Mamedyarov, Grischuk step ahead of Wesley So

Shakhriyar Mamedyarov and Alexander Grischuk won their sixth round matches on Friday, June 11, and moved ahead of Wesley So in the Superbet Chess Classic at Sheraton Bucharest Hotel in Romania.

Already up by two pawns and poised to take another, Mamedyarov forced Levon Aronian to resign after 40 moves of a Queen’s pawn game.

Having a superior position, Grischuk compelled five-time Romanina champion Constantin Lupulescu to surrender in 37 moves of a Sicilian Defense.

So, the Philippines’ top player before moving over to the United States, tried vainly to beat Anish Giri until they ran out of pieces after 82 moves.

Their second victories gave Mamedyarov and Grischuk 4 points each, towing So who posted 3.5.

The matches between world No. 2 Fabiano Caruana and Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and Airthings Masters winner Teimour Radjabov and Romanian wildcard Bogdan-Daniel Deac ended in draws.

Caruana, Radjabov, and the 19-year-old Deac have 3 points each with three rounds left in the inaugural event of the Grand Chess Tour.

Out of the title race are 2.5-pointers Giri, Vachier-Lagrave, and Aronian and 2-pointer Lupulescu.

So, the reigning US and world Fischer random chess champion, aims to rebound when he tangles with Radjabov in round 7 on Saturday.

Mamedyarov and Grischuk try to stay on top when they battle Caruana and Aronian, respectively. The rest of the matches pit local stars Lupulescu and Deac, and Giri against Vachier Lagrave. – Rappler.com