Sharjah: Maxime Vachier-Lagrave of France and Shakhriyar Mamedyarov of Azerbaijan maintained their grip at the top with four points each as they drew with their respective opponents in the sixth round of the Fide Sharjah Grand Prix at the Sharjah Chess Club.
Vachier turned back the English Opening of Michael Adams of England to halve the point in 28 moves. Mamedyarov used the Semi Slav defense to split the point with Dmitry Jakovenko of Russia in only 13 moves.
Five players follow with 3.5 points each: Adams, Jakovenko, Hikaru Nikamuara of the USA and Alexander Grischuk and Ian Nepomniachtchi of Russia.
Nepomnicachtchi used a prepared variation against the Petroff defense of Li Chao of China to win in only 29 moves. Grischuk used the Sicilian Najdorf against Nikamura and sacrificed a Knight on the 16th move. Grischuk had two Rooks against three minor pieces of White and exchanged all pieces to draw in 62 moves.
Richard Rapport of Hungary, Ding Liren and Hou Yifan of China, Francisco Vallejo Pons of Spain and Levon Aronian of Armenia are on three points each.
Rapport crushed the Nimnzo-Indian defense of Alexander Riazantsev of Russia in a marathon 78 moves of a Rook and pawn endgame. Compatriots Ding Liren and Hou Yifan, reigning women’s world champion, drew in 33 moves of a Scotch Four Knights game. Aronian used the Queen’s Gambit Decline Exchange Variation against Vallejo to draw in 48 moves of a Rook and pawn endgame.
Li Chao, Jon Ludvig Hammer of Norway and Pavel Eljanov of Ukraine follow with 2.5 points apiece. Riazantsev, local hero Salem A. R. Saleh of the UAE and Evgeny Tomashevsky of Russia hug the bottom with 2 points each.
Salem used the Sicilian Scheveningen to draw with Hammer in 51 moves. Eljanov and Tomashevsky drew in 34 moves of a Semi Slav defense.
The tournament is in the homestretch of the nine-round Swiss system.
