Viswanathan Anand held,slips to fourth

Against Svidler,Anand once more went for the Sicilian Najdorf. The Russian went for a slightly obscure variation,the Adams attack,perhaps in an attempt to throw Anand off a prepared line or just for plain surprise value. It did not have much of an effect in producing a decisive game,as a series of exchanges between moves 13 and 20 left too few pieces on the board for a result.

Perpetual checks along the back rank meant the draw was reached in 30 moves,just an hour and a half into the game. With the Teimour Radjabov-Levon Aronian and Hikaru Nakamura-Veselin Topalov games ending in draws too,the attention shifted the the Karjakin-Carlsen encounter.

Karjakin had come into the contest in blazing form,winning all four of his games while Carlsen could manage just four draws. It was the first time in almost a year that the Norwegian had not won in four successive games of the tournament. The early phase of the game went true to form,with Karjakin (playing white) enjoying an edge in the Ruy Lopez opening. Twenty moves in,white’s well-positioned bishop pair,rooks on open and semi open files and a stable pawn structure meant that he could attack without worry.

However,Karjakin walked his king right into the path of Carlsen’s dark bishop,which was further armed with the queen occupying the same diagonal. Black made use of the pinned pawns in the line of the diagonal and a few tactics later,Karjakin wilted under pressure.

With mistakes following one after the other,Carlsen could choose between two methods of attack. He could bear down on the defenseless white king or push his advanced pawn further down the board. Karjakin resigned shortly after the first time control.

Results,round five: Sergey Karjakin (4) lost to Magnus Carlsen (2.5),Peter Svidler (2) drew with Viswanathan Anand (2),Teimour Radjabov drew with Levon Aronian (2),Hikaru Nakamura (2.5) drew with Veselin Topalov (1.5),Ludvig Hammer (0.5) drew with Wang Hao (1.5).

Standings after round five*: 1. Karjakin (4 pts),2-3. Nakamura,Carlsen (3),4-7. Aronian,Anand,Svidler,Radjabov (2.5),7. Topalov (2),8. Wang Hao (2),9. Hammer (1)

Pairings,round six: Carlsen vs Radjabov,Topalov vs Wang Hao,Anand vs Karjakin,Aronian vs Hammer,Nakamura vs Svidler