One of the critical moments came on move 14, when Sergey Karjakin spent almost half an hour trying to figure out if he could play 14...Ba2 or not. After 15.f5 both players agreed it was dangerous to take White's rook on b1 because of 16.f6! with powerful attack. Few moves later most of the pieces left the board but not before Teimour missed a great chance to get an advantage by playing 17.Kf2 and 18.Rg1. The endgame turned out to be balanced and after the first time control the draw was agreed.
Mamedyarov Shakhriyar 0-1 Andreikin DmitryMamedyarov chose the most principal line with 7.b3 against Dmitry Andreikin and converted the game into the position with isolated pawn. According to Andreikin, he played 19...Qd6 too quickly and underestimated opponent's answer 20.f4. Black had nothing better than to hold tight in the endgame with a pawn down.
“I still cannot believe I could lose this position!” said Shakhriyar at the press conference. Azeri player was very disappointed with his move 36.Rd4 as in his opinion 36.Rc4 (which doesn't allow 36...Rc6) could have finished the game immediately.
White has two extra pawns but Black has good counterplay after Rc2. After few mistakes from his opponent Dmitry Andreikin managed not only to equalize but eventualy won the game.
Kasimdzhanov, Rustam ½-½ Jakovenko, Dmitry
Rustam Kasimdzhanov went for quite popular line in Berlin, hoping to use pair of his bishops in the endgame. Even though Dmitry Jakovenko was defending precisely, former world champion pointed out he could have put more problems during the game.
After 42. Qd1 with an idea to play Qb3 White could still increase unpleasant pressure.
Nakamura, Hikaru 1-0 Jobava, BaadurNakamura didn't expect BogoIndian today but was happy to get playable and interesting position out of the opening. White chose a principal line with 10.Nc6 and Nb3-a5.
After 19.h4 Black decided to sacrifice his knight.
“The position became unpleasant for Black and I started to look for tactical opportunities to muddy the waters”, explained Baadur his idea to sacrifice a piece. In spirits of the position Georgian player kept on sacrificing and ended up in a very complex position with three pawns for White's rook. Nevertheless, Black's two bishops and a3 pawn gave him enough counterplay.
At this moment Baadur noticed he had only 1 minute left on his clock and remembered there was no increment. After his impulsive move 28...Qc1 it was all over for Black. After 28...Qd4 or 28...Qe5 the game was full of life.
Giri, Anish ½-½ Gelfand, BorisGelfand chose a rare and provocative line with Nh5 in Benoni and managed to equalize the position.
“It's noteworthy that computer gives +1 for White here, thinking that after Nh5, my pawns h7 and h5 are weak. In my opinion the position is very dynamic and interesting”, pointed out Boris Gelfand. Both players agreed on move 19...Bd7 to be better compare to 19...f5. According to Gelfand, he regretted his idea to force the position as after 19...Bd7 Black could simply maintain the pressure. Anish Giri chose the right moment to sacrifice a pawn and locked the position.
Caruana, Fabiano 0-1 Vachier-Lagrave, Maxime“I was not too optimistic before the game as normally I don't play well on my birthdays. I had lost two games and made two draws on previous years,” said Maxime Vachier-Lagrave at the press conference.
Nevertheless, he crossed swords with Caruana in a very popular line of Najdorf and gained his birthday present.
According to Caruana, White misplayed on 20th move and it turned out, Black’s compensation for sacrificed pawns was more than enough. “Black had too many threats and my position was just falling apart”, said Fabiano Caruana at the press conference.
MVL converted his advantage in a winning opposite colored bishop endgame and after 51 moves White resigned.
