Tata Steel Masters 2014

Aronian-So
(Photo taken from chess-news.ru)

Aronian won the 4th game (out of 6 games!), this time against Wesley So by using his vast knowledge of a Gruenfeld system he analysed many years ago. He is leading the event with 5 points.

Results of the 6th round

Giri, A. – Gelfand, B. ½-½
Aronian, L. – So, W. 1-0
Karjakin, S. – Naiditsch, A. 1-0
Dominguez, L. – Nakamura, H. ½-½
Van Wely, L. – Rapport, R. ½-½
Harikrishna, P. – Caruana, F. ½-½

Standings after 6 rounds with ELO and performance included

1 Aronian, L. 5.0 / 6 2812 3007
2 Giri, A. 4.0 / 6 2734 2849
3 Karjakin, S. 4.0 / 6 2759 2851
4 Dominguez, L. 3.5 / 6 2754 2786
5 Caruana, F. 3.5 / 6 2782 2804
6 So, W. 3.5 / 6 2719 2811
7 Harikrishna, P. 3.0 / 6 2706 2752
8 Nakamura, H. 3.0 / 6 2789 2757
9 Van Wely, L. 2.0 / 6 2672 2613
10 Rapport, R. 2.0 / 6 2691 2624
11 Gelfand, B. 1.5 / 6 2777 2546
12 Naiditsch, A. 1.0 / 6 2718 2492

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Tata Steel Masters 2014

Aronian
(Photo taken from chessbase.com)

Aronian managed to win yet another very interesting and complex endgame and is now leading with 4 points out of 5!

Results of the 5th round

Harikrishna, P. – Giri, A. 0-1
Caruana, F. – Van Wely, L. 1-0
Rapport, R. – Dominguez, L. 0-1
Nakamura, H. – Karjakin, S. ½-½
Naiditsch, A. – Aronian, L. 0-1
So, W. – Gelfand, B. 1-0

Standings after the 5th round with current ELO and performance

1 Aronian, L. 4.0 / 5 2812 2977
2 Giri, A. 3.5 / 5 2734 2863
3 So, W. 3.5 / 5 2719 2891
4 Dominguez, L. 3.0 / 5 2754 2789
5 Karjakin, S. 3.0 / 5 2759 2800
6 Caruana, F. 3.0 / 5 2782 2827
7 Harikrishna, P. 2.5 / 5 2706 2746
8 Nakamura, H. 2.5 / 5 2789 2757
9 Van Wely, L. 1.5 / 5 2672 2598
10 Rapport, R. 1.5 / 5 2691 2615
11 Naiditsch, A. 1.0 / 5 2718 2526
12 Gelfand, B. 1.0 / 5 2777 2500

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Tata Steel Masters 2014

Aronian
(Photo taken from chess-news.ru)

Aronian is leading the event with 3 out of 4 after winning against Nakamura.

Results of the 4th round
Aronian 2 1-0 2 Nakamura
Giri 2 1/2 2 So
Dominguez 1 1-0 2 Caruana
Van Wely 1 1/2 2 Harikrishna
Karjakin 1.5 1-0 1.5 Rapport
Gelfand 0.5 1/2 0.5 Naiditsch

Standings after 4 rounds

1 Aronian, L. 3.0 / 4 2812
2 Harikrishna, P. 2.5 / 4 2706
3 Karjakin, S. 2.5 / 4 2759
4 So, W. 2.5 / 4 2719
5 Giri, A. 2.5 / 4 2734
6 Dominguez, L. 2.0 / 4 2754
7 Caruana, F. 2.0 / 4 2782
8 Nakamura, H. 2.0 / 4 2789
9 Van Wely, L. 1.5 / 4 2672
10 Rapport, R. 1.5 / 4 2691
11 Naiditsch, A. 1.0 / 4 2718
12 Gelfand, B. 1.0 / 4 2777

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Tata Steel Masters 2014

Caruana-Karjakin
(Photo taken from chess-news.ru)

Only two wins (all by White) happened yesterday. Gelfand could have contributed to this statistic though as we will see from the diagram below. Six players lead the event with 2 points: So, Aronian, Giri, Nakamura, Caruana and Harikrishna.

Results of the 3rd round

Caruana 1 1-0 1.5 Karjakin
Rapport 1 1/2 1.5 Aronian
Nakamura 1.5 1/2 0 Gelfand
Naiditsch 0 1/2 1.5 So
Van Wely 0.5 1/2 1.5 Giri
Harikrishna 1 1-0 1 Dominguez

Standings after 3 rounds

1 Aronian, L. 2.0 / 3 2812
2 So, W. 2.0 / 3 2719
3 Harikrishna, P. 2.0 / 3 2706
4 Caruana, F. 2.0 / 3 2782
5 Nakamura, H. 2.0 / 3 2789
6 Giri, A. 2.0 / 3 2734
7 Karjakin, S. 1.5 / 3 2759
8 Rapport, R. 1.5 / 3 2691
9 Van Wely, L. 1.0 / 3 2672
10 Dominguez, L. 1.0 / 3 2754
11 Gelfand, B. 0.5 / 3 2777
12 Naiditsch, A. 0.5 / 3 2718

Today is a rest day in the Masters event.

Pairings of the 4th round

Giri, A. – So, W.
Gelfand, B. – Naiditsch, A.
Aronian, L. – Nakamura, H.
Karjakin, S. – Rapport, R.
Dominguez, L. – Caruana, F.
Van Wely, L. – Harikrishna, P.

Nakamura-Gelfand

Black to move

How would you proceed with Black?

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Tata Steel Masters 2014

Gelfand-Rapport
(Photo taken from chess-news.ru)

Hungarian GM Rapport was a real hero of the round as he won against Gelfand using the Budapest Gambit!

Results of the 2nd round

Aronian 0.5 1-0 1 Caruana
Karjakin 1 1/2 0.5 Harikrishna
So 1 1/2 1 Nakamura
Gelfand 0 0-1 0 Rapport
Giri 0.5 1-0 0 Naiditsch
Dominguez 0.5 1/2 0 Van Wely

Standings after 2 rounds

1 So, W. 1.5 / 2 2719
2 Aronian, L. 1.5 / 2 2812
3 Karjakin, S. 1.5 / 2 2759
4 Nakamura, H. 1.5 / 2 2789
5 Giri, A. 1.5 / 2 2734
6 Harikrishna, P. 1.0 / 2 2706
7 Dominguez, L. 1.0 / 2 2754
8 Rapport, R. 1.0 / 2 2691
9 Caruana, F. 1.0 / 2 2782
10 Van Wely, L. 0.5 / 2 2672
11 Gelfand, B. 0.0 / 2 2777
12 Naiditsch, A. 0.0 / 2 2718

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