Thessaloniki Grand Prix Round 9
Leinier Dominguez was a convincing winner of his clash with Fabiano Caruana in round 9 of the Thessaloniki Grand Prix, earning a share of the lead once more with just two rounds remaining.
The Cuban and his Italian foe had been sharing second place, but despite having the black pieces Dominguez scored a crucial win to pull level with Gata Kamsky who drew with Etienne Bacrot.
The only other decisive game of the round was a victory for Veselin Topalov against Alexander Morozevich, which takes the Bulgarian back to a level score in the tournament.
The pairings for the final two rounds can be found below.
Leinier Dominguez beat Fabiano Caruana to earn a share of the lead
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Veselin Topalov scored a win against Alexander Morozevich
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Gata Kamsky must now share the lead after his draw with Etienne Bacrot
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Peter Svidler drew his game with Alexander Grischuk
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Hikaru Nakamura could only draw with Ruslan Ponomariov
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The standings after 9 rounds
| Name | Fed | Elo | Pts |
| Kamsky, Gata | USA | 2741 | 6½ |
| Dominguez Perez, Leinier | CUB | 2723 | 6½ |
| Caruana, Fabiano | ITA | 2774 | 5½ |
| Grischuk, Alexander | RUS | 2779 | 5 |
| Ponomariov, Ruslan | UKR | 2742 | 4½ |
| Topalov, Veselin | BUL | 2793 | 4½ |
| Kasimdzhanov, Rustam | UZB | 2699 | 4½ |
| Bacrot, Etienne | FRA | 2725 | 4 |
| Svidler, Peter | RUS | 2769 | 4 |
| Nakamura, Hikaru | USA | 2775 | 3½ |
| Morozevich, Alexander | RUS | 2760 | 3½ |
| Ivanchuk, Vassily | UKR | 2755 | 2 |
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Round 10 pairings
| Grischuk Alexander | v | Dominguez Perez Leinier |
| Topalov Veselin | v | Caruana Fabiano |
| Kamsky Gata | v | Morozevich Alexander |
| Ponomariov Ruslan | v | Bacrot Etienne |
| Ivanchuk Vassily | v | Nakamura Hikaru |
| Svidler Peter | v | Kasimdzhanov Rustam |
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Round 11 Pairings
| Kasimdzhanov Rustam | v | Grischuk Alexander |
| Nakamura Hikaru | v | Svidler Peter |
| Bacrot Etienne | v | Ivanchuk Vassily |
| Morozevich Alexander | v | Ponomariov Ruslan |
| Caruana Fabiano | v | Kamsky Gata |
| Dominguez Perez Leinier | v | Topalov Veselin |
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The schedule for the 2013 Thessaloniki Grand Prix
| 21st May 2013 | Arrival & Opening Ceremony |
| 22nd May 2013 | Round 1 |
| 23rd May 2013 | Round 2 |
| 24th May 2013 | Round 3 |
| 25th May 2013 | Round 4 |
| 26th May 2013 | Free Day |
| 27th May 2013 | Round 5 |
| 28th May 2013 | Round 6 |
| 29th May 2013 | Round 7 |
| 30th May 2013 | Round 8 |
| 31st May 2013 | Free Day |
| 1st June 2013 | Round 9 |
| 2nd June 2013 | Round 10 |
| 3rd June 2013 | Round 11 & Closing Ceremony |
| 4th June 2013 | Departure |
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The fourth Grand Prix of the 2012/13 series runs from 21 May - 4 June in Thessaloniki, Greece. The full pairings are available here.
The overall winner and runner-up of the 2012/13 Grand Prix series will qualify for the next Candidates Tournament, expected to be held in March 2014. The first three events were held in London, Tashkent and Zug. The current standings are shown here.
Each tournament is a single round-robin featuring 12 out of the 18 players in the Grand Prix, and each player competes in four of the six events. The best 3 scores of each player count towards their overall score. The official regulations for the 2012/13 FIDE Grand Prix can be found here.
All rounds start at 14:00 local time (11:00 UTC) except the final round which starts 2 hours earlier. The time control used is 40 moves in 2 hours, followed by 20 moves in 1 hour, then 15 minutes plus a 30 second increment after move 60.
Photos by Anastasiya Karlovich at the official website, which has live games, analysis and video.
Games via TWIC.
