6/17/2012 – Round seven saw shock losses by both leaders. Morozevich took big chances against Tomashevsky, which backfired, while Kramnik saw a solid endgame go sour against McShane, and also lost in a big upset. Caruana spent his game against Radjabov hanging by his fingernails, but it turned out they were made of titanium and he drew. Five lead now. Illustrated report with GM commentary.
It is hard to imagine a more dramatic round than the seventh. It isn’t just the results that were dramatic, but how they were reached as well. Before the games started, both Vladimir Kramnik and Alexander Morozevich had been in the lead with a pack of three hungry wolves, Teimour Radjabov, Fabiano Caruana, and Magnus Carlsen, all nipping at their ankles.
The first game to end was Levon Aronian-Alexander Grischuk, in which the players were booked to the hilt and correctly drew. Hikaru Nakamura against Magnus Carlsen was not the demise of the American as predicted by many due to his very poor score against the number one, and instead it was he who actually had an edge throughout, though Carlsen eventually equalized after which a draw was logical.
The first actual drama was Evgeny Tomashevsky’s win over leader Alexander Morozevich. Tomashevsky is not only the second lowest seed but had also been having a difficult event, so it was not a big shock that co-leader Morozevich declined to repeat moves, and took his usual risks to imbalance the result in his favor. Instead, Evgeny held fast, and when the smoke cleared, was completely won. It was an absolutely delighted Tomashevsky who arrived alone in the post-game conference to celebrate his first win, and spent close to half an hour analyzing for the audience.
The next drama /tragedy/miracle (take your pick, they all apply) was undoubtedly Teimour Radjbov-Fabiano Caruana. Radjabov seemed destined to rejoin the lead he had lost, as he accumulated a huge advantage very early on, with a massive pawn center that seemed as if they might overpopulate the board with white queens.
Somehow he failed to find the best moves, and somehow Caruana showed the grit of champions as he fought and fought to save the game. His tenacity was finally rewarded as the game entered drawn territory, and though the Azeri refused to conform to it for many moves yet, there were no longer any doubts as to the result.
wrong to actually lead to the loss.
The final game, the longest, and the most dramatic of all, was the ultimate cliffhanger. Those watching Luke McShane-Vladimir Kramnik were subject to the maximum range of emotions throughout. For most of the game, it seemed like the Russian was not only in control, but might squeeze out a win in the endgame against his English opponent. Somehow, somewhere, the tide turned ever so subtly, and just enough so that the draw point was skipped. It is the nature of rook and queen endgames that the king’s safety weighs heavier than nearly all factors, and as he advanced his pawns, it was Kramnik’s king that was exposed.
the switch and start the long fight for the win, but McShane showed his fighting spirit.
Suddenly Luke was spending a great deal of time, and it became clear he too had sensed the change, and was resolved to play for the win. In the video, it was fascinating to see Vladimir’s poker ability come to the fore, since he was clearly aware of the turn, and he put on the most bored, non-chalant expression possible, possibly hoping to lull his opponent into agreeing to peace. Due to the extreme tension both players eroded their clocks to the limit, and huge swings took place with saving chances missed by Kramnik, and clear wins missed by McShane. Well over six hours after the start of the game, the leader threw in the towel, and resigned.
It is assuredly a strange tournament, in which five of the players lead after seven rounds, with 4.0/7, a modest plus one score, but contrary to most events where this usually means a gigantic drawfest where none make an effort to break away, here nothing could be further from the truth, and instead, every single player on the board has notched a win. In fact, McShane, who his still second-last, now has wins over the world number two and number three, Aronian and Kramnik.
The last two rounds promise to be sizzling.