Topalov and Carlsen strike at Shamkir Chess

Veselin Topalov is the sole leader of the Gashimov Memorial on the first rest day after he brought an end to the draw curse by scoring consecutive wins over Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and David Navara. He now has to look over his shoulder, though, since Magnus Carlsen is also off the mark. Both the World Champion’s choice of opening and the way he played the game to beat Radek Wojtaszek in Round 5 was a silent tribute to Vugar Gashimov.

Magnus Carlsen quipped, “We’re both in the lead, what’s not to like?” while Teimour Radjabov explained he’d done better with the black pieces against the World Champion and, given the importance of rating points, couldn’t simply play for the crowd: “You’re entertaining the public and then you don’t get any invitations in the end!”

Karjakin-Carlsen will be a warm-up for Carlsen-Topalov in Round 7, which is currently looking as though it could decide the tournament. Follow all the Shamkir Chess action from 13:00 CEST on Wednesday!

See also:

• Official website
• All the Shamkir Chess games with computer analysis on chess24
• Mamedyarov on the Candidates and Shamkir
• Shamkir Chess 1: Carlsen and Mamedyarov draw
• Shamkir Chess 2-3: Why all the draws?