Unfortunately, the last round of the 19th Karpov Poikovsky tournament turned out to be a dud as the games relevant to the fight for first both ended in short draws. Dmitry Jakovenko led Ian Nepomniachtchi and Boris Gelfand by half a point entering the round, and since Nepomniachtchi had White against Jakovenko in the last game an exciting game was in prospect. Unfortunately for spectators looking for a thrilling fight, Jakovenko achieved such a solid position that there was nothing for his opponent to try in the end, and the game was drawn in 27 moves. Sadly, this was game was a marathon in both time and number of moves compared to Gelfand's game with Vladislav Kovalev. He had Black, achieved equality right from the opening, and as the pieces started to be liquidated the players called it a day after White's 19th move.
Two other games were drawn, both after long struggles, and there was one decisive outcome: Victor Bologan finally crawled out of the hole when Emil Sutovsky's all-out attack with 14...Qh4 boomeranged badly.
Final Results: