Jobava and Evegeny maintain top position

Grandmasters Baadur Jobava of Georgia and Alekseev Evegeny of Russia shared the lead with 5.5 points at the end of the seventh round of fifth Dubai Open Chess Championship at the Dubai Chess and Culture Club.

A pack of seven players are closely behind with five points. The event is thus heading for a close finish with two rounds remaining.

Alekseev defeated Timofeev handing over the second loss in succession and diminishing the chances for GM norm for the later. Timofeev chasing his final GM norm lost his game from the Sicilian defence. After a positional battle in the endgame Alekseev's knight penetrated in to the camp and got a winning advantage.

Despite his efforts to create counter play by sacrificing an exchange Timofeev was unable to prevent the loss. Alekseev won with accurate endgame technique.

The experts reckoned that Timofeev got into a tricky middle game and his limited experience proved to be the decisive factor. Black had no problems through out the game and handled the middle game in copybook fashion.

Jobava held on to a draw with Sargissan Gabriel in a Rook and Pawn ending after a complex battle in a king's Indian defence. After a tense four-hour battle the players split the point.

Jobava was ambitious in his approach and went for a risky variation. Sargissan was better through out the middle game and his superior knight played an important part.

He won a pawn but was unable to foresee the complications in the rook ending. Jobava was up to the mark in generating counter play and attain a draw.

Results of Round 7:
1 Sargissan, Gabriel (4_) - Jobava, Baadur (5) 19- 21 _-_
2 Anastasian, Ashot (4_) - Aleksandrov, Aleksej(4_) 23- 2 _-_
3 Timofeev, Artem (4_) - Alekseev, Evgeny (4_) 15- 6 0-1
4 Sakaev, Konstantin (4) - Minasian, Artashes (4) 1- 28 _-_
5 Volkov, Sergey (4) - Goloshchapov, Alexan(4) 4- 26 1-0
6 Kuzmin, Alexey (4) - Kharlov, Andrei (4) 16- 12 1-0
7 Gagunashvili, Merab (4) - Mchedlishvili, Mikhe(4) 13- 24 _-_
8 Skripchenko, Almira (4) - Ulibin, Mikhail (4) 33- 22 0-1
9 Neverov, Valeriy (3_) - El Taher, Fouad (4) 11- 34 0-1
10 Motylev, Alexander (3_) - Sturua, Zurab (3_) 3- 30 1-0
11 Graf, Alexander (3_) - Guseienov, Kadir (3_) 5- 32 0-1
12 Mamedyarov, Shakhriy(3_) - Eid, Fadi (3_) 7- 39 _-_
13 Dizdar, Goran (3_) - Fedorov, Alexei (3_) 31- 8 1-0
14 Kayumov, Sergey (3_) - Pigusov, Evgeny (3_) 35- 10 0-1
15 Sveshnikov, Evgeny (3_) - Gashimov, Vugar (3_) 29- 14 1-0
16 Gleizerov, Evgeny (3_) - Mamedov, Rauf (3_) 17- 43 _-_
17 Gashimov, Sarkhan (3_) - Izoria, Zviad (3_) 45- 20 _-_
18 Brodsky, Michail (3_) - Taleb, Moussa (3_) 25- 41 1-0
19 Magerramov, Elmar (3_) - El Gindy, Essam (3_) 27- 36 _-_
20 Asylguzhin, Radik (3) - Kotsur, Pavel (3) 54- 18 0-1
21 Al Sayed, Mohammed N.(3) - Roghani, Arash (3) 37- 49 1-0
22 Mohandesi, Shahin (3) - Zulfugarli, Magomed (3) 42- 38 0-1
23 Sale, Srdjan (3) - Mahmoody, M.Sadegh (3) 40- 56 1-0
24 Coleman, James (3) - Shariyazdanov, Andre(2_) 60- 9 0-1
25 Himdan, Maher (2_) - Mirzoeva, Elmira (2_) 44- 51 1-0
26 El Arousy, Abdul Ham (2_) - Molina, Tony (2_) 46- 53 1-0
27 Abdul, Majeed (2_) - Velikhanli, Firuza (2_) 52- 47 0-1
28 Saleh, Nabil (2_) - Safarli, Eltaj (2_) 48- 59 _-_
29 Saleh, Jasim Abdul R (2_) - Somev, Abdo (2_) 50- 67 _-_
30 Shihab, Khaled (2_) - Sadatnajafi, Mohamed(2) 76- 55 1-0
31 Khachatorian, Yarazi (2) - Sabri Kaveh (2) 71- 61 1-0
32 Al-Housa, Khalil (2) - Navabi, Shirin (2) 75- 69 0-1
33 Yahya, Mohammed Saleh (2) - Saeed, Ishaq (2) 70- 73 1-0
34 Kayle, Charles (1_) - Saleh, Nagueb (1_) 68- 57 0-1
35 Saud, Mohammed (1_) - Ahmed, Ishaq (1_) 58- 72 _-_
36 Al-Khaja, Arif (1_) - Ayyad, Maher (1_) 65- 63 1-0
37 Kolyaie, Hasan (1) - Zibaei, Abdoulla (1) 62- 66 1-0
38 Khechen, Nabil E. (1) - Al-Hammadi, Fatma (0) 64- 74 1-0.