Superbet Chess Classic, Round 6: Mamedyarov & Grischuk Win, Lead
Per usual, a Romanian player - Constantin Lupulescu again - was involved in the day's decisive games, but for the second time in the tournament a non-Romanian was involved in one of the decisive games.
Wesley So made Anish Giri defend for a long time, but was unable to win. Knight and four pawns vs. knight and three pawns is typically winning for the strong side, but because Black had 48...g5 available at the start of the ending it was objectively drawn. Good "d" by Giri.
Alexander Grischuk won convincingly on the white side of a Classical Sicilian against Lupulescu. His preparation was good, and his opponent's wasn't. A surprisingly easy win for White.
Maxime Vachier-Lagrave seemed to mix up his move order against Fabiano Caruana in a sharp Ruy Lopez, and was soon lost. Fortunately for him, Caruana failed to play 22...Qf6, which would have kept a winning advantage, and the game soon ended in a repetition.
Finally, Deac-Radjabov was an uninspired draw that probably suited both players. 'nuff said.
The games, with my notes to the two decisive games and MVL-Caruana, are here. These are tomorrow's pairings:
- Radjabov (3) - So (3.5)
- Lupulescu (2) - Deac (3)
- Aronian (2.5) - Grischuk (4)
- Caruana (3) - Mamedyarov (4)
- Giri (2.5) - MVL (2.5)