The Chess Mind

With one round to go, Peter Leko has leaped into the lead, defeating Jan Gustafsson with surprising ease with the black pieces. Gustafsson's novelty, 16.Qb3, left him doubled, backward pawns on the b-file after 16...Qxb3 17.axb3, and at the end of the day that weakness proved decisive. Leko's technique was good enough, though his error on move 35 gave his opponent a chance to put up more resistance. Leko thus leads with 4 points, half a point ahead of Gustafsson and Ian Nepomniachtchi, who managed to hold on with Black against Vladimir Kramnik.

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov-Vassily Ivanchuk was also drawn, and quickly, but for those who take the time to closely examine the game, you'll discover genuine value therein. The pawn roller plan used by Mamedyarov can be devastating - witness the famous Botvinnik-Capablanca game from AVRO 1938 - so it's valuable to reflect on the way Ivanchuk coped with that plan.

Finally, the tournament victim (Loek van Wely) was sacrificed on the altar once more, this time to Arkadij Naiditsch, who plastered him in 26 moves. With one round to go, van Wely's TPR isn't even enough for an IM norm, making this almost surely the worst tournament of his adult life.

The games, with my comments, are here.

Standings after Round 6:

1. Leko 4
2-3. Nepomniachtchi, Gustafsson 3.5
4-7. Mamedyarov, Ivanchuk, Kramnik, Naiditsch 3
8. van Wely 1

Last Round Pairings:

Ivanchuk - Kramnik
van Wely - Mamedyarov
Leko - Naiditsch
Nepomniachtchi - Gustafsson