All Draws in Round 5 of Bilbao Masters Final 2016

They were heavily fought matches, but draws nonetheless. All three games. Chessbase writes:

Like it or not, Magnus Carlsen is the player who provides the greatest entertainment in Bilbao. In round five he played with Black against Anish Giri and managed to create winning chances from an equal position. However, Giri’s tenacious defense allowed him to draw. Sergey Karjakin and Hikaru Nakamura played an old line of the Queen’s Gambit Declined and after an improvement by White Black quickly forced a draw. Wesley So tried hard to win against Wei Yi but had no success. After five of ten rounds Carlsen leads with 10.0/15.

So far, Anish Giri still holds the upper hand against Magnus Carlsen in their classical games one-on-one match-up as their Round 5 game came to a draw after 62 moves. According to TWIC:

Carlsen lost his first classical game against Giri and the rest have been drawn. Giri reminds Carlsen of this plus score frequently and one senses Carlsen is getting a little frustrated he can’t put this issue behind him with a win.

Wesley So, on his game against Wei Yi, was up by a pawn by move 50, which was also the start of the ending phase of the game. Wei Yi was then able to hold his ground, and they agreed to a draw by move 74.

Halfway through the tournament, the standings follow:

Bilbao Masters Final 2016 Ranking after Round 5

#NameCountryRtgPts
1Magnus CarlsenNorway285510
2Hikaru NakamuraUnited States27877
3Anish GiriNetherlands27855
4Sergey KarjakinRussia27734
5Wesley SoUnited States27704
6Wei YiChina26964

In Bilbao, the three-point rule applies.

Today, July 18, 2016, is rest day. Games resume tomorrow at 10:00 pm Philippines time (GMT+8), or 16:00 in Spain (GMT+2).

Replay all the Bilbao Masters Final 2016 games so far.

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