Round 5 report

Both leaders drew as Nihal Sarin won the battle of the youngsters against Parham Maghsoodloo. The two Swedes faced off with Nils Grandelius having to win twice to secure the whole point.

Dieter Nisipeanu tried something different (6.Qf3) in the opening and it misfired, with Gawain Jones gaining the upper hand. A black win looked likely during most of the game, but Dieter managed to secure a draw by repetition with some clever play at the end.

A very calm game between Ivan Saric and Pentala Harikrishna suddenly came to life in a very sharp endgame that had study-like twists. Ivan held the draw with a piece down through very exact play.

Nihal held his cool when Parham launched a kingside attack, opting for a breakthrough in the centre. The lone queen dominated against the two rooks and snatched pawn after pawn until black had to resign.

Tiger Hillarp Persson played the Hedgehog against fellow Swede Nils Grandelius. Nils dictated the game and had the opportunity to secure an early win. Tiger defended with vigour and survived into an endgame, only for Nils to force himself into a winning position again and this time claiming the point.