Dortmund Sparkassen Chess: Ponomariov maintains lead after seventh round

Naiditsch and Liem settling their game with a draw.

Hi Everybody!

The Dortmund Sparkassen Chess Meet is interestingly poised. Ponomariov kept his half point lead after seven rounds even as Shakhriyar Mamedyarov bounced back with a nice win to stay tied in second spot with Le Quang Liem.

Mamedyarov had ruined a nice White game in the sixth round with a blunder against Naiditsch. In the seventh round, Mamedyarov showed that he has not allowed that blunder to unsettle him in any way!

The seventh round saw two draws and the only win by Mamedyarov over Peter Leko. You can see the official site here.

Results of Round 7

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1. Shak. Mamedyarov-Peter Leko 1-0

2. Arkadij Naiditsch-Le Quang Liem 1/2-1/2

3. Vladimir Kramnik-Ruslan Ponomariov 1/2-1/2

Standings after Round 7

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1. Ponomariov R. 4.5

2. Le Quang Liem 4.0

3. Mamedyarov S. 4.0

4. Kramnik V. 3.5

5. Naiditsch 3.0

6. Leko P. 2.0

Here is the nice Mamedyarov-Leko game. You can run it in our pgnplayer or watch in flash below.

PGN: 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.g3 d5 4.cxd5 Nxd5 5. Bg2 Nc6 6.Nc3 g6 7.d3 Bg7 8.Bd2 O-O 9.O-O Nc7 10.a3 Bd7 11.Rb1 a5 12.Na4 Ne6 13.Rc1 b6 14. e3 Rb8 15. Bc3 Be8 16.Bxg7 Nxg7 17.Nc3 e5 18.Nd2 Nf5 19.Nd5 Kg7 20.Nc4 f6 21.Qc2 Nce7 22.Ncxb6! Rxb6 23.Nxb6 Qxb6 24.Qxc5 Qd8 25.d4 exd4 26.e4 Nh6 27.Rfd1 Nc6 28.b4 axb4 29.axb4 d3 30.Rc3 d2 31.Rc2 Qb8 32.b5 Ne5 33.Qc7+ Bd7 34.Rdxd2 Qxb5 35.f4 Nhf7 36.fxe5 Nxe5 37.Bf1 Qa4 38.Rc4 Qb5 39.Rcd4 1-0

From Alexandra Kosteniuk's

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