www.ecc2008.chessdom.com

The Marshall Attack in the Ruy Lopez currently has a good reputation for the black side, and it worked fine for Levon Aronian who achieved a draw against Etienne Bacrot on the second board of MIKA - Baden Baden. On the other hand, Arkadij Naiditsch, who is playing in excellent shape here in Kallithea, managed to neutralize opponent’s counterplay in the same opening and transpose into winning ending. Fransisco Vallejo Pons was in serious trouble on board five, but the German team was optimistic as Pentala Harikrishna held a firm advantage ever since the introducing moves of the Catalan opening. With this important win, Baden Baden takes a sole lead with perfect score after five rounds. Tomorrow they are paired against the surging PVK Kiev Chess.

On the second table Economist Saratov and Ashdod Illit Chess Club drew all the games before the time control, while PVK Kiev wrecked Sahovsko Drustvo Ptuj by 5-1, allowing only draws against Grandmasters in Sloveian team. Ural is back on track after a sound 4.5-1.5 win against CC Zagreb, with full points from Radjabov, Grischuk and Malakhov. The weakened Iretza Gros tried their best against powerful TPS Saransk, but the Russian team efficiently collected all points on the lower boards.

Round 5 results
Round 5 standings
Photos and videos