Things Get Tighter

The top four boards drew out in round five as Alexander Onischuk and Dmitry Gurevich remained in the lead on an undefeated 4-1. Sergey Kudrin climbed his way up near the top with an exciting win over upstart Salvijus Bercys who had held Varuzhan Akobian and Alexander Stripunsky in the previous two rounds.

Both Akobian and Hikaru Nakamura have struggled this tournament but both players are staying the course and hope to string some wins together. Akobian won with a nice Benko Gambit while Nakamura has won two in a row. While the strongest players are drawing each other, the defending champion may climb back into contention. Certainly, the other players are watching Nakamura closely.

Emory Tate got back on track after dispatching of Irina Zenyuk  in a tense battle. It appeared as if Tate would  gave to eke out a draw, but his steady play in this game shows that he is trying to play a well-rounded game in this strong field. Tate told The Chess Drum's Daaim Shabazz that he would consider playing more solid openings instead of his usual 1.e4, but in this game he switched back to his trusty opening move.

Zenyuk defended Tate's 1.e4 with a Taimanov and almost immediately was under pressure from an early kingside storm by Tate. The Black king had no safe haven so it sauntered off to the porous queenside. Zenyuk decided to entered complications with 18…d5?! and saw the ensuing continuation:  19.exd5 cxd5 20.Nxd5 Bxd5 (20…Nd3+ 21.Bxd3 Rxd5 22.Bxa6!) 21.Bxd5 Nd3+ 22.Kb1 Nf2 23.Qf1, but noticed too late that 23…Nxd1 doesn't work due to  24.Qxa6+ Kd7 25.Ba5! Thus, she had to go into a lost ending with 23…Rxd5 24.Qxf2.  This was a game Tate needed after having had the tough loss against Daniel Fernandez.

The "Chimi Express" roars on!

Batchimeg Tuvshintugs came into this tournament having never beaten a Grandmaster and this tournament has have beaten three of them! This is a tall order for a 19-year old player with a 2200 rating.

In American society, it is commonplace to shorten non-English and/or difficult names. What a shame! Since her arrival from Mongolia, the powerful-sounding "Batchimeg" has become "Chimi." Thus, her tournament moniker has become the  "Chimi Express." In round five, she toppled Julio Becerra in an anti-Sveshnikov system that has become popular… 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Nc3 e5!?

This was a great strategical battle as mass piece exchanges occurred. A crucial position occurred after only one pair of pawns were exchanged after 26.Ref1. It would be obvious that white would break on the flanks while black would try for a counterpunch in the center.  It turns out that black also punched on the flanks! Becerra abandoned his kingside, went for queenside play and the Mongolian pounced on the white king catching it  in an Arabian mating net. Nice play!