Game Of the Week:GM Khismatullin vs. GM Eljanov

GM Khismatullin vs. GM Eljanov

Opening: D17: QGD Slav: Czech defense

Player(s): Khismatullin, Eljanov

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Last week's hero, David Navara, scored a pretty win over tournament leader Ian Nepomniachtchi in round 9, but stalled with draws in the last two rounds. That opened it up for Evgeny Najer to take first place in the European Individual Championship with a late three game winning streak.

Denis Khismatullin could not topple Najer in the last round and had to settle for a tie for second, but in the penultimate round he produced, if not the game of the tournament, the move of the tournament against Ukrainian GM Pavel Eljanov. In a battle between two solid players, the result can be decided by who wants to win the most. In this case, Eljanov wanted to win too much, and passed up opportunities to draw, only to fall victim to a stunning finish.