round he was the only player on 50%!
It wasn't a very good tournament for the alumnus of the 2800 club either, but Maxime Vachier-Lagrave won his last game. His opponent, Dmitry Andreikin, once again found himself with just one rook against his opponent's two, but he wasn't able to replicate the defensive magic that saved half a point in the earlier game against Bluebaum.
A third game was also decisive: youngster and super-tournament newcomer Vladimir Fedoseev bookended his tournament with a convincing win over Wang Yue. He lost to Bluebaum in round 2, but depending on the result of Wojtaszek's game with Liviu-Dieter Nisipeanu, he could find himself in a tie for first.
But it was not to be. Wojtaszek defeated him in good style on the white side of a Classical Nimzo-Indian. White typically gains the bishop pair in that variation, and Wojtaszek's extra, dark-squared bishop proved to be a beast. Congratulations to Wojtaszek on one of the best results of his career!
Final Standings:
1. Wojtaszek 4.5 (of 7)
2-3. Fedoseev, Vachier-Lagrave 4
4. Kramnik 3.5
5-8. Bluebaum, Andreikin, Nisipeanu, Wang Yue 3