Gelfand takes the lead

A live update (perhaps I should turn to Twitter…): Gelfand wins the second tie-break game to take the lead. Well, to be fair, it’s not over yet – but the victory looks inevitable. Gelfand a pawn up with a better position, and the playchess punters have stated a Fritz advantage of +2 (pretty much game over, for those unfamiliar with chess evaluations).

Not that it was/is a particularly exciting victory. The 5…c4 Open Catalan has a reputation for boring endgames where white has a tiny edge, but no more. Such was the case here, and the game could easily have been agreed draw on any move from 10 to 20. In fact, were this a normal tournament, I would have shut up shop and gone to bed. However, the fact that SOMEONE has to win this match enticed the players to play this one out, as it were. And can I just say, Ponomariov’s technique was woeful. Perhaps it’s the pressure, or perhaps the repeated effort of trying to hold another Catalan against Gelfand, but he just did not seem the same guy in this one.

Still, I shouldn’t call it just yet. Anything can happen, and Gelfand is down to less than a minute. In the course of writing this, in fact, things have muddied somewhat, and we’re down to a knight ending that Gelfand should win, but is a little tricky. Don’t hold your breath…