The Karpov Tournament in Poikovsky got off to a flying start on Friday with four fighting games and only one relatively short draw. Dmitry Jakovenko opened the score with a win against Viktor Bologan in a Queen's Indian while Nigel Short nicely Zugzwanged Sergei Rublevsky in a bishop ending. The last winner was Radoslaw Wojtaszek, who beat Alexander Motylev after 123 (!) moves.

As we mentioned earlier this week, London and Sao Paulo are now joined by a third city where top chess is being played these days: Poikovsky, Russia. The event is full of players who are just below the absolute elite. Some of them are famous for working as seconds for top players, and together they make a nice playing field.

Besides a number of regular guests, the 13th edition of the Karpov tournament has three debutants: Nigel Short, Radek Wojtaszek and Wang Yue. These newcomers started well, and collected 2.5 points on the first day. Nigel Short seemed to be under a bit of pressure after the opening, but he treated the resulting bishop ending instructively, using the theme of Zugzwang more than once:

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Viktor Bologan was doing alright, in his game against Dmitry Jakovenko, until the first time control. He fell for a little trick and perhaps he should have just gone for the ending a bishop down.

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Ruslan Ponomariov is the top seed in Poikovsky this year. He faced Cuban Lazaro Bruzon, who was well prepared in a Taimanov Sicilian.

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The Schlechter System, a combination of a Slav pawn structure and a fianchetto of the king's bishop, has become quite a popular opening in recent years. Wang Yue played it in a way everyone can understand: exchange your queen's bishop, put your pawns on light squares and just play natural moves. Alexander Onischuk did manage to get some advantage, but with a positional exchange sac the Chinese created a fortress.

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Radek Wojtaszek, who won the silver medal for board one at the Olympiad, started with a win as well. He ground down Alexander Motylev in an ending with an extra pawn, where the presence of opposite coloured bishops made it hard to make progress.

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Karpov Tournament (Poikovsky) 2012 | Schedule & results