Karjakin is now leading the Candidates in Moscow after defeating both our current US Champion, Hikaru Nakamura and Vishy Anand. American contenders Nakamura and Caruana are both looking to pick up steam. Nakamura lost in round two to the tournament leader:
[pgn]
[Event "FIDE Candidates 2016"]
[Site "Moscow RUS"]
[Date "2016.03.12"]
[White "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Black "Nakamura, Hi"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E15"]
[WhiteElo "2760"]
[BlackElo "2790"]
[PlyCount "75"]
[EventDate "2016.03.10"]
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 b6 4. g3 Ba6 5. b3 Bb4+ 6. Bd2 Be7 7. Bg2 d5 8. cxd5
exd5 9. O-O O-O 10. Nc3 Nbd7 11. Qc2 Re8 12. Rfd1 Nf8 13. Ne5 Bb7 14. Bc1 Ne6
15. Bb2 Bd6 16. e3 a6 17. Ne2 c5 18. dxc5 Nxc5 19. Nd3 Nce4 20. Rac1 Rc8 21.
Qb1 Qe7 22. Bd4 Rxc1 23. Rxc1 b5 24. b4 Nd7 25. a3 Nf8 26. Ba1 Ne6 27. Qa2 Bc7
28. Nd4 Bb6 29. h4 Nxg3 30. fxg3 Nxd4 31. Bxd4 Bxd4 32. exd4 Qe3+ 33. Qf2 Qxd3
34. Rc7 f5 35. Rxb7 h6 36. Bxd5+ Kh7 37. Bg2 Re2 38. Bf1 1-0
[/pgn]
Karjakin separated himself from the pack with a victory today over Anand, his first classical victory against the former World Champion.
[pgn]
[Event "Candidates 2016"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "2016.03.15"]
[White "Karjakin, Sergey"]
[Black "Anand, Viswanathan"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "A13"]
[WhiteElo "2760"]
[BlackElo "2762"]
[PlyCount "85"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2016.03.15"]
1. Nf3 d5 2. e3 Nf6 3. c4 e6 4. b3 Be7 5. Bb2 O-O 6. Nc3 c5 7. cxd5 Nxd5 8. Qc2
Nc6 9. h4 b6 10. a3 f5 11. Bb5 Bb7 12. Nxd5 exd5 13. d4 Rc8 14. dxc5 bxc5 15.
O-O Bf6 16. Rfd1 Ne7 17. Bxf6 Rxf6 18. g3 Ba6 19. Bxa6 Rxa6 20. Qc3 Rb6 21.
Rac1 Qd6 22. Ne5 Rb7 23. Nd3 c4 24. bxc4 Rxc4 25. Qe5 Qxe5 26. Nxe5 Rxc1 27.
Rxc1 g6 28. Rc5 Kg7 29. Ra5 Kf6 30. Nd3 Rc7 31. Ra6+ Kg7 32. Nf4 Rd7 33. Kf1
Ng8 34. Ne6+ Kf7 35. Nd4 Ne7 36. Nb5 Nc8 37. a4 Rb7 38. Rc6 Ne7 39. Ra6 Nc8 40.
Rc6 Ne7 41. Rd6 Rb6 42. Rd7 a6 43. Nc3 1-0[/pgn]
Caruana has drawn all of his games, but today he let the victory slip away against Topalov.
[pgn]
[Event "Candidates 2016"]
[Site "Moscow, Russia"]
[Date "2016.03.15"]
[White "Caruana Fabiano (USA)"]
[Black "Topalov Veselin (BUL)"]
[Result "1/2-1/2"]
[ECO "C50"]
[PlyCount "104"]
[EventDate "2016.??.??"]
[SourceDate "2015.12.19"]
1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bc4 Bc5 4. O-O Nf6 5. d3 d6 6. c3 h6 7. a4 a5 8. Re1 O-O
9. Na3 Re8 10. Nc2 Ba7 11. Be3 Be6 12. Bb5 Bd7 13. Bxa7 Nxa7 14. Bc4 Nc8 15.
Ne3 Nb6 16. Bb3 c6 17. h3 Be6 18. Bc2 Qc7 19. d4 Nc4 20. Nxc4 Bxc4 21. Qd2 Rad8
22. Rad1 Be6 23. Qe3 b6 24. Nd2 c5 25. Bd3 Re7 26. d5 Bd7 27. Ra1 Nh5 28. b4
Nf4 29. bxa5 bxa5 30. Reb1 Rf8 31. Bb5 Bc8 32. Bf1 f5 33. c4 Ref7 34. Ra3 fxe4
35. Nxe4 Bf5 36. Rab3 Bg6 37. Rb6 Qe7 38. Nxd6 Nxh3+ 39. Qxh3 Rf6 40. Nc8 Qd8
41. R1b5 Rxf2 42. Rxg6 Rxf1+ 43. Kh2 Qxc8 44. Qxc8 Rxc8 45. Rc6 Re8 46. Rcxc5
e4 47. d6 Rd8 48. Rc6 Rd1 49. c5 e3 50. Rb2 Rd2 51. Rb1 e2 52. Re1 Rf8 1/2-1/2
[/pgn]
