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All draws today. Anand and Ivanchuk put in a proper days work while the rest of the players take a day off.

Anand – Ivanchuk

Anand plays a quiet 10. h3 against Ivanchuk’s Sicilian Najdorf leading to equality. Ivanchuk gets a slight advantage thanks to his e-pawn backed by a rook, and he builds that into a sizeable advantage. Ivanchuk rejects an opportunity to win a pawn, which allows Anand to consolidate his position and neutralise Ivanchuk’s advantage

Aronian – Topalov

Topalov quickly takes advantage of Aronian’s reticence in the centre to grab an advantage. After some tactical trickery both sides agree a draw.

Carlsen – Leko

Leko’s Semi-Slav follows Carlsen’s game against Topalov from the previous round, and Leko deviates with 10… Qe7, and both sides seem content to play out a draw by repetition right out of the opening.

Morozevich – Svidler

Both players call it evens still inside an English Four Knights opening.

Carlsen gains a point over Topalov after Topalov resigns in a drawn position – Carlsen had missed a winning line, but nevertheless played extremely well. Aronian’s piece play and sacrifices bewitches Anand. Svidler bails out to a draw in Leko’s Marshall. Ivanchuk’s Berlin stands up to Morozevich’s scrutiny.

Carlsen – Topalov

Carlsen nurses a slight advantage from a Semi-Slav. On the first time control Carlsen has a good handle of the position, Topalov missing a few equalising opportunities. Carlsen embarks on a kingside attack by opening the g-file and creating a battering ram with his h-pawn. This forces Topalov backwards and Carlsen sacrifices the d5-pawn gaining time for his attack. He misses a winning line, and Topalov resigns missing a drawing resource.

Aronian – Anand

Aronian takes a slight edge from a Queen’s Gambit Accepted / Catalan opening. Anand misses his chance at equality, and Aronian seizes the opportunity to create a threatening pawn centre, backed by both of his bishops. Anand looks close to equalising, but as the pieces come off, Aronian’s passed d-pawn becomes a monster, and the a-pawn is threatening. Aronian sacrifices a piece, followed by a rook to ensure both pawns can be shepherded through. Anand sacrifices back material leaving Aronian in a winning endgame with an extra exchange.

Svidler – Leko

Svidler allows a Marshall attack, and Leko opts for 17… f5 avoiding any prepared improvements over Svidler’s earlier game with Aronian. All of Leko’s pieces build up against the White king, and Svidler plays it carefully, and both sides take a draw by repetition.

Morozevich – Ivanchuk

Ivanchuk adopts the Berlin Defence against Morozevich’s Ruy Lopez and locks down White on both wings. Although Morozevich gets a knight posted on d5, Ivanchuk’s hold of the position is enough for equality. Morozevich can’t make any progress, and a repetition of position concludes the draw.

Morozevich outplays Anand, but stumbles on the final straight, allowing Anand to take the whole point. Ivanchuk’s original hard work is undone by two blunders, giving Carlsen the whole point. Svidler’s active play subdues Topalov into a draw. Aronian withstands Leko’s charge.

Anand – Morozevich

Morozevich adopts a Breyer against the seemingly rare Closed Ruy Lopez. Morozevich is the first to deviate with a virtually unplayed 14… c6. Anand decides to fix the central pawn structure, allowing Black his thematic queenside play. Anand’s kingside pressure gains him an advantage, forcing Morozevich to defend carefully. Anand’s pressure fizzles and gradually Morozevich gains the upper hand. But Morozevich stumbles on the way to time control, and Anand seizes the point in the semi-endgame.

Ivanchuk – Carlsen

The opening leaves known theory on move 7 with Ivanchuk forging a new path. Ivanchuk gradually nurtures an advantage before seizing control of the centre with a strong position. But Ivanchuk goes astray in his customary time trouble, missing a tactic that swings the game into Carlsen’s favour. A second blunder by Ivanchuk seals his fate.

Topalov – Svidler

Topalov avoids Svidler’s Grunfeld by holding back with an English set-up. Svidler temporary sacrifices a pawn to free his position, and activates his pieces. Svidler breaks up Topalov’s play for an advantage with another pawn sacrifice, and his active pieces secure a draw.

