Ongoing Events: Oslo and Poikovsky
The Oslo Chess International wouldn't normally catch my eye, but as Matthew Sadler is participating it's interesting to see his unretirement unfold before our eyes. He's the second seed, behind Sergei Tiviakov, but after five of nine rounds he's in clear first with 4.5 points, half a point ahead of Jon Ludvig Hammer and Victor Mikhalevski. Tiviakov and seven other players have 3.5. (Round 6 is underway, and you can see the live games here.)
The Karpov tournament in Poikovsky, Russia, hasn't exactly caught fire, but at least there were a couple of decisive games today. Three games were drawn, all in fairly short order (two in 27 moves and one in 33), but both wins were entertaining. Sergey Karjakin defeated Viktor Laznicka in a theoretically hot line of the Caro-Kann, and in short order (30 moves), while Zahar Efimenko's triumph over Alexander Motylev was an impressive display of cool defense. Efimenko had the long-term advantages, but had to put out the fire before he could hope to use them. Eventually Motylev's pieces lost their harmony, and just as Efimenko's counterattack was about to come crashing through Motylev gave up. After three of nine rounds, Karjakin, Efimenko and Fabiano Caruana lead with 2/3. (TWIC coverage here.)