Sergey Karjakin, Vladimir Kramnik and Ruslan Ponomariov share the lead at the Sparkassen Chess Meeting. The three GMs are on 3.5/5. Wednesday is a rest day; four more rounds will be played in Dortmund.

The stage of the Schauspielhaus Hiltropwall in Dortmund | All photos © Georgios Souleidis, more here

Round 3

In the third round (see our first report for the first two rounds) there were no less than four decisive games. Kramnik outplayed Bartel from an English Opening and won a pawn. However, the Polish grandmaster fought hard, and only after the first time control Kramnik's passed a-pawn became a decisive factor.

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Vladimir Kramnik, who is trying to win his 11th Dortmund title

Ruslan Ponomariov scored a nice attacking victory, with Black against Georg Meier. In a Slav Defence, the Ukrainian directed most of his pieces to the kingside and opened up the position there. In timetrouble, Meier couldn't find the best defence and after an exchange sacrifice by Ponomariov the white king was defenceless.

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Ruslan Ponomariov

Fabiano Caruana scored his first victory in this third round. Against Daniel Fridman he reached a promising ending, holding the bishop pair. At some point the 19-year-old Italian won his opponent's h-pawn, and eventually his own h-pawn decided the game.

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Fabiano Caruana vs Daniel Fridman

Peter Leko also celebrated his first victory, against Jan Gustafsson. According to the official website the German GM "committed suicide" in a Ruy Lopez, where a bishop move to g4 in the opening was a strategic mistake. "You cannot play that. I get control of the center and I am much better," said the Hungarian afterwards. Leko gave his opponent no chance. With subtle maneuvers he eventually won a pawn on the a-file and soon Gustafsson had to resign.

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Peter Leko vs Jan Gustafsson 

Round 4

All games in the fourth round ended in draws. In timetrouble Peter Leko missed an excellent chance to beat Fabiano Caruana. He could have reached a (winning) ending with two bishops against a rook.

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Peter Leko vs Fabiano Caruana

Round 5

Sergey Karjakin is known to be an expert in the Advance Variation of the Caro-Kann, and he showed it in his game against Daniel Fridman. On move 18 the fresh Rapid World Champion brought a theoretical novelty and soon after Fridman started to make mistakes.

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Sergey Karjakin vs Daniel Fridman

Fabiano Caruana defeated Jan Gustafsson from a Ruy Lopez that started quietly. In timetrouble it was impossible for "Gusti" to find his way in the wild complications. 

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Fabiano Caruana vs Jan Gustafsson

Mateusz Bartel and Arkadij Naiditsch played the longest game of the day. In the middlegame the Polish GM sacrificed an exchange, but Naiditsch managed to meet the threats against his king and reach an ending. The material was greatly reduced and Bartel could put up strong resistance with his bishop pair. But, after seven hours of play, at move 108, he overlooked a tactic and had to resign.

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Mateusz Bartel vs Arkadij Naiditsch

Thanks to Georgios Souleidis who writes daily round reports in German at the official website.

Schedule and results

Dortmund 2012 | Round 5 standings