16 of June 1997

    International chess supertournament "Novgorod the Great"

    The highlight of the fifth round was the heavyweight clash between Kramnik and Kasparov. The World Champion appeared in a very determined mood employing his customary Kings Indian Defence and for a while the game developed along theoretical lines. Suddenly black sacrificed a pawn on the fourteenth move. In exchange he obtained good compensation by way of increased piece activity. However, after some inaccuracies by Kasparov, his opponent was able to decide the game with an elegant combination. Thus Kramnik ( a student of Novgorod University) moves into clear first place with this victory. As a result of this game Kramnik occupies the 1-st place now. He has 4 points .

    In the game Short-Topalov Cicilian defence was played. Topalov played very confidently and won . That was the first victory of black. As a result, bulgarian grand-master has left the group of outsiders.

    In the game Bareev-Gelfand Nemzovich defence was played. The draw was on the 30th move after the placid struggle.

    The results after the 5th round:

    Kramnik - 4 ; Kasparov - 3,5; Topalov - 2,5; Gelfand - 2; Bareev - 2; Short - 1.


    At the same time open-tournament takes place in Novgorod. After 3 rounds 8 participants have 2,5 points. There are no leaders among novgorodians but 3 players have 2 points.

Lord Novgorod The Great
History in progress…


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