Leko, Kramnik, Petroff - are there any other three words which more strongly suggest DRAW?  However, Leko has had a nice space advantage throughout the game and he seems to be making some progress.  Dare we whisper winning chances...

...Nah.  It's simple math: Leko + Kramnik + Petroff = draw.

In Carlsen-Gelfand, Gelfand has more active pieces but Carlsen has the bishop pair.  Won't try to make a call on this one, but it might get interesting.

I thought Mamedyarov might have had a slight edge earlier in Mamedyarov-Anand, although Anand was never in any danger. Now it's looking kinda equal - even sterile.  Likely draw.

Naiditsch-Alekseev has an interesting material balance R+B+P (Naiditsch) vs. Q (Alekseev).  Generally speaking, I'd usually prefer the queen, but Naiditsch's extra pawn is passed.  This could get interesting.

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Carlsen-Gelfand a draw.

Naiditsch-Alekseev is getting exciting - I think Naiditsch has real winning chances.  Also, Alekseev has some moderate time pressure to deal with.

The Leko-Kramnik game is still teasing spectators with the prospect of a decisive outcome.  Kramnik is definitely defending an inferior position.

Queens have left the board in Mamedyarov-Anand and, paradoxically, the position no longer seems sterile.  This might still wind up a draw, but I think Mamedyarov can play for a win.

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Leko-Kramnik a draw - shocking!

Alekseev seems to have survived for the moment in Naiditsch-Alekseev - I think Naiditsch (also with some time pressure, though not as bad as Alekseev's) may have missed an opportunity having what looked like a strong initiative in a complex position.  Looks like anybody's game now.

On the rest day, there were some good games being played in the Aerosvit tournament.  Here's a position from a game (still in progress) which might give Ivanchuk the lead in the tournament (iirc, Karjakin and Ivanchuk shared the lead going into the round and Karjakin just drew against Onischuk).

                    Shirov-Ivanchuk  
http://www.france-echecs.com/diagramme/imgboard.phpfen=5rk1/2pq2p1/2n2bQ1/1p5p/p...
                              after 26.Nh2?

Here Ivanchuk played 26...Nxd4! and after 27.cxd4 Bxd4 28.Rb1 e3

                    Shirov-Ivanchuk  
http://www.france-echecs.com/diagramme/imgboard.phpfen=5rk1/2pq2p1/6Q1/1p5p/p2b1...
                              after 28...e3
I think Black is winning.

Sorry this is off topic, but I thought it was a nice shot by Ivanchuk.

OstapBender wrote on 06/27/07 at 17:49:48:

I was following the game live, and if I recall correctly, Naiditsch had 10-20min for his last two moves. I think he played 39...Be4+ with 12min or so. I think he crossed the 40-move point with 7min remaining. Myself and the other kibbitzers were pretty surprised after 39...Be4+, but we had the benefit of Fritz and some other engines to guide our analysis.

                    Anand-Naiditsch  
http://www.france-echecs.com/diagramme/imgboard.phpfen=8/8/4NpRk/5P2/2p1b1P1/2r5...
                              after 51.Rg6+
There goes the f6-pawn.  This looks hopeless for Naiditsch.

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1-0 a few moves later.

Well so far Kramnik has crushed Carlsen, Alekseev-Leko was a draw as OstapBender suggested, and Gelfand-Mamedyarov also drew in an interesting position, but with both (especially Gelfand) in some amount of time trouble.

Anand-Naiditsch is interesting...Naiditsch gave up a pawn for active pieces, managed to recover it, and had the slightly better chances in a drawn position before he gave it away with 39...Be4+. Now Anand has mating net threats, can create a pair of passed pawns, and should convert this endgame for the full point.

I was able to watch the games live for a change.

I was surprised when Kramnik agreed to a draw, it seemed that he could continue to play on without risking anything for quite some time.  I guess he didn't see any targets that he could attack and he also probably wanted to reserve his energy for the later part of the tournament.

The Leko-Naiditsch game looked really, really good for White for about 5 moves, then all of a sudden there was nothing.  I wonder if Leko also thought he let a half point go.

Anand drew very quickly, and I'm not quite sure why.  Of all the games, he seemed to leave the most chances on the board.

Compared to the Anand game, the Carlsen-Alexeev game was a super-marathon.  Alexeev was really comfortable until he made a very basic error in judgement (...Bg5?) that allowed White to expand and conslidate in the center (f4!) with gain of tempo.  Instantly, all the titled players said it was a blunder, and the computers generally agreed.  I wonder what Alexeev was thinking.

Anyway, the game headed for a really interesting endgame and Alexeev gave up a pawn to get into a 4-3 R+P ending with White having the passed a-pawn but a slightly passive rook and doubled g-pawns.

Alexeev was able to keep the White King away from the a-pawn and drew relatively easily in a very difficult position.  This showed good technique from Alexeev, but an uninspiring performance from Carlsen.

After three rounds, Kramnik and Alexeev(+1) lead, with Kramnik having played the tougher schedule so far.

There's a logjam at third (1.5/3) with Gefand and Naiditsch trailing the pack at 1/3 (-1).

[quote author=OstapBender link=1182559174/30#30 date=1182875176][quote author=Uberdeker link=1182559174/15#27 date=1182873492]As for the game Savchenko-Heinzel, I don't know either player, but I really like Black's treatement of the "Polish-Deferred". Just punishment for the cowardly 2. Kf3 ![/quote]
Kind of a non sequitur.  Did this post land in the wrong place?[/quote]
I'm guessing he's also following the games at http://195.34.83.249/toma/tfd.htm , which has Savchenko-Heinzel displayed along with the four Dortmund games. Maybe it's some sort of league game they're also broadcasting...?

And yes, I think Carlsen is stuck as well. Alekseev's rook is positioned very well to defend the White a-pawn and limit Carlsen's king to the first rank.

Leko-Naiditsch has a funny position at the moment, almost mirror image along the a1-h8 diagonal except that Black's pawns are more advanced. I would think Black has a slight edge, but my guess is we'll be 4/4 draws today.

[quote author=Uberdeker link=1182559174/15#27 date=1182873492]As for the game Savchenko-Heinzel, I don't know either player, but I really like Black's treatement of the "Polish-Deferred". Just punishment for the cowardly 2. Kf3 ![/quote]
Kind of a non sequitur.  Did this post land in the wrong place?
[hr]
I just noticed the Savchenko-Heinzel game on the official site.  So this was not a non sequitur - but what is this game doing on the official site?