|
Report of the Day 1 of Rapid |
 The first round of the chess rapid tournament SportAccord Mind Games in Beijing got under way on the 14th of December 2012 after FIDE President Kirsan Ilyumzhinov and Director General of SportAccord Vincent Gaillard made first symbolic moves 1.e4 e5 in the game Morozevich-Aronian. After that the players decided to switch to 1.d4 Nf6 and, as everyone was expecting, played a spectacular game, which eventually finished in a draw.
 After 4 rounds we have the leaders both in women and open sections. Hikaru Nakamura from the USA started 3 out of 3 and the draw in the fourth round against Levon Aronian put him on the top of the table before the second day of the rapid. French Grand Master Laurent Fressinet got good chances to share the lead with American player if he chose 33…Bd8 in the game against Kamsky. Instead he preferred 33…Rf8 and game finished peacefully after followed three-time repetition. As a result Laurent Fressinet shares the second place together with Ding Liren from China with 3 points. The first day of rapid turned to be distressing for Azeri player Shakhriyar Mamedyarov who unexpectedly lost all four games.
 In women section former world champion Hou Yifan from China also won 3 first games and made a draw against Humpy Koneru to get the sole with 3, 5 points out of 4. Kateryna Lahno started the tournament with 2 victories but in the third round was defeated by Hou Yifan. In the fourth round Ukrainian player outplayed Alexandra Kosteniuk and finished the first day just half a point behind the leader. Kateryna Lahno shares the second place together with Humpy Koneru.
Pictures of the day 1 are in the gallery.
The fifth round will start tommorow at 2 p.m. local time. |
