Norway chess 2015 - GOTD Round 5

Opening: D12: QGD Slav

Player(s): Hammer, Topalov

IM John Watson recaps Round 5. What's this, a Norwegian winning a game in the Norway Chess Tournament? Yes, after 5 rounds, World Champion Magnus Carlsen won, in his fashion, by playing a precise endgame against Sasha Grischuk, who found himself fighting again his chronic being short on time, playing rather badly and making the decisive mistake on last move before time control. Nakamura pushed in his game against the great Anand, but didn't find a way to win, and the game ended in a draw. Vachier-Lagrave and Giri drew a theoretical game, not really thrilling. Topalov won a totally drawn endgame against Hammer, who blundered inexplicabily and was forced to resign on the spot after the mistake. It looks like everything is going Topa's way in this tournament! Aronian beat Caruana, in a quite strange game. Aronian said "True joy comes from undeserved wins!" Caruana, in time pressure, lost his proverbial lucidity, and played imprecise moves, which allowed Aronian to take the full point. Tomorrow Carlsen plays Nakamura. The Big Clash that somehow everyone is waiting for. Nakamura's record vs. Carlsen is disastrous, but the American #1 sounds determinate and fearless; he said, when asked about tomorrow's game, "If you want to be the best, you've got to play against the best!". And Carlsen, in a rather sibylline way, said: "It is always fun to play against Nakamura!". It'll be fun to watch. Tomorrow, 10AM EDT - 16:00 Berlin - 15:00 London.

Teacher's library (266) D12 Hammer Topalov recap