Leko – Aronian

The Bogo-Indian is a rare guest at SuperGM level, but Aronian handles it with aplomb. The middle game resembles a fashionable line of the Queen’s Indian. Leko’s Stonewall set-up succeeds in forcing a rook into the heart of Black’s queenside. Leko sacrifices an exchange to open up Black’s king to a heavy piece attack, and regains material by eliminating Black’s centre pawns. After a brief flurry of activity from Aronian, Leko holds the endgame with the exchange down.

Anand powerful play disposes of Carlsen in a neat win. Leko holds Topalov in a topical Queen’s Indian. Svidler’s pressure is neutralised by Ivanchuk. Morozevich’s wild attack forces Aronian to settle for a draw.

Carlsen – Anand

Anand equalised comfortably in the Semi-Slav, and encircles the king in a semi-endgame. He forces a decisive entry of his Rook into White’s position. His bishop and rook dominates Carlsen’s position and forces its collapse.

Topalov – Leko

Topalov emerges from a Queen’s Indian defence with a strong passed pawn on c6. But Leko liquidates the position into an opposite coloured bishops endgame that he holds.

Svidler – Ivanchuk

Ivanchuk sparks off a tactical sequence in the Petroff that forces a drastic simplification into a semi-endgame. Svidler has some pressure and forces Ivanchuk into an awkward defensive posture. Ivanchuk’s active knight gains some stability on the kingside. Both sides battle hard as the position drifts towards a balanced rook endgame.

Morozevich – Aronian

Morozevich sacrifices a pawn against Aronian’s Ragozin defence is rebuffed by Aronian. Morozevich launches into a wild attack that connects through to Black’s king. Aronian’s counter attack forces Morozevich to yield to a draw.

Ivanchuk sews chaos into Topalov’s queenside, and Topalov buckles under the pressure. Anand defends an inferior endgame against Svidler. Aronian’s miscalculated piece sacrifice and Carlsen’s lax defence leaves both scarred players with a draw. Morozevich’s McCutcheon French forces Leko on the back foot, but he battles to a hard fought draw.

Anand – Svidler

Anand’s anti-Marshall Ruy Lopez entices Svidler into active play on the queenside. Svidler sacrifices a pawn for the two bishops and some lively piece play. Anand stumbles and falls into an opposite coloured bishops ending a pawn down. Anand’s activity in the endgame is sufficient to induce a draw.

Aronian – Carlsen

Out of a Catalan, Aronian’s light-squared bishop becomes very powerful early on, but Carlsen forces it to be exchanged off, and sacrifices a pawn to free his position. Aronian looks to be cruising to another win, but he outfoxes himself and sacrifices a piece, missing Black’s key defensive idea (20… f5!) which stems the kingside threats. Carlsen has a lapse in concentration which allows Aronian to draw by perpetual check.

Ivanchuk – Topalov

Ivanchuk’s solid opening play against Topalov lulls Black into a false sense of security. Ivanchuk swops off the light-squared bishops, and his queenside piece play snares the Black rook into undertaking a convoluted manoeuvre. Black is forced to defend his backward d6-pawn, allowing Ivanchuk a free hand to create more weaknesses. This nets Ivanchuk a pawn. Topalov struggles to gain compensation, and the pressure finally forces a blunder at time-control, and Topalov’s position collapses.

Leko – Morozevich

Morozevich essays the McCutcheon French against Leko and saddles him with isolated pawns on the queenside. Leko gradually improves his position, tenaciously denying Black any additional advantage. Leko sacrifices a pawn to get a strong knight on d6. He steers the game into a balanced double rook endgame, and both sides split the point.

Carlsen’s piece sacrifice out of the opening puts Morozevich on the back foot, and the talented Norwegian youth secures the full point. Ivanchuk’s time-trouble denies him a win against Leko. Aronian’s Marshall Gambit pressures Svidler and gains a repetition of position to secure the draw. Anand neutralises Topalov’s Queen’s Indian.

Carlsen – Morozevich

From a Classical Fianchetto against Morozevich’s Kings Indian / Benoni set-up, Carlsen sacrifices a knight for two pawns. One of those pawns, the d-pawn pushes right into the heart of Black’s position to win back his piece. Morozevich gains some compensation because of his dark-squared bishop, but his knights are disarrayed. In the opposite-coloured bishops endgame, Carlsen slowly neutralises Black’s counterplay, and annexes another pawn. Two pawns up, Carlsen converts the endgame after a long struggle.

