Le Quang Liem is a clear second thanks to Kramnik who beat Shak Mamedyarov. This was a very strange game, Mamedyarov played a very weakly , lost a pawn in complications and went straight into a pawn down ending with R+N versus R+B. All the pawns were on the king-side only and normally one can expect to draw this ending. But Mamedyarov resigned barely three moves into the ending, allowing Kramnik to exchange the minor pieces AND create a passed pawn as well. Hardly the kind of stuff you expect from a 2700+ grandmaster.
Peter Leko tried very hard to win against Arkadij Naiditsch. At the last look, he had a knight ending with two passed king-side pawns versus a single centre pawn. But I do not think this is winnable as Naidistsch king is placed actively in front of the two pawns. I predict a draw which means Leko will be the only one not to win a single game. Rather disappointing for someone who was a previous winner here.
It is great to see Le Quang continue his fine form in Dortmund. Finally we have someone from Asean who can compete with the best Europeans!
Update - Leko won the ending but still finished in the cellar. His consolation was he had Naiditsch for company.
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| Final standings |
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