Also in the third round both games at the Kings Tournament were drawn. At half-time, Vassily Ivanchuk is the leader in Bucharest as the winner of the only decisive game so far. Saturday is a rest day. 

Round 3 under way in Bucharest | Photos provided by the organizers, more here

In the third round of the Kings Tournament again both games ended with a draw. This time there was no drama, no blunders, but instead two correct "grandmaster draws".

Ivanchuk did build up some pressure in a Closed Ruy Lopez, (a Breyer kind of Zaitsev) ut Caruana defended well and eventually equalized. Perhaps at move 29 Ivanchuk could set more problems to his opponent, but even there it's not clear if White can get a bigger plus.

PGN string

Arguably more interesting was Nisipeanu-Topalov, despite the early exchange of queens in a Sicilian Alapin. Already after nine moves the players had reached a position which has never been seen in practice. White was a pawn up but Black's compensation existed in active piece play and the vulnerable position of Nisipeanu’s king. In spite of some sharp play, the game never really crossed the equality zone and finished with a logical draw in an opposite-coloured bishop endgame.

PGN string

Topalov:

I was better in game one, but yesterday I got an unpleasant ending. Today it was a normal draw so nothing to complain about.

Nisipeanu:

My start was bad and I am lucky to have one point because yesterday I was lost. Today was maybe the only game where I played decent chess.

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Kings Tournament 2012 | Pairings & results

Kings Tournament 2012 | Round 3 standings