Ivanchuk – Leko

Ivanchuk surprises Leko with the Scotch game, and Leko’s slightly passive approach hands the initiative to Ivanchuk. Ivanchuk pushes Black’s pieces back, and unleashes a piece sacrifice to shatter Black’s kingside pawns. Unfortunately, because of serious time-trouble Ivanchuk misses a stronger continuation, but the sacrifice is good enough to secure a draw by perpetual check.

Svidler – Aronian

Svidler heads into Aronian’s Marshall Gambit Ruy Lopez – after side-stepping it in Wijk aan Zee – and follow’s Anand’s game against Aronian from the previous tournament. Aronian deviates with 23… Bd3 attempting to set up a pin on the e-file, but Svidler has enough resources to hold the position, and a repetition of position secures the draw.

Topalov – Anand

Back into the Queen’s Indian defence Anand suffered a horrible loss to Topalov in Wijk aan Zee a few weeks ago. Topalov avoids any Anand improvement with 14. Nxe4. Anand steams towards equality as Topalov fails to find stronger continuations.

Radjabov and Topalov finish with a short, but exciting draw. Kramnik’s Pillsbury attack pays off handsomely as van Wely crumbles. Aronian’s deft touches registers a superb win over Tiviakov. Svidler’s suicidal play leads to a swift win for Karjakin. Carlsen and Shirov survive a see-saw encounter. Ponomariov survives a tense game against Motylev. Navara quickly equalises against Anand.

Kramnik – van Wely

Kramnik adopts a Pillsbury attack against van Wely’s solid Queen’s Gambit set-up, as both White knights harry the Black pieces. Kramnik pries open the f-file for his rook and van Wely fails to find the most active response. This leaves Kramnik building up threat after threat against the now stranded Black king. Kramnik sacrifices the exchange to open up the Black pawn structure. Once the kingside is demolished and Black’s counter-threats neutralised, the remaining White knight gallops in to secure the result.

Radjabov – Topalov

Topalov repeats the Catalan line that effectively lost him his FIDE title. He uncorks an improvement on move 19 that looks to free his d-pawn. After White’s best response, Topalov unleashes a startling queen sacrifice – looking to unbalance the position. Radjabov declines the sacrifice and in turn sacrifices a piece himself which propels the game to a repetition of position, and a draw.

Aronian – Tiviakov

Aronian plays into a Catalan against Tiviakov’s Queen’s Indian and sacrifices a pawn for better development. Tiviakov seems bewitched by Aronian’s carefree manoeuvres and sacrifices a rook to unleash a torrent of an attack against Aronian’s king. Aronian calmly centralises his king, and Black can do nothing to threaten it. Aronian’s extra piece pushes the game to its inevitable conclusion.

Svidler – Karjakin

Svidler temporarily sacrifices a pawn to open up Black’s queenside in a Sicilian Najdorf, allowing Karjakin to pull his major pieces to work on the open files against the White king. Svidler blunders horribly, allowing Black a prosaic deflection sacrifice that Svidler cannot afford to accept. Karjakin’s attack grows in ferocity, and Svidler is helpless to stem the tide. A confidence boosting win for Karjakin.

Carlsen – Shirov

Carlsen’s anaemic Anti-Marshall system leads to a balanced position. Through some elegant piece-play Shirov gains a significant advantage, but loses time pursuing a bad plan, and the advantage swings over to Carlsen, who fails to find a better continuation in his kingside attack. The advantage swings back to Shirov again, but he gets over-enthusiastic with a piece sacrifice, and has to defend an endgame of his two knights against Carlsen’s two bishops.

Ponomariov – Motylev

Motylev’s early knight exchange in the Semi Slav leaves Ponomariov with a strong bishop aimed at Black’s weak …c6 pawn, but Ponomariov continues developing slowly, allowing Black the freeing …c5 pawn thrust which still retains him a slight edge. Ponomariov’s advantage fizzles, and Motylev directs things towards an endgame by some tactical play. Ponomariov’s two pieces for the rook is offset by the fact that Black has powerful kingside pawns, including an outside passed pawn. Ponomariov manages to peg Black back, and earns a draw.

Anand – Navara

In a tepid Anti-Marshall Ruy Lopez, Navara’s energetic central pawn sacrifice forces rapid simplification, although Black has an initiative, the advantage is with White. But Black’s position is sound enough for the points to be split.