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The pressure is immense, and even such experienced players as Nadezhda Kosintseva and Natalia Pogonina couldn't handle it. Both leaders have lost their games rather helplessly (to Alisa Galliamova and Valentina Gunina respectively). A win by Nazi Paikidze over Tatiana Shadrina has taken her to a clear first. After a hard-fought draw vs Vera Nebolsina, the Women's World Champion Alexandra Kosteniuk is at 50% and out of the 2500+ club on the women's live ratings. Tatiana Kosintseva (3.5/6) is doing much better now due to a convincing win over Svetlana Matveeva. Anastasia Bodnaruk managed to beat Olga Girya and reach the 50% mark.
The position in Natalia's game has been double-edged until time trouble (White had a rook for a bishop and pawn). Within the last few minutes Natalia managed to completely outplay her opponent and deliver an elegant mate:
Levon Aronian: All eyes on me
Photo: Eugene Surov, chess-news.ru
The 38-round blitz marathon took three days to complete and saw intense competition between the world's leading players. After the first day Carlsen and Aronian had 10/14, Mamedyarov - 9.5/14, and it seemed likely that Magnus would keep his title. However, after day 2 the picture has changed dramatically: Aronian came on top with 18.5/28, Carlsen had 17/28 (only 50% during the 2nd day), Radjabov, Kramnik and Nepomniatchi - 16 points. On day 3 it took Aronian 9 more rounds to secure clear first in the event.
The biggest upset of the championship was probably Hikaru Nakamura's performance. Widely considered to be the best online blitz player, he made a few harsh and ambitious statements before the tournament (including a threat to destroy Grischuk like a baby in blitz). As a result, Hikaru finished 5th and lost his mini-match to Grischuk 0.5-1.5.
The reigning Russian Women's Champion Alisa Galliamova didn't get anything out of the opening against Natalia. However, by playing too venturesome, WGM Pogonina ended up in a suspicious position and had to play carefully to secure a draw.
