Chess - The Scotsman 13/03/2012

supertournaments in Monaco and Linares, Spain, have disappeared from the chess calendar, leaving a late winter gap. One interesting filler recently announced is the six-game match between Levon Aronian (world No 2) and Vladimir Kramnik (No 3).

But despite the lack of supertournaments right now, there has been a significant rise going on the Top 10 of world chess, specifically at the revamped Reykjavik Open, staged this year at the new Harpa, the Icelandic capital’s spectacular new music hall on the harbour. There’s a very attractive field vying for the E15,000 prize fund (roughly £12,500), led by Fabiano Caruana of Italy, David Navara of the Czech Republic, and the Chinese Women’s World Champion Hou Yifan.

Caruana is currently the hot performer in world chess. The 19-year-old Miami-born Italian has surged up the ratings in the past three months to gain entry into the Top 10 elite with second place at Reggio followed by tied second at Wijk aan Zee, level with world No 1 Magnus Carlsen and behind only Aronian. He then extended his rise in the rankings with a good performance at the Aeroflot Open in Moscow, moving to No 7 in the world, one spot behind his rival, the US No 1, Hikaru Nakamura.

And now, as Caruana takes the clear lead at the top of the Reykjavik Open, undefeated on 6.5/7, a half point ahead of GMs Ivan Sokolov and Boris Avrukh, he replaces Nakamura on the unofficial live ratings as the new world No 6.

I Krush - F Caruana

Reykjavik Open, (3)

Grünfeld Defence

1 d4 Nf6 2 c4 g6 3 Nc3 d5 4 Nf3 Bg7 5 Qb3 dxc4 6 Qxc4 0–0 7 e4 Nc6 8 Be2 Nd7 9 Be3 Nb6 10 Qc5 f5 11 d5 f4 12 dxc6 fxe3 13 Qxe3 bxc6 14 0–0 Qe8 15 Rac1 Kh8 16 Bd1 h6 17 Ne2 e5 18 Nd2 a5 19 Nc4 Ra6 20 a3 Be6 21 Nxb6 Rxb6 22 Qc3 Qa8 23 Ba4 c5 24 Ng3 c4 25 Bd1 Rfb8 26 Be2 Rb3 27 Qc2 c3 28 bxc3 Rxa3 29 Ra1 Rab3 30 Ra4 Rb2 31 Qd3 Rf8 32 Rfa1 Qa7! 33 Rxa5 Qxf2+ 34 Kh1 Bg4 35 Rf1 Qb6 36 Raa1 Bxe2 37 Rxf8+ Bxf8 38 Nxe2 Qf2 39 Qg3 Rxe2 0–1