WORLD RAPID & BLITZ CH - DOHA 2016

[JustinHorton]

"Now I'm nicely castled, let me open that h-file for you."

[John Moore]

Nepo leads on 8.5 followed by Korobov, Ivanchuk and Mamedyarov on 8. Then a few on 7.5 including Anand, Grischuk and Aronian. But David certainly showing that he belongs in this company at Rapidplay.

[John Moore]

David has Yu Yangyi in Round 12 with White.

[LawrenceCooper]

Nepo leads on 8.5 followed by Korobov, Ivanchuk and Mamedyarov on 8. Then a few on 7.5 including Anand, Grischuk and Aronian. But David certainly showing that he belongs in this company at Rapidplay.

Not just rapidplay based on his performances in the early London Chess Classics.

[JustinHorton]

Lacking the competence to either find this year's regulations or entirely understand last year's, am I right in thinking that there are no extra games if there are joint winners, but the tiebreaker for places will involve average rating of opponents?

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Meanwhile back at the chess - if anyone else is interested, David Howell has beaten Dubov to move to 7/11. Very impressive. Oh and Magnus, showing the pressure of being on board 1 in every round, lost to Korobov with White in 23 moves.

From a rather good position too from the opening

Carlsen blundered horribly in that round 11 game. He is out of the running now. Pity Ivanchuk lost too. Nepo might well win it from here, though he has taken a quick draw in round 12.

[LawrenceCooper]

Meanwhile back at the chess - if anyone else is interested, David Howell has beaten Dubov to move to 7/11. Very impressive. Oh and Magnus, showing the pressure of being on board 1 in every round, lost to Korobov with White in 23 moves.

From a rather good position too from the opening

Carlsen blundered horribly in that round 11 game. He is out of the running now. Pity Ivanchuk lost too. Nepo might well win it from here, though he has taken a quick draw in round 12.

A quick draw with black against Mamedyarov looks a decent result. Possibly Mamedyarov reckoned that he has easier pairings to come or felt playing on wasn't likely to get him anywhere.

[John Moore]

Meanwhile back at the chess - if anyone else is interested, David Howell has beaten Dubov to move to 7/11. Very impressive. Oh and Magnus, showing the pressure of being on board 1 in every round, lost to Korobov with White in 23 moves.

From a rather good position too from the opening

Carlsen blundered horribly in that round 11 game. He is out of the running now. Pity Ivanchuk lost too. Nepo might well win it from here, though he has taken a quick draw in round 12.

Not sure - 4/4 from here for Carlsen would put him fairly close, I would have thought.

[JustinHorton]

I think 11 will be the first place score.

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Not sure - 4/4 from here for Carlsen would put him fairly close, I would have thought.

Yeah, but I don't think he will do that. (His round 12 game looks drawn.)

[JustinHorton]

But isn't.

Big ouch from Anand after somebody shows him what he missed in this round, I should think....


.... and even as I write, Black gives it back.....

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Not sure - 4/4 from here for Carlsen would put him fairly close, I would have thought.

Yeah, but I don't think he will do that. (His round 12 game looks drawn.)

Ahem. That 'prediction' was deliberate!

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Nepo on 9, Ivanchuk and Mamedyarov and Korobov and Dominguez on 8.5, Carlsen and Grischuk and Amonatov and Anand and Riazantsev and Jakovenko on 8. Lots of others (including Howell) on 7.5, probably about 12 on 7.5.

(Nakamura has crept up to 7 points with three wins and one loss and 8 draws. It would be funny if he ended up on the top boards in the final round, given the tournament he has had.)

[Christopher Kreuzer]

Some nice match-ups in round 13:

Aronian vs Anand
Nakamura vs MVL

Top board is Korobov vs Nepo.

Howell has Black against Tomashevsky.

Winning score is looking likely to be 11/15 as Justin said.

[John Moore]

The Chinese players on the board below David reached a symmetrical position and a draw in about 10 minutes. This is not necessarily a criticism because I've been known to do the same!