Poikovsky, Round 7: Jakovenko in Clear First
Through most of the tournament it has been a two-man race between Ian Nepomniachtchi and Dmitry Jakovenko, and for the first time in the tournament Jakovenko is the clear leader. Nepomniachtchi drew quickly with Black against Vladislav Kovalev, while Jakovenko was always worse-to-equal against Victor Bologan in a Taimanov-turned Scheveningen-turned quasi-French. Fortunately for Jakovenko, Bologan's horrendous tournament got a little bit worse, and 44.Ba6?? lost by force by simple means. After 44...Nxd4 45.Kxd4 Ra2 the bishop was essentially trapped. Its only safe square was on d3, but after 46.Bd3 Rd2 the threat of 47...Rxd3+ followed by 48...Bb5+ and 49...Bxf1 meant White had to move the rook. Unfortunately for him, after 47.Rf3 Bb5 Black liquidates to an easily won king and pawn ending, which Jakovenko of course converted.
The other player with an outside shot at winning the event, Boris Gelfand, only managed a draw against Vladimir Fedoseev, though he was very slightly better with Black throughout the game. Vidit-Artemiev was also drawn, but there Artemiev was almost certainly winning at some point. Only in one game did White do well, and that was Korobov-Sutovsky - a salutary reminder that opposite-colored bishops do not guarantee a draw.
In round 8 Jakovenko (5.5) will have White against Kovalev (3.5), Artemiev (2.5) will have White against Nepomniachtchi (5), and Gelfand (4.5) will be White against Bologan (.5). It's a friendlier round for Jakovenko than for Nepo, but in the last round Nepomniachtchi has White against Jakovenko himself, so it's likely that the tournament will come down to the wire. (And in case it proves relevant, Gelfand will have Black against Kovalev in the last round.)
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